The Word Before Work

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- ‘Your brother has come [home],’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been sla...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   Don’t you know that when people run on the race-track everybody runs, but only one person gets the prize? Run in such a way that you’ll win it. Everyone who goes in for athletics exercises self-discipline in everything. They do it to gain a crown that perishes; we do it for an imperishable one....

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Christmas Vocations Devotional: 4 of 4 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   …an angel of the Lord appeared to [Zechariah], standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   But after [Joseph] had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. (1 Peter 3:15) Today marks the conclusion of this series exploring five simple things all of us can do to prepare to share the gospel with those...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. (Colossians 4:3-4) In this series , we’re looking at five simple ways to prepare to share the gospel with th...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human praise more than praise from God. (John 12:42-43) We’re in a series walking through...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:34-35) We’re in a series exploring 5 simple things all of us can do to put ourselves in a better position to sha...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12) As I’ve written about before , sharing the gospel with those we work with is far...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve….[The next day, upon] reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there....

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27-28) In the mid-1800s, Americans fled to the West in droves in search of gold and a better life. But according to The Emigrant’s Guide to California published...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he s...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come. (Mark 1:38) When you study the gospel biographies trying to understand how Jesus stewarded his time, one glaring truth jumps off the pages: Jesus was crazy purposeful. In the words of the great...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. (Luke 5:15-16) Now more than ever, we are living in what C.S. Lewis’s devil Screwtape called “the Kingdom of Noise.”...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your  ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.” (Matthew 5:37) Why is it that the worst songs are some of the hardest to get out of our heads? Is it because they’re uniquely catchy? That might be part of it. But there’s actually a scien...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. (Mark 1:35) “I’m swamped.” I’ve said it, you’ve said it, we’ve all said it at one overwhelmed point or another. The Bible tells us that Jesus’s disciples were once...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) I ended last week’s devotional with a question: If the gospel compels us to “redeem our time” (see Ephesians 5:16), where can we look for prac...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10) Over the past...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more….And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:1...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, a...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11) Deep in our bones, we know that we were created to live forever. It’s why we are drawn to stories like Narnia and Frozen...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30) As we’ve seen over the past few weeks, tr...

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com   The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. (Exodus 14:14) This verse is one of the most frequently quoted by proponents of the “Let go and let God” philosophy of life. But the context of this verse completely undermines this thinking. The Israelites are standing at the edge of the...