The Up Devotional

  • Is it selfish for God to ask for praise?

    A high schooler once asked me: “Why is God always saying to glorify him? Isn’t that sort of selfish?”   Good question. If any of us did that it would certainly be a selfish thing to do! Here’s the difference. God wants the best for us, and he himself is… Listen ⇢

  • Sorrow to sweetness

    Hardship isn’t the end of the story, nor is it the end of your story. This is easy to agree with when you’re experiencing smooth sailing. It’s harder to do so when times are tough. William Gurnall has some helpful, scriptural perspective: “Scripture gives three illustrations of great joy: the… Listen ⇢

  • Able to withstand anything

    You’re able to withstand anything if you’re standing for the right things. Consider Paul. He persevered even though he had been put in prison, flogged, exposed to death, beaten with rods, pelted with stones, and shipwrecked three times. (See 2 Corinthians 11:23-28) But it wasn’t for nothing. It was so… Listen ⇢

  • A tipping point called joy

    There’s a lifetime of ponderance in Acts 5:41: “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.” They had been put in jail, sprung by a messenger of God, taken before the influential and powerful Sanhedrin, told to not speak in… Listen ⇢

  • A skull on the dresser

    What do you have sitting on top of your dresser? A picture frame or a lamp? Margaret Baxter was a woman of deep faith from the 17th century. Do you want to know what she had on top of her dresser beside her bed? A skull. Yup, that’s right. A… Listen ⇢

  • Garth Brooks, un-answered prayers, and the will of God

    There is a song by country music icon Garth Brooks. In it, he sings about how, at a football game, he and his wife ran into his “old high school flame.” Years earlier when he was in high school he had prayed so hard that God “would make her mine.”… Listen ⇢

  • The whirlwind of argumentativeness

    Recently I was asked if I thought our world was becoming more argumentative. Although I don’t have any hard data on the issue, it does often seem to be the case. [If you want my full response to the question you can click on the link below.] What I can… Listen ⇢

  • The feels

    Have you ever heard someone say that something gives them “the feels”? It means that something has given then a really really good feeling. Maybe it’s an emotional song, receiving a heart-felt compliment, or a soul-satisfying conversation with a best friend. Today I’m here to notify you about the feel… Listen ⇢

  • Borrowed light

    This past Sunday at church, several people shared video statements about being part of a small group. [Link below.] A small group is where people get together to study God’s teachings in the Bible, to discuss and learn, to get to know one another, and to pray. I am so thankful… Listen ⇢

Meet the producer, Matthew Ruttan.

Matthew is a disciple, pastor, husband, and dad of three who lives in the psalms.

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The Up Devotional

Your 1-minute shot of soul espresso

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