Pastor’s Blog
Daily Devotion Dec. 12, 2025
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:1-9, NIV).
From the first moments of birth, we are encouraged to live independently. A newborn baby must learn to breath on her own once the umbilical cord is cut. Walking is also a rite of passage toward autotomy. A toddler’s first steps open new opportunities to explore God’s creation. Time passes quickly as the child crosses the graduation stage and prepares to leave home.
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Daily Devotion Dec. 11, 2025
“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. So, we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:1, 6-7, NRSV).
The human body is a marvel of God’s handiwork. The blood vessels in just one person could circumnavigate the earth two and a-half times if they were placed end to end. The human nose can detect up to one trillion types of smells. My father used to claim that my mother had the ears of an elephant. She could hear my brother and me getting into trouble from a mile away.
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Daily Devotion Dec 10, 2025
“I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2, NRSV).
“From where will my help come?” (Psalm 121:1, NRSV). What a fascinating question. Ancient wisdom has it that God helps those who help themselves. Pastor Rick Warren disagrees by claiming, “God doesn’t help those who help themselves. He helps those who turn to Him.”
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Daily Devotion Dec. 9, 2025
“So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:42-44, ESV).
I can’t help but wonder if this passage was one of the Apostle Paul’s favorites. Paul spoke of the “thorn in the flesh” from which he suffered mightily. No one knows the particular malady with which Paul struggled. Some have suggested that Paul was blind. Others claim that he endured debilitating seizures.
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Daily Devotion Monday, Dec. 8, 2025
“And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:1-7, ESV).
Over the years, the innkeeper’s reputation has taken a beating. He has been viewed as a heartless businessman who was more interested in making money than helping a poor family in need. Personally, I believe the innkeeper has been given a bad rap. The reality may be that the innkeeper was a rather gracious person.
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Daily Devotion Dec. 5, 2025
“He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit: “Every branch that bears fruit he prunes” (John 15:2, NRSV).
This passage from John’s gospel has created a bit of angst for many readers over the years. The impression is that, like a gardener, God will lop off every Christian who fails to produce an acceptable yield of good works, then throw that person onto the trash heap.
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