The Word Before Work

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Beyond the Great Commission Devotional: 3 of 5 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.…And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water t...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Beyond the Great Commission Devotional: 2 of 5 After his suffering, [Jesus] presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. (Acts 1:3) Last week, we saw that for the very fi...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Beyond the Great Commission Devotional: 1 of 5 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 always, to the very end of the age. (...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Wisdom for Work from Joseph Devotional: 5 of 5 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:20) Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery which led him to Egypt and his unjust incarceration. But God orch...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Wisdom for Work from Joseph Devotional: 4 of 5 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me….I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent m...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Wisdom for Work from Joseph Devotional: 3 of 5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he de...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Wisdom for Work from Joseph Devotional: 2 of 5 Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him (Genesis 39:20-21a) Joseph, the treasured son of Jacob, was sold into slave...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Wisdom for Work from Joseph Devotional: 1 of 5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more…His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he ha...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Common Grace & Uncommon Work Devotional: 5 of 5 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good….for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. (Romans 13:4,6) Let’s face it: The brand of Christianity isn’t so hot right now. By and large, non-Chr...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Common Grace & Uncommon Work Devotional: 4 of 5 The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. (Psalm 145:9) I was talking with a friend recently who explained how he felt called by God to quit podcasting because of how much anxiety it was causing him. Every one o...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Common Grace & Uncommon Work Devotional: 3 of 5 When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil?...His God instructs him and teaches him the right way. (Isaiah 28:24,26) I was recently asked to speak to a group of pastors abo...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Common Grace & Uncommon Work Devotional: 2 of 5 Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. (Luke 6:27) Last week, we began exploring how our work should be uncommonly shaped by the reality of common grace: the goodness God shows to “the righteous and the unrighteous,” his friend...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Common Grace & Uncommon Work Devotional: 1 of 5 [God] causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:45) When the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 2:8 that “it is by grace you have been saved,” he was referring to God’s sa...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Thanks for Thorns and Thistles Devotional: 5 of 5 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Thanks for Thorns and Thistles Devotional: 4 of 5 Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:4) When I was researching my next book, I read tons of dense books with “paragraphs” that spanned entire pages—sometimes multiple...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Thanks for Thorns and Thistles Devotional: 3 of 5 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Thanks for Thorns and Thistles Devotional: 2 of 5 When pride comes, then comes disgrace; but wisdom is with the humble. (Proverbs 11:2) A few weeks ago, I was having dinner with one of my favorite authors—someone who has sold millions more books than I have. I was picking my friend’s b...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Thanks for Thorns and Thistles Devotional: 1 of 5 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 o...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Wisdom for Work from the Psalms Devotional: 7 of 7 “The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me.” (Psalm 50:23)  “Glorify” is one of those Christianese terms we use so much that its meaning can feel muddled. So, when you read a passage like 1 Corinthians 10:31 that ur...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Wisdom for Work from the Psalms Devotional: 6 of 7 Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you….What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me? (Psalm 116:7, 12) A friend of mine was watching a kid play his heart out on the basketball court even though h...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Wisdom for Work from the Psalms Devotional: 5 of 7 [God] makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate—bringing forth food from the earth...All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time. (Psalm 104:14, 27) After praying and thanking God for...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Wisdom for Work from the Psalms Devotional: 4 of 7 May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands. (Psalm 90:17) This is the final verse of Psalm 90, the only Psalm that credits Moses as its author. It’s not sur...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Wisdom for Work from the Psalms Devotional: 3 of 7 Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12) I’ve noticed a strikingly consistent theme in the biographies of history’s most impactful Christians: They thought about death— a lot .  At the age of 29, M...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Wisdom for Work from the Psalms Devotional: 2 of 7 In you, Lord my God, I put my trust…Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. (Psalm 25:1, 5) Can you repeat David’s words with a straight face? “God…my hope is in you all day l...

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com -- Series: Wisdom for Work from the Psalms Devotional: 1 of 7 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is...