Daily Devotion - December 24, 2025

The shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. (Luke 2:15-16)

Many of us grew up singing the Christmas carol “Oh, little town of Bethlehem.” But we may have become so familiar with the lyrics that we’ve neglected to marvel at the message they carry.

At the time of Jesus’ birth, Bethlehem had become a town of little importance – fallen from it’s renown as David’s city. In fact, most people avoided it on their way to Jerusalem. 

Still, God’s graceful design was to use the dingy town to bring his Son into the world. On that day, Bethlehem shone so brightly that we would sing of her: “The hopes and fears of all the years were met in thee tonight.” 

The King of Glory came to a forgotten town, in an oppressed land, to be laid in a cattle trough, by a disgraced mother, of a transient family, and to be announced to the world by lowly shepherds. Where’s the grace in all of that? You know. 

God chose the weak and despised things of this world to display his glory, so that when we are forgotten, weak, disregarded, disgraced, displaced, poor, and lowly, we will remember that God does not despise coming to us. So do not fear to come to him.

Prayer: Father, just as you used the flawed features of the insignificant town of Bethlehem to display the glory of Jesus’ grace to persons like me, so also convince me that you can use me – even me – to bring his good news to others.

Daily Devotion - December 23, 2025

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isa. 9:6)

Isaiah writes this passage during a sorrowful and somber time in the Israel’s history. God’s people had turned their backs on him, and the light of hope seemed all but extinguished. 

That would be a sad story for sure — if that were the end. But it’s not! Isaiah prophesied that God had a plan for turning his people back to him! The prophet proclaims, “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given.” This prophesied Son would be the Savior of the World, offering God’s counsel, might, love, and peace!  

At times such a Son may seem distant from us, lost in the sentiment of a Christmas song, or banished from our hearts by serious sin. Whatever the cause of his seeming distance, recognize Isaiah wrote to a people whose sentiments were idolatrous and whose sin was great. 

If you think you do not qualify for God’s counsel, might, love, and peace, then think again. If people like these were to receive help from Jesus, then people like you and me can expect it, too. 

If we didn’t need his help, then Jesus would not have come. Sin never needs to be the end of God’s story. Let him write Jesus’ ending for you.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you that my sins need not be the end of your story for me. Help me remember that my Savior came because I needed saving, and turn my heart to seek his counsel, might, love, and peace.

Daily Devotion - December 22, 2025

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). (Matt. 1:23)

Jesus could have remained remote in heaven’s realm, but he didn’t. As an infant in a manger, a child in Nazareth, and a Savior on a cross, he knelt down into the dirt of our earth and our shame to demonstrate a near and holy love. Even his name communicates this love: Immanuel, means God with us.

The announcement of our Savior’s name was not the first affirmation of our God’s presence. When God walked with our first parents in the Garden of Eden, sealed Noah’s family in the ark, spared Abraham’s son with a provision of sacrifice, delivered Israel from Pharaoh and through the Red Sea, dwelt among his people in the Wilderness, rescued them from enemies, spoke through prophets and apostles with his Word for us, and put his Spirit in us – in all these, our God was demonstrating the Immanuel principle: He is with us!

Why is the Immanuel principle displayed so often in Scripture? The answer is that we can face any trial, walk any path, deal with all the pains of a fallen world so long as we know God is with us. He is!

If you know that God is with you, then you can face anything. So, by his Word and Spirit, God is with you every moment of every day, so that you can face everything with him. God is with you! 

Prayer: Lord, thank you that you are with me. May the truths of your Word be the witness of your Spirit in my heart, assuring me that you will walk with me through anything. May I fear nothing because in everything my God is near!

Daily Devotion - December 19, 2025

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. (Rom. 2:1 NIV)

In the play The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, we get to know the six Herdman kids. They are bonafide delinquents — they lie, smoke, cuss, and bully others at school. They never attend church. And, for all the other kids in town, this is a blessing. Church is the one place they can find some protection and peace – until the day the Herdman kids show up.

