Matthew 11:28 NASB  Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

We got a new refrigerator and my husband had to move the old one from the kitchen, out the back door, around the side of the house and into the garage. When he came back inside he said the longer he pushed the refrigerator, the heavier it became! I think the fridge probably weighs the same in the garage as it did in the kitchen, but he made his point. If we carry something longer than we are meant to, it can become too heavy for us.

If we carry our sins around instead of asking for forgiveness, we become laden down with guilt and shame. If we carry our fears and our worries, they will start to consume us; that’s why Jesus said to cast “all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 NASB.                                                                                                                                

Don’t let your load get heavier and heavier, give it to the One who will give you rest.

-Kevi

To manage your subscription to the Daily Devotionals click here.

0 comments

Judges 16:23 NASB  Now the lords of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice, for they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hands.”

My one year old wants to be independent and do things for himself. This now includes climbing up and down the furniture. Well, today he fell off the couch twice, and although he wasn’t really hurt, there were many tears after his failures! Of course, we wouldn’t say it was the couch that caused the defeat, but his own weakness (stubborn independence) that got the best of him.

When Samson was finally captured by the Philistines and imprisoned, they claimed it was their god Dagon that defeated Samson. Of course, Dagon could no more defeat Samson, than my couch could rise up to defeat my son! Instead, it was Samson’s own weakness that led to his capture. He trusted his secrets to Delilah (who had already proven she was not trustworthy) and lost his God-given strength as a result.

Although Satan is actively trying to tempt us, it is often our own sins and weaknesses that trip us up. Instead, let’s admit our weaknesses and trade them in for Christ’s power.  “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

-Kevi

To manage your subscription to the Daily Devotionals click here.

0 comments

John 5:8-10 NASB  Jesus said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day. So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.”

This evening my husband was watching this show he likes and they were showing the best way to make a certain kind of eggs. He missed a crucial part and asked me “did you see what they just did?” Well although I was technically "watching" the show, I really wasn’t paying the slightest attention because I could care less about how to make the perfect egg (my husband is the cook in our family, if you didn’t know). I was only seeing the Solitaire game on my phone.

At the pool of Bethesda in John 5, Jesus miraculously healed a man who had been ill for 38 years. This man, who minutes before could not walk; was walking and carrying his sleeping pallet. But did the religious men see the miracle of a man walking after 38 years of illness? No, they only saw someone breaking the rules of the Sabbath, by carrying his pallet. They missed the big picture, because they were focused on something else.  

I wonder what else I didn’t see, because I was focused on the wrong things.

-Kevi

To manage your subscription to the Daily Devotionals click here.

0 comments

John 4:7-10 NASB  There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

My niece will be turning four in a few weeks. I asked her what she wanted for her birthday and she innocently replied “A cake!” I had to explain I was asking what presents she wanted for her birthday.

Sometimes, like my niece, we don’t know what to ask for, or who we should be asking it from. The Samaritan woman at the well had a tremendous opportunity to ask Jesus for salvation, but she almost missed the opportunity, because she didn’t know who was standing in front of her.

Thankfully, Jesus didn’t let her miss her opportunity. He wants to help us ask the right questions too: do you know what to ask for?

-Kevi

To manage your subscription to the Daily Devotionals click here.

0 comments

John 3:1-3 NASB  Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

When Nicodemus came to Jesus (by night, because Jesus was not popular among the Pharisees) he was looking for a teacher. He recognized Jesus as a good teacher, and I think he truly wanted to understand Jesus’ teachings better. Jesus didn’t address the fact that Nicodemus was a Pharisee; He didn’t ask why Nicodemus came to Him at night; He didn’t even declare that He was more than a teacher, that He was the Son of God. Jesus got straight to the point: following good teachers was not enough to see the kingdom of God, we must be born again!

I’ve had a lot of godly teachers in my 30 or so years of churching. I’ve heard a lot of good sermons and learned a lot about God. But none of that will amount to anything without my personal faith in Jesus Christ. It’s not about how much I understand, it only matters that I’ve been born again. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

-Kevi

To manage your subscription to the Daily Devotionals click here.

