WD

These devotion archives are targeted specifically for you, the healthcare professional, and the challenges unique to you that you face on a day-to-day basis. We hope you are encouraged and inspired by them, and that you can gain insight and wisdom from others who have gone through the same challenges that you face in the healthcare industry today.

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" (James 1:5, KJV).

Archival Weekly Devotionals

A Deeper Faith Al Weir, MD May 21, 2019
Faith

A Deeper Faith

“...For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ…that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:8-11, ESV).
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Tusculum Al Weir, MD May 14, 2019
Christian Living

Tusculum

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7, NIV 1984). I was visiting Ron today. I had been on the periphery of his medical care, but mostly he was my friend, stuck in his home with a stroke and a broken leg. After we had chatted awhile, I noticed a college diploma from Tusculum University and asked him where Tusculum was located.
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Silent Listening Al Weir, MD May 7, 2019
Prayer

Silent Listening

“And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me’” (Mark 2:14a, ESV). Arnie was retired from his orthopedic practice and helping lead the retreat for Christian doctors. He did not know it would be he who would be changed. Based on Dallas Willard’s book Hearing God, the retreat speaker challenged his audience, “I want you each to take the next five minutes and just listen to the Lord in silence.” After three minutes of silent listening, Arnie heard God ask him in the silence, “How are you spending your time?” From that moment, Arnie’s life was rearranged.
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“I Chose to Believe” Al Weir, MD April 30, 2019
BelieveFaith

“I Chose to Believe”

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer...” (Philippians 4:6, NASB). Paul married a girl I grew up with. They worked in Christian ministry together, and then he developed cancer and died. While he was living with cancer, Paul sent out an update to friends and supporters. Within that update he wrote, “A few weeks after finishing my radiation treatments a friend asked me what I had come to know about God through my ordeal. I had been wrestling with many thoughts that very day, and I realized that everything came down to one thing: I had to either believe God’s Word, the Bible, or not.  I chose to believe. As a result, I understood in a new way that God is really sovereign and in control of my life and I am not.”
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Saving Dogs Al Weir, MD April 23, 2019
Christian Living

Saving Dogs

“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned’” (Mark 16:15-16, NIV 1984).
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I Still Need the Cross Al Weir, MD April 16, 2019
FaithGod's Will

I Still Need the Cross

“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life”  (1 Timothy 1:15-16, NIV 1984).
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Underwater Breathing Al Weir, MD April 9, 2019
Miracles

Underwater Breathing

“The Lord God…breathed into his nostrils the breath of life…” (Genesis 2:7, NIV 1984). I did not read Dr. David Stevens’ email until late that evening when I finished rounds. The morning email had asked for prayer for his grandson’s near drowning and critical condition.
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Plain Talk Al Weir, MD April 2, 2019
Prayer

Plain Talk

Sometimes God “talks plain”—usually when our ears are stuffed with the wax of the world. In my own life, these plain-speaking times have not been pleasant. When God has had to “talk plain” in my life, it has been because I was headed in the wrong direction. His words were indeed clear, but they sounded like a two-by-four striking my skull.
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03/26/2019 WEEKLY DEVOTIONS
Discipleship

Witness by Proxy

“As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus would not let him, but said, ‘Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.’” (Mark 5:18-19, NIV 1984).
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The Ptarmigan Trail Al Weir, MD March 12, 2019
Truth

The Ptarmigan Trail

“‘What is truth?’ Pilate asked…” (John 18:38, NIV 1984). I spoke again to my friend in the mountains, the one who follows Buddha rather than Christ, the one who suffered multiple surgeries from a skateboard accident. We met up again in Colorado when I was there recently for a medical conference. We climbed together to the Ptarmigan Lakes at 12,500 feet, wrapped in the grandeur of God’s creation. I shared the gospel and he shared his faith in Buddhism.
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I spoke again to my friend in the mountains, the one who follows Buddha rather than Christ, the one who suffered multiple surgeries from a skateboard accident. We met up again in Colorado when I was there recently for a medical conference. We climbed together to the Ptarmigan Lakes at 12,500 feet, wrapped in the grandeur of God’s creation. I shared the gospel and he shared his faith in Buddhism. It stands to reason that two conflicting statements should not both be true. And yet, our present world suggests they can. How do we as individuals, as followers of Christ, as people of reason, decide what is truth in life? When reasonable people disagree about important issues, how do we decide who is correct? In my own simplistic thinking, I know of four ways to discover truth—to discover “life as it really is.”
Holy Spirit

Mountain Wonder

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3, NIV 1984).
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Forgiveness

This Forgiveness Thing

“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (Mark 11:25, NIV 1984). We were sitting in a circle, the windows around us open to the East Tennessee Mountains, a group of Christian healthcare professionals sharing personal prayer requests. Andy is in his mid-seventies. He hemmed and hawed a bit before he paused and spit it out, “I need prayer for this forgiveness thing we’ve been talking about.” He paused again, as if almost holding it in, and then continued, “I’ve been divorced 21 years. I know I have forgiven her a number of times for leaving me, but it keeps popping up and interferes with all my thinking. I need your prayers to just settle it.”
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Blue Heeler Love Al Weir, MD February 26, 2019
Love

Blue Heeler Love

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34, NIV 1984). He was there to check his iron levels, a bit younger than I with a black, bushy beard. I asked him about the deep scratches on his arms. “That’s from my dog,” he said. “What kind of dog do you have?” “A pit bull,” he said. “I’d get another kind of dog,” I said, touching the scars on his arms. “I had two dogs,” he continued.  “One of them gave his life for me. I was walking through the woods and nearly stepped on a copperhead. He would’ve struck me, but my blue heeler jumped out and took the bite right in his neck. My pit bull then attacked the snake, took a strike in the face, but killed the snake.” “What happened to your heeler?” “He disappeared in the woods for two days. I found him, but he died five days later. That dog died for me.”
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Wanting the Healer Al Weir, MD February 19, 2019
Healing

Wanting the Healer

“…for I am the Lord, who heals you” (Exodus 15:26b, NIV 1984). He was a bit short of breath as he sat on the side of his bed, trying to regain his strength after a therapy complication had placed him on dialysis. “I think we will hold your cancer treatment for a few weeks,” I told him. “That will be good,” he said. “It makes me weak.” “We need you to get your strength back and then we can deal with all your other stuff,” I continued. He nodded, and then, after a pause for reflection, added, “You know, Cathy and I have decided that we are going to start seeking the Healer more than the healing.”
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The Grace of Healing Al Weir, MD February 12, 2019
GraceHealing

The Grace of Healing

“Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured” (Mark 1:41-42, NIV 1984). Thus far he had beaten two cancers, along with chronic hepatitis and severe peripheral vascular disease. I told him, “You have had more bad happen to you than most anybody I know. You are really an overcomer. Why do you think God has been so good to you?” “Grace,” he said. “God has just treated me special. I know lots of other folks who had what I got and they didn’t make it.” “Why are you special?” I asked. “No reason. I don’t deserve it.”
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Christian LivingDreams

A Bad Dream

On the first day of my week away from work at the CMDA National Convention, my wife told me, “I had this horrible dream last night.” Now, I’m used to my wife occasionally sharing bad dreams with me, none of which have ever come true; so, I asked her for the details. “I was on this spiral stairway, leading to who knows where. Nora Jane (our 3-year-old granddaughter) was on the bottom step, but the bottom step dropped off into a long fall. A big man was coming down the stairs above me and Nora Jane is afraid of big men. I was scared to death when she looked up in fright and backed off the step into nothingness. I cried out to you and you just stood there looking into your phone.”
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