Today Daily Devotional

The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. — 1 Corinthians 15:47 Have you ever played the game “Grab the Bacon?” Two teams face each other in an open field, and a sock or towel (the “bacon”) is placed on the ground between them. A runner from each team races out to grab the “bacon,” and the one who brings it back gains a point for the whole team. The team’s success de...

“They will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). — Matthew 1:23 After the First World War, British soldiers returned from the front lines devastated. Many were shell-shocked, disfigured, wounded, and scarred. Among the pastors who ministered to those hurting veterans was Edward Shillito. He wrote a poem, in 1919, in which he speaks as a soldier, seeking God. The poem expresses dismay and...

“Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected. . . .’” — Acts 4:11 Rejection. We see it when grandparents are cut off from grandkids over politics. Or when siblings haven’t spoken in years. In the church, a difference in conviction can be met with a cold shoulder, and a cutting off of friendship. Rejection hurts. I remember a group question: “What is the worst pain that people have known?” Some parti...

A man of suffering, and familiar with pain . . . he took up our pain and bore our suffering. . . . — Isaiah 53:3-4 What gives hope when our hearts break? Five years ago, my sister-in-law, only 47 years old, died of a brain-stem tumor. I helped to care for her and her young family during six years of decline, dementia, hospice, and devastating pain. At times like that, many of us may wonder, “Where...

“I am among you as one who serves.” — Luke 22:27 When I began attending a university, I was amazed at a group of seniors (one of them my future sister-in-law) who invited the university president to come to a dorm apartment for a meal they had prepared. I was even more amazed that, important as he was, the president said yes. But the thing I’ll never forget is that when the meal was over, the pres...

I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne. . . . — Revelation 5:6 A large painting in my living room takes up half a wall. It portrays a lion and a lamb lying down together. My mom painted it in 1973, back when she had two baby boys and would soon have a pair of girls too. I often notice the posture of those two animals my mom painted. The lion looks submi...

“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. . . .” — John 6:35 In a book titled The American Paradox: Spiritual Hunger in an Age of Plenty, David Meyers wrote: “We buy more, but enjoy it less. We have more food and less nutrition; fancier houses, but broken homes. We have added years to life, not life to years.”Enter Jesus, the one who was born in Bethlehem (“house of bread”...

“The deliverer will come. . . .”; He . . . shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death . . . — Romans 11:26; Hebrews 2:14 My son David, at age 3, found a picture that captivated him. He’d bend over it on the floor and look, and look. The picture was of a wood carving from an old altar in Europe. The carving showed Jesus kicking down th...

. . . Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham. . . . — Matthew 1:1 Ever since humanity fell into sin, God promised that someone would come and put it right. God promised Eve a snake-crusher (Genesis 3:15). He promised Abraham a line of descendants who would bless the nations (Genesis 12:3). God promised his people a prophet who would come from among them, and to whom they should lis...

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live. . . .” — John 11:25 I don’t know about you, but I tend to think of resurrection as an abstract or distant thing—as if it is only about Easter Sunday or a date on the end-times calendar. But, no—and more profoundly— Resurrection is a name for Jesus! “I am the resurrection . . .” he said. Resurrection is a “right now” reality...

He will be called . . . Prince of Peace. — Isaiah 9:6 Here Jesus is named “Prince of Peace.” What is peace? Two artists, the story goes, are asked to paint pictures depicting peace. One artist paints a tranquil scene—a calm lake surrounded by rolling green hills and with towering trees mirrored in the water. The blue sky is still— and, well, peaceful. The other painter brushes onto the canvas a ro...

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.” — John 8:12 With a tour group I went into a deep cave in New Mexico, and our guide turned off all the lights. The darkness was paralyzing; I immediately felt vulnerable. Darkness in a cave is one thing. Darkness in life is worse. We may face shadows of a dark past: abuse, ugly words,...

God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. . . . — Philippians 2:9-10 There are a lot of big names out there: Zuckerberg, Apple, Xi, Trump, Oprah, AI. Does our world rise or fall with these names? Or how about some names closer to home: Parkinson’s, Alzheimer's, ALS, Down Syndrome? Or what about labels that society...

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. — Psalm 96:11 Psalm 96 invites us to hear the greatness of God resounding everywhere and in everyone. We began our devotions this month with this psalm, and it seems fitting to close our reflections on “Resonance” by focusing on this psalm again. Throughout this month we have been personally invited to resp...

All the believers . . . broke bread . . . together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God. . . . — Acts 2:44-47 My wife and I have been part of many small groups in our church over the years, but one experience of community stands out as especially rich. We were in a group with three other couples who were younger than us and in a different stage of life. When we first began meeting, none of t...

If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! — 2 Corinthians 5:17 For the next few days, let’s think about how the gospel resonates with us personally, then spreads into our relationships, and then rings out further into the world. I was speaking in a church in Canada recently that has baptized hundreds of new immigrants from a country in the Middle East. A...

Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. — 1 Corinthians 11:26 “Do this . . . in remembrance of me.” The church of Jesus has been living into these words for nearly 2,000 years. Thinking about our devotional theme for this month, we might say that the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, or Holy Communion, is one of the most resonant experiences in...

The leaves of the tree [of life] are for the healing of the nations. — Revelation 22:2 Several colleagues and I were on a call with church leaders from a West African nation where Christians have been facing increased hostility and violence. We wanted to connect and hear how they were doing, and we wanted to ask how we might pray for and support them. Yet the conversation proved difficult. Technic...

“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night. . . .” — Joshua 1:8 This year the Today devotional guide is celebrating its 75th anniversary. As we think about the Word of God resonating around the world, these devotions are one of the ways in which the Spirit is at work, encouraging and challenging many thousands of Christians and people who are curious about the Chr...

I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. — Psalm 51:3 It can happen so easily. A quick or thoughtless word can hurt someone else. And if we are confronted with our guilt, we instinctively move into denial or defense. We try to shift blame to another person or circumstance as we try to justify ourselves. Or we sink into shame, allowing self-damaging thoughts to take hold. The cycle...

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. — Romans 12:15 The life-giving power of Jesus rings out in many ways. My colleague Joyce, a former missionary to Nigeria, tells of her moving experience with the Nigerian practice of “greeting.” She learned that whenever something significant happened— whether joyful or painful—people would gather simply to be present with you in that mom...

If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. — 1 Peter 4:11 I often have the privilege of meeting creative and courageous leaders in different parts of the world. In Kenya recently, I stood on a tidy little property tucked between tall buildings in a small town outside Nairobi. It was once a vacant lot, choked wi...

Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. — Colossians 2:15 I read about a missionary walking through a vast temple who witnessed something deeply heartbreaking. Crowds of people— many of them poor and desperate—were bowing before a massive golden statue. They placed what appeared to be their meager earnings into a treasury b...

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” — Mark 10:14 My church denomination baptizes children, and one of the great joys for me as a pastor has been to baptize many children through the years. It may seem odd to say, but I like it that baptism ceremonies can sometimes be a little chaotic. The parents usually come to church a li...

Those who had been scattered by the persecution . . . traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. — Acts 11:19 For the past few days we have been tracking the spread of the gospel as recorded in the book of Acts. Jesus had said that his followers would be his witnesses in Judea and Samaria and beyond, “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). In our reading f...