0 comments

John 1:45-46 NASB  Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip *said to him, “Come and see.”                                               

When I meet new people, or someone asks where I live, I am usually careful to say I live in Oklahoma City, NOT in Moore (Our address is in Oklahoma City, but we’re just a few blocks from Moore city limits, so it would be easy to say either.) Would I be ashamed to live in Moore? Of course not, it’s a nice place to live; but if you tell people you live in Moore, all they want to talk about is tornadoes! They focus on that one aspect, and it’s hard to explain that it’s just a nice, average suburb.

When Nathanael found out this possible Messiah was from Nazareth, that one aspect almost kept him from meeting his Lord and Savior. I’m not sure why the town of Nazareth was looked down on by Nathanael; but the humble origins of the Savior were not accidental. Scriptures prophesied that the Messiah would be despised by men and not esteemed (Isaiah 53:3). We can’t come to Christ full of pride and self-importance. If we can humble ourselves enough to ask forgiveness from a lowly Nazarene, we will find ourselves in the presence of a King!  

Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” John 1:49

-Kevi

To manage your subscription to the Daily Devotionals click here.

0 comments

2 Corinthians 4: 16-18 NASB  Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,  while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

My husband and I were watching a nature documentary the other day that described the life cycle of the Tree Nymph caterpillar in the Philippines. As a caterpillar they eat leaves of poisonous plants, though not enough to kill them. After the chrysalis process, the poison they have ingested is present throughout their entire bodies. When they emerge as butterflies if a spider or other predator tries to take a bite they will find them unappetizing and the butterfly’s life is spared. If they hadn’t endured the poison as a caterpillar, they wouldn’t have survived long as a butterfly!

Sometimes we wonder why God allows us to go through the difficulties of this world. I can look back on many of the hard times in my past and see how God used them for my growth and to strengthen my faith. If we endure the “poison” or trials that come our way, then God will make us strong enough to survive bigger trials in the future.   

-Kevi

To manage your subscription to the Daily Devotionals click here.

0 comments

Romans 2:1;5 NASB Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,

I have a ticking time bomb in my house right now. A sippy cup of milk disappeared this afternoon and we can’t find it anywhere. My husband and I looked in all the usual places (and some unusual ones) and still we can’t figure out where the little stinker hid it! I know the longer it takes to find it the grosser it will become!

Sin can be that way too: the longer we let sin go un-repented, the more unpleasant it becomes.

-Kevi

To manage your subscription to the Daily Devotionals click here.

0 comments

Deuteronomy 23:21-23 NLT When you make a vow to the LORD your God, be prompt in fulfilling whatever you promised him. For the LORD your God demands that you promptly fulfill all your vows, or you will be guilty of sin. However, it is not a sin to refrain from making a vow. But once you have voluntarily made a vow, be careful to fulfill your promise to the LORD your God.

I’m not one to make New Year’s resolutions. It’s not because I don’t have things I need to improve on (don’t we all), it’s really because I don’t want to resolve to do something, and then not do it. Basically I’m too proud to admit I might not achieve my goals.

While the Israelites were told not to make vows they didn’t intend to keep, they weren’t told not to make vows. When God calls us to give or to serve or to act on something, should we be able to resolve to do it? Shouldn’t we have the faith to make a commitment to God? Shouldn’t we be resolute?

-Kevi

To manage your subscription to the Daily Devotionals click here.

0 comments

Psalm 139: 1-4 NASB  O LORD, You have searched me and known me.  You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all.

Have you ever tried to “look busy” when someone walks in the room? Or if you are a procrastinator like me, maybe you wait until the last minute to get things done, and then you look like you’ve been busy all day. Today my husband came home to find me vacuuming the house: not because I’d been cleaning all day, but because I realized 10 minutes before he got home that my afternoon had disappeared!

Well, there’s no point to try and “look busy” before God. He knows our comings and goings; he knows our intentions and our actions. For someone like me, that’s really a relief. I don’t have to look busy to hide my weaknesses, and I don’t have to look busy to show off my strengths. “Behold, O LORD, You know it all.”

-Kevi

To manage your subscription to the Daily Devotionals click here.

0 comments