Invading a Sunday school class, these inventively awful kids ask the teacher lots of questions like, “Why don’t they call him Bill instead of Jesus?” and “Why don’t they give Christmas a better name, like ‘Revenge at Bethlehem?’”

How do kids like the Herdmans wind up in a Christmas story? The same way that we do. They receive patience and mercy they do not earn or fully understand. 

Wayward children receive grace they do not deserve. That’s the real Christmas story – and what makes it real to us. When we witness the blessing such grace brings to lowly shepherds, or delinquent Herdmans, or our wayward hearts, then the story becomes as meaningful as God intended.

Ultimately the beauty of the Christmas story touches us, when we realize that we are in Christ’s pageant story, too. We who were undeserving of welcoming him were welcomed by him, and can tell others of his love for kids as awful as we. 

Prayer: Father, help me remember the grace that claimed me more that the merits I would claim. Make Jesus beautiful to and through me by the transformation in me that reflects how much I appreciate his patience and mercy toward me.

Daily Devotion - December 18, 2025

The grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. (1 Tim. 1:14-15)

The Apostle Paul seemed to get the gospel backwards. In one of his earliest letters, he confessed that he was the “least of the apostles.” Later he wrote to others that he was the “least of God’s people.” Finally, toward the end of his life and ministry he wrote that he was the “foremost” of sinners.

The more mature he became, the worse he saw his sin. Isn’t that backwards? Shouldn’t he have been getting better and better? Of course, we are right to expect Paul’s behavior to improve as his walk with Christ matured, but that is not his point.

The more Paul understood the sacrifice of his Savior, the more he detested the sin that required it. Paul did not get worse; he simply saw his wrongs more realistically. 

This perspective did not lead Paul to despair – quite the opposite. The more he recognized the magnitude of his sin, the more the cross of Jesus was magnified in his heart. 

Yes, Paul’s sin got worse in his estimation, but consequently the cross of Jesus got larger in his appreciation. So, far from despairing, he wrote, “The grace of our Lord overflowed for me.”

We don’t have to be afraid of confessing the magnitude of our sin to God. He already knows it, and our love and faith will only increase as his overflowing grace overwhelms our guilt and shame. 

Prayer: God, be merciful to me, a great sinner in need of a greater Savior. Let me see the magnitude of my sin so that I am overwhelmed by the magnificence of the cross where grace overflows for me.

Daily Devotion - December 17, 2025

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. . . . Judah [was] the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, . . . and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah. (Matt. 1:1-6)

Jesus’s family line is not what we would expect. There’s Tamar, who was abused and abandoned. There’s Rahab, a prostitute and outcast; and, Ruth, a foreigner. And, let’s not forget about Bathsheba, the adulteress wife of King David, who murdered her husband to have her. Jesus’ family tree is rotten.

Why does God used such an imperfect line for Christ’s lineage? God is making plain that he isn’t surprised by human frailty or put off by it. Imperfect people are the best candidates for receiving and displaying his grace. 

This may not be a message that we desire to hear on the days that we are confident of our goodness, but it is the message that we are desperate to claim on the days that our imperfections – even our rottenness – is plain to us.

God’s light shines brightest in the darkness, and his grace will gleam through the dirt on us. He can work past the sin we thought was greater than he, and he delights to do so. God displays his grace so brilliantly to make his mercy plain and to encourage us to claim it readily – right now!   

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for the fact that you pardon and give purpose to messed up people like me. Today, help me so to believe in your grace that I rejoice to receive it and live to reflect it!

Daily Devotion - December 16, 2025

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. (Heb. 12:1-2)

In every generation, God sustains his people through trials to provide encouragement to surrounding generations. 

When the prophet Daniel was old, he remembered what God had done for his young friends — Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. When Daniel faced new trials, he remembered how God had helped Jeremiah in a previous generation. When Daniel dreamed of trials yet to come, he also foresaw the Rescuer who would overcome.

Daniel faced hard times surrounded on all sides by a cloud of witnesses to God’s faithfulness. The writer of Hebrews does the same. In a time of persecution, he calls to mind the faithful witnesses of the ages to inspire faithfulness in his age.  

