The Up Devotional

In the previous devotional I encouraged us to think about spiritual disciplines. According to Jeff Loach, they are “historically and biblically rooted ways to deepen your relationship with God.” They are faith-based practices which form you to be more like Jesus. I referenced Bible-reading, prayer, corporate worship, and fasting. These are some of the most […]

Spiritual disciplines.  According to Jeff Loach, they are “historically and biblically rooted ways to deepen your relationship with God.” Although some people can get tripped up by the word “discipline,” they needn’t be. These are faith-based practices which form you to be more like Jesus. (Have you ever noticed that the word “discipline” looks a […]

Douglas Murray is a journalist. In his book, “The Strange Death of Europe,” he says that as he travelled around the world he noticed young people asking a question: “Is this all there is?”  They seemed to instinctively know that they are not ‘mere animals.’ But neither are they ‘mere consumers.’ There has to be […]

In yesterday’s devotional I said that you were born to bless. In a world where many people aren’t sure if they’re here on this earth on purpose or by chance, followers of Jesus can be confident that God has put us here for a reason. So let’s flush out what it means to “bless” someone. […]

Why was I born? Why were you born? Why were any of us born?  Are we here in this world by chance? Or is there a greater purpose to our lives? I once read about a philosophy professor who wrote to 250 people whom he felt were the great thinkers of his day. He asked […]

I sometimes get asked about the ‘unforgivable sin.’  It’s found in Mark 3:28-30. Jesus said: “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—for they were saying, “He […]

We’ve been thinking about Jesus as our big brother. He is described in those terms in Romans 8:29, and he calls disciples “brothers and sisters” in Mark 3:35. One of the things an ideal big brother does is protect his younger siblings.  ‘But,’ you might be thinking, ‘Jesus doesn’t protect me—at least not in a […]

In the previous devotional I encouraged you to think about Jesus as your big brother. After all, he is described in those terms in Romans 8:29, and he calls disciples “brothers and sisters” in Mark 3:35. One of the things an ideal big brother does is intercede for his younger siblings.  Picture a student in […]

Jesus is my…  How would you finish that sentence? Lord? Saviour? Friend? What about big brother? We don’t tend to think of Jesus in this way. However, Romans 8:29 says that Jesus is “the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Then there are passages like Mark 3:35 where he says: “Whoever does God’s will is […]

Philip Yancey tells a story about a professor in Spain’s golden age who worked to translate the Song of Songs (a biblical book) into the Spanish language. Sounds good, right? Well, at that time it wasn’t allowed. As a result, the professor was taken away and tortured—for four years! Eventually, he was allowed to return. […]

John Bunyan was a Christian who had his share of ups and downs, including time in prison for his beliefs. He was separated from loved ones, including his wife and children. Instead of beating him down, his hardships built him up. They refined and fortified his faith. In a biography about his life, the following […]

I sometimes hear people express disappointment that someone they know has walked away from God and his church. It’s painful and sad. “But they were brought up in the church,” they will sometimes say. In other words, since they often went to church, shouldn’t they know God and how important it is to worship and […]

The past few devotionals have focused on being different because of Jesus. It’s not always fun to be different. Just ask the kid who gets picked on because he doesn’t look or sound like anyone else.  These days, maybe you feel like that. Perhaps you say or do things because of your faith and it […]

Michael Mangis writes: “Faith means stepping onto the path that looks so much like it goes in the wrong direction.”* This statement reminds me of the logo for the TV series, ‘The Chosen.’ It’s a program which depicts various parts of Jesus’ life. The logo has a bunch of gray fish swimming in a circle. […]

Let’s start with two words. Salvation and reputation. First, reputation. That’s what other people tend to think about your character, based on what you have said or done over time. You can develop a good reputation, or a bad one. Second, salvation. When people use that word they often mean “being saved” (from God’s wrath) […]

Today I invite you to think about the name of Jesus. And how it has power. Actual power. A person’s name represents that person. Think of a royal messenger in the days of old. A herald would proclaim: “In the name of the King…” Everything that followed was as if the King himself was saying […]

Paul’s teaching about the “armour of God” found in Ephesians 6 is pretty well known.  He describes our spiritual battle as Christians. This is not against flesh and blood (i.e. other people), but against unseen spiritual forces of evil. He lists the boots ready to proclaim the gospel of peace, the belt of truth, the […]

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). We’re been talking about responding to challenges to your faith. We’ve all most likely had them. I often say, “The more you […]

“I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people” (Jude 3). In yesterday’s devotional I highlighted how the landscape is changing in this country and others. Fewer people are identifying with the Christian faith. Granted, when someone ticks a box that […]

Times are changing. Let me share some Canadian statistics. Even though there are people who subscribe to this devotional from other countries, I’m sure most can see this trend playing out in their own context in varying degrees. In the past 60 years, the percentage of people identifying as Christian has gone from 96% to […]

In John 8:44 Jesus called the Devil the “father of lies.” He is the enemy of honesty. He lays traps. He distorts. He pulls people in his direction. Since he’s an expert—he’s been working at his craft for eons—we need to be alert to his schemes. Having said let, let me introduce today’s theme. Distraction […]

We live in a sensationalistic time.  Stories that are sensational make the news. People who do sensational things get noticed. To a degree, that makes sense. I get it.  But we can’t lose sight of the fact that so many of the important and faithful things we do in life are not going to impress […]

I recently saw a phone booth. It made me take a second look. You don’t see them very much anymore. Phone booths are kind of like the milk man. They remind you of another era. As modern people, we are at risk of dismissing good things about the past. We quickly fall in love with […]

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit […]

In Mark 1 Jesus healed a leper.  The word for “leprosy” was quite broad. It referred to any number of skin-related diseases. But it was a serious condition and made the man “unclean.” He had to live outside the city and away from people. A leper was alone and desperate—cut off from family, friends and […]