The Up Devotional

“‘Come, follow me,” Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’ At once they left their nets and followed him” (Mark 1:17-18). As Jesus began his work, the Rabbi summoned students. A “disciple” was someone who learned at the foot of a master and then imitated him.  A lot has been […]

Helen Keller was an inspirational figure.  She was born in 1880 in Alabama. When she was only a toddler she got a high fever. As a result, she became blind and deaf. She couldn’t see or hear. At the time, doctors called it “brain fever.” Today, doctors speculate that it was most likely scarlet fever […]

The Bible teaches that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine.  He was born of Mary, grew up in a modest home in Nazareth, and experienced hunger, sadness and pain.  When it comes to his divinity, we tend to focus on what he said (he identified with the one eternal God), what he did […]

Jesus is powerful. If you believe in and follow him, you probably already think that. But the more we learn about his power and goodness, the more confident we become. A greater understanding of his power and goodness also brings us greater peace. Let me provide an example. As I’ve been explaining, spiritual warfare is […]

When I say the word “demons,” what comes to mind?  Is it The Exorcist movie, or someone on TV supposedly commanding an evil spirit to depart as he hits someone on the forehead? There is a lot of information out there which is either misguided or wrong. But that shouldn’t dissuade us from learning more […]

We can learn a lot from the perspective of other faithful people who have endured adversity and pain. One of those people is Joni Eareckson Tada. She became a quadriplegic in her teens. Over the years she has been an advocate for people navigating life with various disabilities, and she has done so with grace, […]

Okay, time to think big about something many of us have probably not thought enough about. When we think about “spiritual warfare” we often think about temptation, the Devil, or personal battles. That makes sense. But have you ever wondered why Satan and his demons hate us? It’s a big topic. I won’t pretend to […]

The biblical stories are filled with details. Although some of them may seem curious or confusing, they are significant.  Since they are inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16) they are there for a reason. And if they exist to teach us and give us hope—which Romans 15:4 says they are—then we are wise to pay […]

“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). Each of the four Gospels tells us something important about the life and significance of Christ. A common illustration people sometimes use […]

Oswald Chambers said: “Sometimes it looks like God is missing the mark because we’re too short-sighted to see what He’s aiming for.” Have you ever thought that God is missing the mark? Well, as Chambers suggests, perhaps we’re just not thinking big enough.  Even as Christians we can compartmentalize certain biblical ideas. Let’s call it […]

Jesus said: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you […]

A beloved New Testament verse is James 4:8: “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” Let’s note a few things. First, it’s a promise. When you come near (or “draw near”) to God, he will come near to you. Not “might,” but “will.” Second, how do we come near to a […]

In yesterday’s devotional I shared a few words about success. More specifically, that success in God’s eyes has to do with humble faithfulness.  James was a wise church leader and a half-brother of Jesus. He brings this into focus as he corrects some people about their behaviour: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will […]

What do you want to be successful at? Perhaps it has to do with your career or schooling. Perhaps it has to do with your relationships or a personal goal that only you know about. If we want to be “successful,” we need to be aware of how we define that term. It’s easy to […]

Proverbs 19:21 is quite well-known: “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” Ultimately, God’s purpose will prevail. It cannot be thwarted or undone. His victory is past tense and present tense and future tense. It is both glorious and inescapable. When something is that certain, and […]

Edward the Confessor was the last Anglo-Saxon king of England.  According to some monks who knew him, he was a gentle man. But after he died, there was chaos and violence. The reason for this was because his throne was contested. Since there was no clear successor, bloodshed flooded the land. Let’s notice that all […]

Short cuts are tempting. Perhaps that’s because we would prefer things to be easy rather than hard. When I was in elementary school we had our annual long-distance run. A friend decided to take a short cut through the woods. But the coach found out. Why? Because his legs were covered in cuts from running […]

Recognition.  I’m not talking about face-recognition software or any other type of modern technology. I’m talking about being recognized, about being noticed, in a wider sense. When a young person dreams about being famous, I wonder if a part of the allure isn’t simply about being recognized and noticed. For adults, why do we like […]

Hello!  After some vacation time, The Up Devotional is back. Before I begin, let me first say welcome to our new subscribers on email, social media and on the podcast!  Let’s start. My family is quite particular about the movies we watch. As you probably already know, there’s a lot of junk out there. But […]

Jesus calls us to live sacrificially. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). But what is sacrifice?  Here’s one way to think about it. Sacrifice is giving up something good for something great. For example, if you are fasting, you sacrifice a good […]

Gary and Mary Jane Chauncey were devoted to their 11-year old daughter, Andrea. She had cerebral palsy and was confined to a wheelchair.  The Chauncey’s were on a train which was travelling over a bridge in Louisiana. A barge hit the bridge. Their train was derailed. Some of the train cars ended up on the […]

One of Jesus’ most frequently quoted sayings about discipleship is from Mark 8:34-35: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.” Let’s […]

Darryl Dash tells a story about a Puritan who was given a meagre meal of bread and water. You’d think he would be less than excited. After all, a simple meal of bread and water isn’t really anything to write home about. Not very tasty either.  But no. His attitude was much different. “All this, […]

The past few devotionals have been focused on perseverance and playing the long game. With that in mind, let me introduce what I think is a helpful play on words: Pray the long game. Playing the long game (without the ‘r’), is about saying and doing things in the here and now which will help […]

Charles Spurgeon said: “By perseverance the snail reached the ark.” Think about how small a snail is. I’m sure it was hard to get to the ark, not only because of his size but because he risked being stepped on! But alas, victory. Perseverance is all the more possible when you know you are headed […]