Scripture reminds us of the grace that has come to instill trust in the good yet to come. We trust God to do as he has done. We do not base our trust on words alone, but on generations of God’s care. 

He’s the protector of past, present, and future generations. If that cloud of witnesses seems remote or obscure, then you should remember the greatest witness of God’s goodness is the Holy Spirit bringing you to faith. Even if all is taken from you on earth, you still have Jesus. He is behind and before you, above and below you. You are surrounded by Jesus in the cloud of his ever-present grace! 

Prayer: Father, your Word shows how you always provide what is best your children. When I face trials, surround my heart with this cloud of witnesses so I fulfill your purposes.

Daily Devotion - December 15, 2025

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. (1 John 5:1-2)

Motivation is as important as obedience to truly please God. Doing right things for wrong reasons is – wrong! That’s why God sometimes rejected the prayers and worship of his people in Scripture.

Prayer is not wrong, and worship is not wrong, unless we are using them to try to bribe God to do what we selfishly desire. God’s heart cannot be bought by our good deeds. He is never indebted to us or managed by our merits.

God motivates us to do his will out of gratitude for his love and grace. True obedience is always a loving response to God’s grace rather than an attempt to buy him off. That’s why love for God is necessary to obey his commands. 

The heart that truly comprehends the greatness of God’s grace loves him. Such love for God compels us to live for him and walk in his ways. When we love God, we love those he loves and what he loves, making love for God the basis of all true obedience!

Prayer: Father, I’m grateful you enabled me to love you through Jesus’ love. Now help me confirm that love by living in true obedience that comes from making my greatest motivation love for your purposes rather than for mine!

Daily Devotion - December 12, 2025

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Rom. 8:35-37)

Guilt and fear can cause us to question our usefulness to God. But his love for us, and his power to hold us, are the basis for our ultimate confidence that he will not separate us or any that he loves from his care. 

We sometimes hear Christians question whether it is right to bring children into such a troubled world. We need to remember that God’s promises to us are no less powerful for the generations that follow us. 

God created us and our children for the precise moment in time that specific persons and personalities are needed for his witness. Every child of God has been raised up precisely for the moment God knew was best for that one to represent him. 

He raised up David for Goliath. He raised up Daniel for the lions’ den. He raised up Hannah to provide Samuel time to anoint kings in preparation for the Messiah.

Generations later, God raised up Jesus for the cross, then Peter and Paul to build the church that would follow. Each child fulfilled a divine purpose far beyond the difficulties of their time. 

God is not now wondering how he will maintain his purposes until Christ’s return. He is raising up moms and dads and children who are integral to his plan. Raise your children and their children’s children to believe they are in God’s plan for their time.

 Nothing can separate his children from his heart or his plan. All are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help us remember the grace that preserves your people and purposes through all generations, so that we raise the next generation of conquerors of hatred, bitterness, and evil.

Daily Devotion - December 11, 2025

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:103-105)

A nature trail that my family enjoys meanders through woods, parallels a stream, and circles a lake as it leads us to trees and rocks identified with placards explaining each landmark’s significance. 

The explanations help us understand and enjoy the features of the forest around us. But as interesting as these descriptions are, no trail sign is more important than the one at the beginning — the one with the arrows and the words that say, Begin Here.

Without a proper beginning we will struggle to find our way, see our path, or reach our destination.  The same is true with God’s Word. We get on the proper path of Scripture when we start reading with the understanding that God will be revealing his heart in all the features of his Word.

His instructions are sweet and he lights the path that is good for us because he intends to share with us the beauty and wonder of his care. Every path that begins with any other understanding is false and we will end up hating it. 

Jesus is at the end of the path designed by God’s Word. Knowing that destination, as we begin, will help us read Scripture’s landmarks as revelations of God’s heart – a heart that reveals our sin only to make us desire a Savior and delight in his path.

