August 2025
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When facing death, Paul felt his earthly work and ministry were unfinished. His desire for heaven was evident (v. 23). His conviction to stay on the earth was for the Philippian believers’ benefit, not his own. Heaven was assured because of his faith in Christ. His desire to remain wasn’t driven by the uncertainty of his eternity but
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Philippians 1:22-23 reveals Paul’s efforts to advance the gospel and his desire to be in heaven. These verses also resolve his dilemma of staying alive to advance the gospel on earth or dying and being in heaven with Jesus. He knew the continuation of his life would result in fruit. While Paul would bear personal
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A missionary once challenged me with an interesting question. After sharing a short devotional about “living for Christ,” he asked me, “Would you be ready to die for Christ?” I had not thought about that at all in preparation for my devotional. My initial response was, “I thought He died for me?” The missionary served in
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I love being a father. God’s gift of our three children is one of His best, along with salvation and marriage to my wife. I had a great father. He and my mother adopted my sister and me, and he modeled how to be loving, patient, gentle, and so much more. He showed me how
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In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus preached and taught the basics of Christianity, with prayer being one of the foundational teachings. Jesus showed prayer was not a suggestion but a necessity. He said, “When you pray”, not “if you pray.” Prayer is vital to our Christian faith. It is how we communicate
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The book of Joel in the Bible is about Judah’s experience with a severe locust plague. It is so brutal that Joel 1:4 tells us, “What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten. What the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten. What the young locusts have left other locusts
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Every sport with a ball has a goal, even if it isn’t called a “goal”, and is used to score points. Football has goal posts. Basketball has a goal. So does soccer. Each player works to achieve victory by placing their ball strategically into the goal. A player suits up, steps onto the playing field,
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The headlights on my Jeep had become cloudy, and I couldn’t see very well at night anymore. The bulbs still worked, but the lenses wouldn’t allow all of the light to pass through them. Probably 50% of the light was blocked. Over thirteen years, the plastic surface of the lenses had oxidized and lost its
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Sometimes we are in a hurry, but God isn’t. That requires patience. Galatians 5:22 says patience is a fruit of the Spirit, meaning all believers should possess it. Patience is more than waiting. It is waiting with Christlike character. If you are moody, negative, and inconsiderate, you are not waiting patiently. Here’s the deal: you are going to have to wait anyway
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I’m working on a new 9-week devotional on Colossians (1-2 verses a day). Hopefully out in December 2025 ready for New Year devotionals. Here’s a sample. Strengthened and Qualified “Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified
stephen R Harrison 