- Today's Devotional
Complaint in the Wilderness
Israel's song of victory still rings in their ears. Days earlier, they walked through the Red Sea on dry ground and watched the waters swallow Pharaoh's army (Exodus 14). The people sang and danced, praising a God with no equal (Exodus 15:1–21). Now the song fades into the silence of the desert. For three days, they trudge under a blazing sun without finding water. What they finally find at Marah is too bitter to drink. Even with the miracle fresh in their minds, the people grumble against Moses instead of bringing their need to God. Moses responds differently...
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- Devotional
Complaint in the Wilderness
Israel's song of victory still rings in their ears. Days earlier, they walked through the Red Sea on dry ground and watched the waters swallow Pharaoh's army ( Exodus 14 ). The people sang and danced, praising a God with no equal ( Exodus 15:1–21 ). Now the song fades into the silence of the desert. For three days, they trudge under a blazing sun without finding water. What they finally find at Marah is too bitter to drink. Even with the miracle fresh in their minds, the people grumble against Moses instead of bringing their need to God. Moses responds differently...
- Devotional
Constantly in Prayer Together
The book of Acts details the explosive growth of the early church following the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. At first, the disciples are trembling in an upstairs room, unsure of what Jesus’s death on the cross meant. After his resurrection and ascension, however, the Spirit emboldens the disciples and empowers them to share the gospel. At the heart of that transformation is their commitment to pray together. The early church “joined together constantly in prayer.” This was not a haphazard rhythm they occasionally practiced, but a way of life to which they consistently devoted themselves.
- Devotional
Growing in Humility
Paul writes from a prison cell, chained for the same gospel he once tried to destroy. The believers in Philippi face opposition too, threatened from outside and battling division within their own church body. Into that pressure, Paul doesn’t call them to fight harder or defend themselves. He points them to Jesus, who left heaven’s glory and walked the hardest road imaginable, all the way to a cross. If anyone had the right to self-promotion, it was Jesus. Instead, he emptied himself to serve his people and obey the Father. His humility becomes the church’s example for every hard road they’ll walk.
- Devotional
The Damascus Road
The gospel spreads through Jerusalem, and so does persecution. Saul stands in the center of the persecution. He hunts down Christians and approves their deaths, convinced he’s defending God’s honor. He sets out for Damascus with letters authorizing more arrests, breathing out murderous threats. Nothing on that road prepares him for Jesus meeting him there. In one blinding moment, his path bends in the opposite direction, from persecutor to preacher, from Jesus’s enemy to his servant. He isn’t searching for Jesus. Jesus finds him anyway and completely changes his life.
- Devotional
Philip on the Road
The good news about Jesus spreads through Jerusalem after he returns to heaven, and thousands believe. Meanwhile, on a desert road outside the city, an Ethiopian official rides home in his chariot. He’d traveled all the way to Jerusalem to worship. Yet as a foreigner and a eunuch, he would have stood in the temple’s outer courts as an outsider looking in. On this lonely stretch of road, he seeks to understand Scripture, reading the prophet Isaiah. God sends Philip to meet him on the road and explain how that very Scripture points to Jesus, who welcomes him in. Through his belief in Jesus, he’s no longer an outsider looking in.
- Devotional
The Emmaus Road
Two disciples trudge the seven dusty miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus. As they walk, they talk through their grief over the last few days. They hoped Jesus was their Messiah who would set Israel free from Rome. Instead, they watched Jesus die a brutal death on the cross. Now rumors of an empty grave only add confusion to their sorrow. A stranger joins them on the road, listens intently to their story, then gently rebukes them. He opens their eyes to how all of Scripture pointed to him and his suffering. He came to set them free, not from Rome, but from sin. By the time he breaks bread at their table, disappointment gives way to recognition and great joy.
- Devotional
Jesus Prays for Unity
Jesus gathers with his disciples hours before his arrest. By morning, he will be nailed to a Roman cross. Gripped with urgency, he tells them to remain in him, promising to send the Holy Spirit to help them do just that ( John 15–16 ). Then he prays for them. Jesus knows his followers will face a broken and hostile world. Their unity will not come by their own strength, but from the Spirit uniting them in Jesus. He prays for the disciples in the room, and for all who will one day believe because of their message...
- Devotional
Living Water
Jesus journeys through Samaria, stopping at a well in the town of Sychar. There, he encounters a Samaritan woman. It is not customary for a Jewish man to speak with a Samaritan woman, yet Jesus doesn't hesitate to share the gift of living water with her. While the water this woman draws from the well is temporary, Jesus offers something permanent. Confused, she asks, “Where can you get this living water?” ( John 4:11 ). Jesus then identifies himself as its source. He echoes God's own imagery from Jeremiah—“the spring of living water” ( Jeremiah 2:13 )—and applies it to himself. This is no small claim: Jesus is placing himself in the role Scripture reserves for God. He is the divine source of the living water that gives eternal life...