Prayer: Lord, may your Word guide my steps today, leading me closer to my Savior, Jesus Christ. Help me to delight in the words that reveal your care for me, my need of Jesus, and your path to Him. 

Daily Devotion - December 10, 2025

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. (1 John 4:18)

If God threatened to punish us, then terrorized fear would be an appropriate response. But the Apostle John tells us that perfect love for God casts out fear. How can that be? 

Punishment is the infliction of penalty for a wrong. For the Christian, the fear of such punishment has passed. How can that be?

On the cross Jesus took all the punishment for all our sins past, present, and future. God’s love may still discipline to turn us from sin’s consequences but the penalty for our sin was entirely paid by his Son. That’s why we sing, “Jesus Paid It All.” 

Punishment and discipline are not the same thing. Punishment exacts a price; discipline edifies people. Believers’ punishment is past; believers’ discipline is grace. 

As a result, christian obedience should never be an attempt to placate the “ogre in the sky” who’s just waiting for us to step out of line so he can punish us. The fear of that kind of punishment is gone. We haven’t been “perfected in love,” if such fear rules our hearts in place of gratitude for grace. 

The peace of God rules the hearts of all who delight in the grace of Christ who has cast our fear of punishment far away!

Prayer: Lord God, please help me to respond to you out of a heart trusting that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Because he took the fear of punishment away, rule my heart with the peace of knowing your enduring and edifying grace.

Daily Devotion - December 9, 2025

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Pet. 5:8)

Several years ago, my wife, Kathy, and a friend gathered up their kids and took a trip to the St. Louis Zoo. “Big Cat Country” had just opened, allowing lions and tigers to roam in large enclosures.  

Our two, preschool-aged boys ran ahead of the moms, who got distracted by a crying infant, and innocently squeezed through a child-sized gap in the fence undetected by recent workmen. The boys clamored to a perch above the lion’s den and proudly announced, “Hey, Mom, we can see them.” 

Suddenly Kathy realized where the boys were! The boys had no idea how much danger they were in. But Kathy knew and also knew now was not the time to scold. Instead, she knelt down, spread out her arms, and called to her children, “Come get a hug.” The boys came running to her embrace, saved by love from a danger greater than they could perceive.

In Scripture, God cautions us about our spiritual Adversary not merely to scold, but to warn of danger greater than we can fully understand. At the same time, he draws us to safety by loving arms spread wide on a cross to receive wandering children into his eternal embrace. Come running to his hug!

Prayer: Lord, I know that Satan is like a hungry lion, seeking to devour me. When he threatens my soul, help me run to Jesus’ arms spread wide to receive me.

Daily Devotion - December 8, 2025

Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. (1 Cor. 10:12-14)

As we persevere in faith against temptation, God calls us to stand … endure … and flee. The first two words are about resisting the force of temptation, while the last is about removing ourselves from its influence.

At times spiritual leaders may give counsel that seems inconsistent with a strong faith. A leader may advise a struggler, “Now you listen to me. Do not take that road home from work. If you take that road, you will be tempted by a place or person beyond your strength to resist. So, take another road home.” 

Such instruction recognizes that it may take as much strength to flee some temptations as it does to endure others. Don’t let anyone mislead you; often the best way to stand for God is to flee from temptation. Such flight confesses our humanity and trusts God’s provision. 

Overcoming temptation by faith is not like sitting on a sofa with a box of chocolates and insisting God make them disappear. God doesn’t magically teleport us from temptation, or it from us. 

When God graciously provides his way out of temptation, take it. Have enough faith in him to flee down the path he provides for your spiritual safety. 

Prayer: Lord, as I face temptations this week, help me to trust and take your way of escape, so that I can flee from danger to stand for you!

Daily Devotion - December 5, 2025

Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? So the last will be first, and the first last. (Matt. 20:13-16)

Coming to faith in Jesus happens on God’s timetable, confirming the purpose and value of each person. 

Those saved early in life are God’s lifeboats, gathering others by a lifelong witness to the blessings of grace. Those saved late in life are God’s lighthouses, rescuing those who are still sailing amid rocky shoals with beacons of grace. These beacons signal, “It’s not too late to turn from danger to your salvation.” 

