Posts Tagged ‘Devotional’

“Jesus did not let him [go with him], but said, ‘Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you’” (Mark 5:19, NIV).

His broken neck was doing okay today with adequate pain meds. The cancer that had once been “cured” and then returned was now gone for over two years, a miracle in my scientific mind. “I don’t know why God blessed you with one of His miracles,” I said. “I hope you are using it well.” “Oh, we are,” the wife answered. He added, “Every time I go to AA, I tell them how God has blessed me, what He has done to heal me. I always slip a little God in their back pockets before they leave.”

“…‘Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are…’” (Mark 12:14, NIV).

Family vacations for doctors can be disorienting, at least for me. There is often a mental and emotional chasm separating the intensity and profundity of practice and the environment into which a vacation throws me.

Family vacations for doctors can be disorienting, at least for me. There is often a mental and emotional chasm separating the intensity and profundity of practice and the environment into which a vacation throws me.

“Then he asked them, ‘If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?’” (Luke 14:5, NIV).

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel…” (Romans 1:16, NIV).

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NIV).

“And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me’” (Luke 9:23, ESV).

“He [Paul] was accompanied by Sopater, son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia” (Acts 20:4, NIV).

“Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?” (James 2:16, NIV).

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there” (Psalm 139:7-8, NIV).

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48b, NIV).

I sat on his bed, my arm around him. I had once been his doctor, but he called me to come as friend. He is a deeply devoted follower of Christ who was going through a rough time in his illness, thinking that he soon might be leaving this world. “I have been so blessed by such a wonderful wife and children. Knowing that my children love the Lord is such a blessing.” Though he probably has some time left on this side of glory, I attempted these words to comfort him: “You surely have been blessed in this life, but the blessing does not stop here. All of us are going to be together for all times with the Lord and with those we love, once this little speck of time we know as life has passed.” “I hope so,” he said. “I surely hope so.” I added, “The evidence is overwhelming. Besides that, the Lord Himself is here to assure us.”

“Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come…” (Mark 13:35, NIV).

“If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the son of God, God lives in them and they in God” (1 John 4:15, NIV).

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Revelation 3:20, NIV).

Many years before, when he was shot down in Vietnam, he was rescued, but he thought he was going to die from his injuries. A chaplain from a different faith tradition was there praying for the wounded. He asked that chaplain to pray for him. That chaplain asked him what denomination he was affiliated with.

“Then he blessed Joseph and said, ‘May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully, the God who has been my shepherd all of my life to this day, the Angel who has delivered me from all harm—may he bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly on the earth’” (Genesis 48:15-16, NIV).

…let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1, NIV).

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17, NIV).

“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…” (1 Timothy 6:12, ESV).

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18, NIV).

“Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16, NIV).

My three-and-half-year-old grandson in Alabama was just released from the hospital after four days of misery. Forgive the picture, but he was so constipated that he was throwing up.