Daily Devotional

May 15, 2020

“Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.” (Lamentations 3:57)

During the 1930s, a missionary to India found herself battling discouragement. Her physical, mental, and emotional reserves were spent, and she wondered whether she could find the courage to go on. Desperate, she appealed to her one source of strength: God in Heaven, who knew exactly what she was facing. And God...

May 14, 2020

“This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:21-23)

Looking at the burned-out shells of cars, expanses of charred earth, and chimneys towering over the blackened rubble that once had been stately homes, my daughter saw firsthand the destruction caused by wildfires....

May 13, 2020

“He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.” (Lamentations 2:3)

One spark on a hot August afternoon in 1933 forever changed people’s lives, the landscape, and the future of what is known today as the Tillamook State Forest. On August 14, a steel cable dragging a...

May 12, 2020

“How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!” (Lamentations 1:1)

It was just before lunch time on a day that seemed like any other. The townspeople went about their normal activities. Some were preparing food in their villas; others were...

May 11, 2020

“And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison, and spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the...

May 10, 2020

“Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.” (Jeremiah 51:36)

Even now I can hear my mother’s words as if it were yesterday. “If anybody tries to do that again, just let me know, and I will go and talk to them!” she would say emphatically.

These were the “scary” promises...

May 9, 2020

“He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.” (Jeremiah 51:15)

Creation speaks of the Creator, but we must be receptive to discern the message. Edna was one who heard God speak to her heart through the splendor of His creation.

Edna had been saved as a child, but she let the love of God slip out of her life....

May 8, 2020

“My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.” (Jeremiah 50:6)

Sheep have some interesting habits related to rest. Christian author Phillip Keller, who wrote a classic book about Christ as the Good Shepherd, says, “The strange thing about sheep is that because of their very make-up...

May 7, 2020

“Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith the Lord; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you.” (Jeremiah 49:30)

On Sunday, December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise attack against the United States military forces stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attacking planes came in two waves; the first hit its target at 7:53 a.m.,...

May 6, 2020

“Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord.” (Jeremiah 49:16)

We appreciate the fact that public prayer and national days of prayer have a long-standing history in the United States. In 1775,...