God’s lifeboats and lighthouses are both products of his gracious heart. If all whom God saves were children, there would be no hope for the mature without Christ. If only the mature could receive the Savior, then children would be neglected. 

No guilt can seem greater than that of parents converted in maturity who raised their children without Jesus. Relief from such guilt comes by trusting God’s timing, wisdom, and heart. 

An adult convert can be the lighthouse God always intended for others (including one’s adult children) to receive the message: There’s still hope for me. I may be coming in late, but God still wants me. By contrast, Jesus’ love for a child can be God’s most powerful sign of grace for those who could not earn it.

The wonder of God’s grace includes his working individually in each of our lives. He knows the best timing for each human heart and how best to use each personal story. Through each God tells all the same message: “You are valuable to my Kingdom purposes.”

Prayer: Lord, help me to be a beacon of grace to those around me, proclaiming that it’s never too late to come to Christ, or too early to be used to bring others.

Daily Devotion - December 4, 2025

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea. (Psalm 46:1-2)

At a large conference, I struggled with how to worship, when a young woman I have known all her life walked onstage to lead us in song. She was raised in a home with an unbelieving father, nurtured to faith in a church torn by controversy, and still she achieved fame as a Christian musician. 

Then she married a musician who, despite his claims of faith, betrayed her, making headlines of pubic shame and pain. As the betrayed wife now led us in worship, I could not help but notice her loss of weight, the sorrow lines around her eyes, and the ache beneath her praise. I wondered if it were fair to her or to us to have her lead us in God’s praise.

Then by God’s grace, she addressed my wondering, in the first song she chose for us: 

Though Satan should buffet,
though trials should come, 

Let this blest assurance take control:

That Christ has regarded by helpless estate,

And has shed his own blood for my soul.

It is well with my soul.* 

This world’s trials had surely buffeted her life, but her God was still her refuge. She was as qualified as anyone could be to sing of the God who knew her helpless estate and still provided the assurance to sing, “It is well with my soul.” 

God had provided her strength for every trial. She was safe with him forever. So are you! 

Prayer: Lord, you are my refuge and strength. Help me to weather life’s certain storms by more certain truth: “It is well with my soul.”

*The hymn “It Is Well With My Soul” was written by Horatio Spafford and composed by Philip Bliss.

Daily Devotion - December 3, 2025

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (Mark 12:30) 

When we love Christ above all, then all loves find their proper order and proportion in our lives. Jesus explained that our first priority should be to love the Lord God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

When our love for God becomes our highest priority, then that love helps us to love what and whom he loves. Since he loves our neighbor, we do. Since, he loves us, there is a proper love for self, too. 

Does that sound strange? It won’t, when we are trying to help a young person caught in an addictive or self-destructive life pattern. Then, we naturally say, “Jesus loves you,” knowing that, when the person values themselves as Jesus does, new life is possible. 

Self-love is destructive if it’s our first priority. But, if Jesus is our first priority, then protecting and promoting the health of one he loves is a priority that he uses to bring beauty and health to broken lives.

We honor the God who made us when we treat our bodies, souls, and consciences with his care. Neglecting or beating up on ourselves never honors the One who made us a temple for his Holy Spirit.

Prayer: Lord, help me to find the beauty and health that come from loving you as my first priority and then, discovering that loving what and whom you love instills proper love for the unlovely, the broken, and – me!

Daily Devotion - December 2, 2025

I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my words. Wondrously show your steadfast love, O Savior. (Psalm 17:6-7)

I have had the incredible opportunity to raft down the Colorado River through the length of the Grand Canyon. The magnificent sights and scary rapids wondrously showed the power of God’s hand. But I also learned more of his grace from a flaw of mine.

One evening a terrible rainstorm hit camp. As the clouds rolled in, I was able to get my rain gear on faster than most. As the rain pounded us, I smiled smugly at the discomfort of others and rejoiced to be snug as a bug in a rug – until the rain started running down my back, the consequence of a leaky seam that made me as miserable as everyone else.

