The Up Devotional

“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman…” (Galatians 4:4) Lately I’ve been thinking about what Jesus’ life was like while on earth. [Full link below.] Life was difficult and dangerous. Consider a few of the details: He was born under Roman oppression under the tyrannical rule […]

Paul’s wisdom and instruction in Philippians 4:6 endures: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Note his logic. He first says to not be anxious about anything. That’s something to shoot for, and it is certainly a work-in-progress for many of […]

“We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Lyman Stone is an advisor for Demographic Intelligence. He highlights something which made Christians stand out from the crowd in centuries past: “Probably a disease related to Ebola, the Plague of Cyrpian helped set off the Crisis of the Third Century in the Roman world. […]

Do you have problems? I’m sure you do. If so, you’ve probably been talking to God about them.  I recently came across this statement by Mark Batterson: “It’s okay to talk to God about your problems, but at some point you need to talk to your problems about God.”* At first it didn’t sit well […]

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus…” (Hebrews 12:1-2). In these verses, the writer of Hebrews is drawing imagery […]

Hello everyone! The Up Devotional is back after a week’s vacation. I slept in, played multiple games of Uno, read my Bible, and set up a swing in the backyard. But now the devotional is back to your email inboxes, social media feeds, radios, and podcasting apps. A clarifying psalm for the start of a […]

In Waiting for God, Simone Weil describes when God became personal to her. She writes: “In 1938… I was suffering from splitting headaches; each sound hurt me like a blow… I discovered the poem… called “Love” [by George Herbert] which I learnt by heart. Often, at the culminating point of a violent headache, I made […]

As we draw closer to December 25th I want to share a reminder that we are remembering and celebrating actual historical events. These aren’t just old stories; they are eternal stories. The Gospels are historical records which have been carefully preserved. Luke’s Gospel tells us about the census, the shepherds, the Inn and the manger. […]

There’s a cartoon about prayer. The illustrator’s name is blurry so unfortunately I can’t provide proper credit. But it depicts a man who has just seen someone—someone he was supposed to pray for. His thoughts are described in a bubble above his head: ‘Oh great! Here comes Bob. I told him I’d pray for him! […]

“Hey there, old buddy old pal! How are you today? Would you mind giving me some criticism? What about some constructive-but-very-honest feedback about what I could do to improve myself?” Okay, you’re right. Conversations don’t usually start that way. In fact, we tend to dislike criticism or feedback about how we can “improve ourselves.” Not […]

Non-stop news. Overflowing schedules. Phones that won’t stop dinging. Mental and emotional frakis. You’re right, “frakis,” isn’t a word, but you get the gist. Not everyone’s life is like this. But for a lot of people this is a daily reality. One of my favourite verses from the psalms is Psalm 61:2. David says: “lead […]

Every year more than 75 billion Lego pieces are sold. That’s a LOT of Lego. But who came up with the idea in the first place? Ole Kirk Christiansen was the originator. He wanted to create something creative for kids. It wasn’t easy. During his life his shop burned down—twice!  He eventually came up with […]

Before Jesus’ followers were called Christians they were known as the followers of “the Way.” For example, in Acts 19:23 a riot is described in Ephesus: “About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way.” In Acts 22:4 Paul described his former way of life: “I persecuted this Way to the death…” This […]

Jesus said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Here in the modern west, a new set of cultural values are emerging, both positive and negative. Let me highlight two of the negative. If someone says you are being “exclusive” or […]

M. Scott Peck wrote: “one of the characteristics of evil is its desire to confuse.”* That makes sense. Jesus calls Satan the “father of lies” (John 8:44). If we’re always confused and distracted and spinning, we are unable to stand firm on God our Rock and live in a way which is consistent with his […]

The Puritans are often given a bad rap. If someone says you are “puritanical,” they are not giving you a compliment. This is an unfortunate result of people not knowing what they’re talking about. The actual Puritans (and not the modern, dismissive caricature) were a group of Protestant Christians who primarily lived from the mid-1600’s […]

We’ve been exploring Jesus’ new command: “Love one another: As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). That statement is jam packed with meaning and possibility. Here’s something else which is easy to miss. We are to love “one another.” He was speaking to his disciples. Our love is expansive, […]

Jesus calls us to love one another. What’s more is that he provides himself as an example to emulate. “As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). Since he would lay down his life for us, that’s a pretty tall order! We are summoned to self-sacrificial love. Today I’m here […]

In John 13:34 Jesus gave this new commandment: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Sounds nice. But what is love? When you look at the use of this word in the New Testament here is what you find. To love someone in this way means acknowledging that […]

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  It’s an expression we’ve all heard. Maybe even used. Think of a hail Mary pass near the end of a football game. Or the person who is in such financial ruin that the only thing they can think of doing to help their situation is to rob a bank. […]

It’s December. Christmas is approaching. Indulge me with an illustration. Imagine an alien from another planet was sent on a mission to earth to learn about Christmas. And imagine that it came to your house to watch your celebrations and to collect data. And then imagine that it had to report back to its mothership […]

A woman named Sarah went to visit Martin Thielen. She had marriage problems, problems with her children, and overwhelming stress in her job. He asked her what she wanted most out of life. Turns out, she wanted to be happy. After thinking for a few moments she explained further: “I make a lot of money. […]

In the previous devotional I highlighted Henri Nouwen’s phrase “downward mobility.”* It stands in stark contrast to modern definitions of success (including “upward mobility”) which are focused on accumulating influence and power. When I was young we would sometimes read the Mr. Men books. One of them was Mr. Topsy-Turvy. Things were very unexpected in […]

One of Jesus’ most memorable actions was washing his disciples’ feet. The one who had walked on water and turned water into wine took the posture of a servant, even a slave. Foot washing was a job normally reserved for the lowly. But that’s what he did.  Consider this context which helps us appreciate his […]

Christmas is coming. “It’s practically here!” So sayeth the Grinch. This past Sunday marked the beginning of Advent. That’s a word which means “coming,” referring to the coming of Christ. It’s the four-week period leading up to Christmas. As December 25th draws near, so do many complicated feelings. Because of the pandemic, our celebrations have […]