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Acts 3:5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
I’ve had this passage up on my computer for several days. Something about it draws me. A beggar, lame from birth, sitting at the temple gates, begging for money. He expected nothing more out of life. This was as good as it would ever get, he figured. Two men approaching the temple. A request for money, uttered thousands of times. A life-changing command—“Look at us!” So he did, expectantly.
Acts 3:6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
From the other side, Peter had no money, but he had the faith of a living Savior. He didn’t just say, “Sorry, dude. No cash. Can’t help.” He knew he had something better than coins, faith in a risen LORD, and he wanted to share. The beggar, expecting money, received a miracle, healing, an opportunity for restoration which he never dreamed possible.
Acts 3:16a “By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong….”
Lord, Thank You for this day and this example of faithful giving and faithful healing. Thank You for Your fierce love and relentless mercy. Help us to share what we have, our deep faith in You, and to seek to uplift and encourage each other at every opportunity. Draw us closer. Amen.
Acts 3:16b “…It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed Him, as you can see.”
Have a blessed day.

Romans 12:8 …if [your gift] is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
Yesterday I was listening to the song “Shoulders” by for King & Country. I’ve heard the song countless times, but yesterday, the line “Your mercy is relentless” really jumped out at me. The word relentless has such a negative connotation. Google defines it as “oppressively constant; incessant.” But when the term is applied to God’s grace, the thought, to me, is quite amazing—His mercy does not quit. Ever. No matter what I do. No matter how prickly I am. He loves me that much. He is relentless in the pursuit of me.
Isaiah 55:8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”
Humans aren’t really wired that way, I think. I know I’m guilty of giving something my best shot but calling it quits if the return on my investment doesn’t seem worth all I have to sacrifice for it. I’m incredibly thankful that my Savior’s mercy is relentless. Even though I try my hardest every day, I undoubtedly need liberal doses of His mercy every second of my life. Thank You, Jesus.
Lam 3:21-23 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning….
Lord, Thank You for this day, for Your fierce love, for Your relentless mercy. I do not deserve them. I cannot earn them. I am not worthy of them, yet You lavish me with Your grace daily. Help me to treat everyone I encounter with the same relentless mercy with which You treat me. Draw us closer. Amen.
Heb 4:16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Have a blessed day.

Psalm 62:5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.
I am an incredibly emotional person. On good days, when things are going well, it is a beautiful thing because I feel joy so deeply. On bad days, like yesterday when it felt like I was failing at life, it can be really, really difficult to be so emotional because I feel failure so deeply. However, being this emotional is one of the things that, as I get older, sends me in search of my Savior so much more often. He created me this way for a purpose, and I know He can use this trait for my good and His glory.
Psalm 62:6 He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
Being such an emotional person is one of the reasons I started sharing my devotional reflections with others. I used to think I was the only one who struggled with so many things, which made it so much harder. Everyone else seemed to be winning at life and I fell at every turn. Not true. And realizing I was not the only one struggling was liberating—I am not a freak because I struggle. Everyone struggles—in different ways and with different issues, but struggles nonetheless. I resolved to be transparent with my struggles so that others struggling in silence would realize they were not alone.
Psalm 62:7 On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
Lord, Thank You for this day, for my emotional nature, for Your guidance, strength, and wisdom in sharing my struggles with others in an attempt to shine Your light. Every good and perfect gift is from You, Lord. Every trial brings me closer to You. Every day is a new opportunity to honor You. Draw me closer. Help me encourage others and point them to You. Amen.
James 1:12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
Have a blessed day.

1 Cor 1:4-5 I always thank my God for you because of His grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in Him you have been enriched in every way….
I am not living as someone who is more than a conqueror (Rom 8:37). I am not living as a deeply, fiercely, completely loved child of God. I am allowing myself to become overwhelmed by doubts, fears, and missteps. I seem to keep forgetting that I am covered by God’s amazing, unending, undeserved, all-powerful grace. Jesus, Help me.
1 Cor 1:7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.
I seem to go through cycles where I just feel utterly defeated, like everything I do, despite my best intentions, turns out terribly wrong. How do I keep losing sight of the fact that “…the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in me…” (Rom 8:11) because of His radical, life-changing love for me? Jesus, Help me.
1 Cor 1:8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lord, Thank You for this day and for the reminder of the power, love, and grace I am covered with as Your deeply loved child. Help me, daily, hourly, moment-by-moment, to feel Your presence, to live Your strength, to show Your love and compassion. I feel like on my own, I keep making a mess of things, but I keep forgetting that because I have claimed You as mine, I am no longer on my own. You are always with me. You strengthen me and cover me with Your grace. I want more of You and less of myself, Lord. I want to honor You with my life. I want to live victoriously through You. Show me how. Draw me closer. Amen.
1 Cor 1:9 God is faithful, who called you into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Have a blessed day.

Romans 12:10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
I find today’s passages incredibly appropriate as I prepare to begin a new semester. God is at the center of who I am, and while I do not discuss my faith in a classroom setting, I most certainly want to infuse Him, my core and my center, in all I do. One way to do that is to love my students where they are, for who they are, and with whatever baggage they are currently carrying. That is often easier said than done. Jesus, Help me.
Romans 12:12-13 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
I try to treat people with unconditional positive regard because I believe that all people have value, even when they/we make mistakes. To me, treating someone as a human being worthy of love and respect is the same concept as Paul’s reminder to practice hospitality. To me, Jesus’s radical idea that even prostitutes, tax collectors, and adulterers were worthy of His love and His time seems to speak to the same concept of unconditional positive regard.
Romans 12:16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Lord, Thank You for this day and for these reminders. Thank You for the unconditional positive regard which You show to all people. Help me to live the spirit of these verses as I begin this new semester. Help me to serve as Your heart, Your hands, and Your feet to all I encounter. Draw me closer. Amen.
Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Have a blessed day.