The necessity of God’s grace for everyone should remind us that we’ve all got leaky seams. If you don’t confess that, then you won’t seek the shelter that God alone can provide. 

When you do admit you have some leaks and call out to God for his help, then you have the promise of the One who controls the storms that he will hear above the tempest and will provide his care. 

He promises, “No matter what mess you’ve gotten yourself into, when you call me, I will answer as is absolutely best to seal your soul in my grace.”

Prayer: Dear Savior, I have many “leaks” in my life. As I call out to you for help, please send your grace to seal my soul from sin with your love and for your purposes.

Daily Devotion - December 1, 2025

As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Pet. 1:15-16)

Even if there were no tangible benefits in this life for holy living, we are still called to holiness. The foundation of this calling is the holy character of God. We have been called to live holy lives for him because he created us in his image, and united us to himself by the person and work of Jesus Christ.

It’s possible, of course, that we may be called to live for God in situations where there is no apparent gain for us as we demonstrate our devotion to him. In doing so, we demonstrate that living for him is better than bowing to any other pressure or priority.

This is the high calling of every believer. We honor what is honorable in him because nothing gives us more pleasure than living for the One who gave his life for us. Out of love for him, every day we exchange our desires for his – and every day his love transforms our desires more and more to be like his!

So, even when we face ongoing challenges and temptations, the calling to holiness is not onerous or sad, but the privilege of walking more closely with the Savior we love in a way that pleases him and increasingly pleases us to do so.  

Prayer: Lord, thank you giving me a holy calling that enables me to live for you and to show my love for you. Today, help me to be holy because you are holy and because it brings me joy so to live for the God who sent his Son to die for me. 

Daily Devotion - November 28, 2025

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Phil. 4:6)

Sometimes we fear to approach God, thinking it’s not appropriate to bother him with the little things. But he wants us to connect with him in everything. 

Once I grew impatient with an experienced carpenter who paused on our mission project to find a fallen nail. “Just grab another nail,” I said. “Well, Bryan,” he said, “I just prayed that God would help me find it. So, I think I ought to look.”

I scowled, “Maybe we shouldn’t bother God about nails.” “Oh no, Bryan,” the carpenter replied, “God says to pray to him about ‘everything.’” 

The carpenter was right. When the Apostle Paul says to take everything to God in prayer, he really means everything. We can pray about finding nails or keys, or finding our way through stormy nights or relationships. We can pray about minor worries and major catastrophes, about our discomforts and others’ tragedies.

If my children only came to me when the issues were serious, I’d rarely hear from them, and we’d grow distant. It’s our regular conversations about the small things that knit our hearts together. 

The gracious Heavenly Father who knows this truth and desires to knit our hearts to his, urges us to seek him in everything. So, we should thank him for his meticulous care, and come to him in frequent prayer.

Prayer: Lord, I can be anxious about many things. Assure me by your Fatherly heart that I can bring everything before you in prayer, and that you want me to!

Daily Devotion - November 27, 2025

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him. (Matt. 7:11)

My first car was an import that an American car company sold for only one year. The maintenance record made the compact car a giant nightmare for all its owners. Not until years later did I realize that cars aren’t supposed to break down every few weeks. 

One of those breakdowns occurred as I was heading home from college for the holidays. I was still a hundred miles from home, but I didn’t panic. I called my father. Even though I knew my late-night rescue would take his time and energy, I knew I could call on my father. In so many ways, he had proven that he was committed to my care.

That is why Jesus reminds us that we are calling to our Heavenly Father when he teaches, “Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” (Mt. 7:7-8).  

When our lives have become a nightmare of our own mistakes and miscalculations, we still can call out to our Heaven Father who has proven his eternal care through the grace of Jesus. He will answer your call and provide what is best to help you.

Prayer: Father, thank you for always hearing my prayers and for always responding with the good gifts that divine wisdom and a gracious heart know to provide!