Weekly Devotions

We should not pass over those words in the middle, "and so that Scripture would be fulfilled," too quickly. They are not an incidental aside: they are at the heart of Jesus' life and ministry, and they reveal the heart of our Messiah to us....

I jumped offside once in junior high football. It was a "double go," and I jumped on the first "go." I gave the other team a first down. Another player came running in and said, "Thomford, you're out!" I ran to the sidelines and stood by the coach. He did not yell at me. He did not speak to me. He didn't even look at me. I knew he was angry at my foolish mistake. But he just ignored me. That was tough. But I deserved it....

Thirty-three years before this day, an elderly prophet held this same Jesus in his arms and spoke Spirit- given words to his mother, "And a sword will pierce your own soul, too."...

When we would have frozen with fear, Harold Lowe chose to serve. April 15, 1912. Five hundred feet from the sinking Titanic, Lowe reached a position of safety. But he didn't stay there. Though it was a waking nightmare, though dead bodies filled the sea, he returned to the ship. Aloneamong the officers, Lowe went back to rescue survivors. He remained dedicatedto his superiors and to those in his care....

When our children were little, they had some difficulty understanding the passage of time. Everything in the past happened “yesterday,” and everything in the future was “tomorrow.” When they were anticipating something exciting like another visit from their cousins, they would ask, “Is it tomorrow yet?” On the day their cousins were to arrive, they would often check the front door and gaze out the front window until the moment finally arrived. It was agonizing—but it was worth the wait!...

Did you know you need to be blameless to get into heaven? God in heaven is blameless and says that nothing unclean or impure will ever enter there. He commands you to be holy and righteous, just as God is holy and righteous. You need to be blameless on the day when Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead....

George Frideric Handel’s Messiah has been thrilling audiences for 281 years. For some, attending a performance of Messiah is as much a part of Christmas as putting up lights, decorating a tree, or exchanging gifts. The music of Messiah stirs our emotions like few other pieces of music can....

Seven hundred years before Jesus’ birth, Isaiah the prophet penned these words. He wrote in a time when a nation’s vital signs—its laws and armies, courts and borders, taxes and tolls, pride and prestige—were tied tightly to its leader, often a king. Everything good (or bad) about a nation was an extension of its king....