Psalm 145:8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
The verses today made me think of the bracelets and saying popular some years ago: What would Jesus do? (WWJD?) When we contemplate the question of what our Savior would do, we must contemplate it in relationship to both His mission and His character.
Psalm 145:13b The LORD is trustworthy in all His promises and faithful in all He does.
John 3:17 states, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” He didn’t come to wreak mass destruction, but He also didn’t come to play the games of the established religious. He came to disrupt the status quo, to turn the well ordered rules on their heads, to challenge everything that the people thought they knew about love, forgiveness, and religion. He came to save everyone. 
Psalm 145:14 The LORD upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
Lord, Thank You for this day and for Your outrageous love for us. Thank You for loving us so much that You came to save us from ourselves. Help us to ask ourselves in all situations, “What would Jesus do?” and to respond according to Your mission and Your true character. Draw us closer. Amen.
Psalm 145:18 The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.
Have a blessed day.

Luke 12:22 …”Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or your body, what you will wear.”
My sweet Savior is so good and faithful to me. I absolutely don’t deserve it, but I am so incredibly thankful. Yesterday was full of doubts and fears. Change is coming. And I still don’t have any concept of His will for me as I proceed, but yesterday He also sent me affirmations, prayers, and fellowship, and today I can say confidently that He knows my strengths and skills, and He knows how to best utilize them. So now I wait, hope, trust, and seek Him in every step.
Luke 12:23 “For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.”
The thing that I still struggle with, though, is the idea of action or inaction. Should I be doing something specific as I wait or should I be still and let things unfold in His time? And while I don’t have a definitive answer for that one yet, I know that daily He has things for me to do. If I seek Him daily, seek to do His will, seek to honor Him daily, He will reveal each next step as I’m ready for it. 
Luke 12:25 “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?”
Lord, Thank You for this day, for Your steadfast love, for Your mercy and guidance. Help me to be bold and confident as I move forward on this path of change. Guide and direct my steps. Help me to seek and to honor You in all things. Guard me. Guide me. Draw me closer. Amen.
Luke 12:29-39 “And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it….your Father knows that you need them.”
Have a blessed day.

Acts 9:6 …”Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?”…
Lord, There seems to be change on the horizon in so many areas of my life. I want deeply to live a life that honors You. Help me to see and understand the paths You would have me to travel. I want to use the strengths and gifts You’ve given me to shine Your light and point others to You. I want to bring You glory. Show me how. Show me where. Show me when. Show me what You would have me to do.
Jer 29:13 You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.
Lord, I know You can use me anywhere, but I also deeply believe that You have a specific plan for my life, specific areas or places You can use me best. In this season of change, help me to discern Your will, Your path for my life. Help me to approach whatever is next with a servant’s heart and hands. Guide me and guard me, Lord.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight….
Lord, Thank You for this day and for Your unconditional love, mercy, and grace. Thank You for the understanding that this is a season of change, that beauty and growth can come from it. Help me to seek You and Your will with my entire being. Show me what You would have me to do. Draw me closer. Amen.
Isaiah 43:1 …”Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.”
Have a blessed day.

Psalm 139:17 How precious to me are Your thoughts, God! How vast the sum of them!
Various factors, including sinus drainage, sent me to my recliner in the middle of the night. At precisely 4 am, a windup musical figurine in my China cabinet began to play the tune “Close to You,” a 70s song sung by the Carpenters. Needless to say, the tinny tinkling of music out of the silence of 4am was marginally disconcerting, but as with so many things these days, it got me thinking about my Savior.
Psalm 139:18a Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand….
My inability to sleep well is pretty legendary in my house. There was a time, more recent than I’d like to admit, that my sleepless hours would be filled with frustration, thinking about how badly I needed sleep that wouldn’t come. I’m getting much better, though, when sleeplessness claims me, about turning to prayer and conversation with my Savior instead. He longs to be close to me and has desired that relationship since He formed me in my mother’s womb. And I am thankful to be at a place in my life where I desire that relationship, too, more than anything. 
Psalm 139:18b …when I awake, I am still with You.
Lord, Thank You for this day and for a very unconventional reminder in the wee hours of the morning that You long to be close to me. Thank You for my deep desire to be close to You as well, to live a life that honors You. Help me, every day and in everything, to seek to draw closer to You, Lord. Help me to honor You with my life. Amen.
Matt 28:20 …And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Have a blessed day.

Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Lord, Thank You for loving me fiercely and for pursuing a relationship with me. At the same time, thank You for not forcing that relationship but for planting and nurturing a  desire in my heart for communion with You. My relationship with You is more important to me now than ever because I understand how very much I need You as the center of my life. Thank You for bringing me near by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.
Lord, I know You want to be my peace. I know You have given me the tools to make that happen. Please give me wisdom and discernment to understand how to claim Your peace in my life. I want it desperately, but I think there is still so much of my own humanity in my way. Help me, Lord, to put myself aside and allow You to be my center and my peace. Show me how.
Eph 2:22 And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.
Lord, Thank You for this day and for the strong desire to live a life that honors You. Help me to fully understand what that means and how to make it happen. Help me to put aside anything that keeps me from fully claiming You as my center and my peace. Dwell in me. Draw me closer. Amen.
Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Have a blessed day.