Our identity as children of God is a gift from God. When we align our identity with the world, we dilute our identity in Christ.  The more we align, the more diluted our identity.  Continual alignment with the world results in a convoluted Christian identity.  A discarding of a gift from God that results in…

Every encounter with God brings us a little closer to heaven. On the way to Jerusalem.  At the border of Galilee and Samaria.  Jesus is entering a town.  Ten leprosy-stricken men are standing “at a distance, crying out, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ “—Luke 17:13 One Samaritan leper.  Nine Jewish lepers. Jesus heals and…

Did you know God likes gifts?  A best gift we could give to God.  Our devotion.  What our heart is devoted to……our heart will worship.  Another best gift.  Worship. In Genesis 4, Cain and Abel offered two contrasting gifts to God.  What they gave to God reflected their state of devotion to God. ”When it…

Life is a gift.  Jesus specializes in giving life to those who live as outsiders. Compassionately, Jesus went for this not so in-group.  The ones who didn’t quite fit in.  The ones who struggled to stand on their feet.  Where trying to be enough, isn’t enough. In Matthew 8, three types of people groups are…

Praying with people you don’t know because of Jesus can lead you to unexpected ministry. Corner Bakery.  A local restaurant in our town.  So after I started picking up food there, I met an employee named Olivia.  Blue hair with a bun.  I wrote about meeting her in an earlier devotional post. So here’s an…

Jesus came to set those in spiritual darkness free because He is the Light of the world. In John 9, a blind man has an encounter with Jesus.    His story is a beautiful illustration of how light overcomes darkness.  Because Jesus is greater.  Because the light that He offers is from a divine source…

How do we learn to follow Jesus? Peter and his brother Andrew had docked their boat at the water’s edge.  Washing their nets.  Finishing the day.  Getting their equipment ready for the next trip. Then Jesus appears with a crowd of people.  Jesus then asks Peter two very important questions. Can you move your boat…

In Mark 7:24-30, we meet the Syrian Phoenician woman.  She is not Jewish.  Greek born.  Now lives in an area that worship idols.  And she has a desperate need. “ She begs Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.”—Mark 7:26 Jesus tells her his mission priority is to believers of God first.  Undeterred.  She persists.…

When the enemy attacks.  Simple.  Soulful.  Solutions.  Of faith.  Begins and ends with the Word of God. Jesus enters the wilderness where He is tempted by Satan.  Humanly alone.  But spiritually surrounded by legions of angels. Jesus fasts for 40 days and night where His nourishment can only be found in the heavenly realm. What…

Spiritual Alignment results in Spiritual Abundance. Zacchaeus.  A man despised by the people of his home town because he was the chief collector in the region. And like many tax collectors, he had become wealthy through illegal means, by demanding more money for taxation than he needed to and stealing it for himself.  Zacchaeus was…