Christian Devotionals and Scripture Applied to Everyday Life

Absolutely nothing is too hard for God! He can even bring life from dead places. The other day a thought occurred to me. It seems like there are a lot of infertile women in the Bible who miraculously give birth. I suppose there are many more who become pregnant with no trouble, but it seems that the barren ones are constantly highlighted. Other than the fact that it is very interesting, why is that?

Every once in a while it happens! We have an auction. We collect payment. We deposit the money in the bank. And a few days later we receive an official letter informing us that a check was returned for insufficient funds. Whether you are the writer or the depositer of the check, it is so frustrating to receive this notification. Upon writing or accepting the check, you trust that behind each small slip of paper there is money to back up the promise. But sometimes it just isn’t there.

If you want to be successful in God’s eyes, you must carefully obey His word. And there is only one way to do this – you must know what God’s word says. God instructed the new leader of Israel, Joshua, to think about His words day and night. The law should always be on the tip of his tongue so that he could carefully obey everything God wanted. This is true for us today. We must read God’s word, but we must also hide it in our hearts.

For the umpteenth time Mary restlessly rolled her aching frame over on the mat she called her bed. The past two nights her body had tossed and turned almost as much as her weary brain. The thoughts and visions of that horrible day would not stop circling like ugly vultures reviewing the latest kill. "He never did anything wrong and the way they treated Him - the spitting, the mocking, the beatings." The streaks of crimson trickling down His face when they jammed the circle of thorns on His forehead were forever etched on her memory as were the screams of pain and the loud ring of steel against steel penetrating the hands and feet that did only good.

Since 1907 this has been the motto of the scout movement. All Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts make it their duty to be prepared in mind and body to know the right thing to do, to be willing to act on it, and to be physically fit to carry out the action when necessary. None of our family, aside from my brief stint with the Brownies in elementary school, has been a scout member. Even so, this motto is one that we should all consider making part of our life strategy.

There are some stories that always amaze me. Year after year I reread them and they never grow old. Instead they encourage me, strengthen my faith, and renew my desire to obey the Lord’s commands fully. During the Easter season we reflect on the events that occurred in the last week of Jesus’ ministry on earth. He had spent three years publicly teaching, healing, and revealing His identity to crowds of followers. Many had rejected His claim to be the Son of God, the Messiah, but many believed and followed Him.