Devotional

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. - Isaiah 40:31 (KJV) Waiting is perhaps the most unnatural discipline for the human heart. Everything within us resists it. We live in an age of instant everything: instant messages, instant meals, instant solutions. Yet here, tucked into one of Scripture’s most soaring passages, God calls us to wait. ...

“Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.” - Proverbs 6:6-8 (KJV) How humbling it must have been for Solomon’s original readers to be directed to learn from an ant. Not the mighty lion, not the soaring eagle, not the wise owl… just the tiny little creature probably laying on the underside of their sandals! The most common, most neglected, most trodden upon of all creatures becomes the object lesson for the sluggard. ...

Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it. - Judges 6:30 (KJV) The crowd’s rage was immediate and intense. Gideon had destroyed their altar to Baal, and they wanted blood in return. Their precious object of worship lay in ruins, and someone had to pay. The very thing they had poured their devotion into — their time, their resources, their hopes - was gone, and they could think of nothing but revenge. ...

And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. - Galatians 5:24 (KJV) The word “crucified” stops us in our tracks. It’s violent, final, deliberate. Paul doesn’t say we’ve simply suppressed our flesh or managed our desires—he says we’ve crucified them. This isn’t about improvement; it’s about execution. But what exactly are these “passions and desires” that compete for our hearts? Often, they’re not the obvious sins we might expect. The flesh is far more subtle than that. ...