The Up Devotional

  • Praying for ‘little things’

    In Philippians 4:6-7, Paul writes: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Sometimes we think that God… Listen ⇢

  • When there are barking dogs all around you

    A high school basketball team was behind by one point with just seconds left in the game. So they came up with a clever play. They had possession of the ball. When the referee blew the whistle to resume play, they threw the ball inbounds to a player close to… Listen ⇢

  • Going Thud on the metaphorical ground

    I once heard a story about a 5-year old boy who lived on a farm. His parents were harsh, especially his father. It was a brick farm house with a large porch that wrapped around the front. In those days there weren’t always railings so children had to be careful,… Listen ⇢

  • Finding Jesus in daily life

    My kids went through a stage of loving the “Where’s Waldo?” books. They were large search-and-find books. You looked through intricately detailed pictures to find Waldo—a guy wearing a toque, a red and white striped shirt, and blue jeans. Sometimes—actually, a lot of times—he’s hard to find. Maybe it’s a… Listen ⇢

  • When you stand out

    A lot of people in North American don’t realize it, but according to Open Doors Canada, 260 million Christians around the world experience high levels of persecution because of their faith in Christ. Globally, that’s about 1 in every 8 Christians. “Every day, an average of eight Christians are killed… Listen ⇢

  • True commitment to the King—AND his Kingdom

    Followers of Jesus can rightly be accused of hypocrisy if nothing changes in their lives after they start to believe in and follow him. Your eternal standing with God isn’t based on how morally good you are, of course, or on your ability to meet Jesus’ high ethical standards; it’s… Listen ⇢

  • Not made of stuff that sinks

    Speaking to his disciples, Jesus said: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth… you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17). There was a cork who was… Listen ⇢

  • My sheep listen to my voice

    A group of young people saw a downhill skier going down the hill with someone else super close behind them. The skier in the front was an instructor. They were yelling instructions to the person behind: “Left, right, straight, right.” Thinking it would be funny to mess them up, the… Listen ⇢

  • Eternal things more than temporary things

    Over the past few devotionals I’ve been helping us reflect on the fact that mature people mature people. Adjective, noun, verb, noun. In other words, people who are mature can help other people become more mature as well. Because of their faithfulness and maturity they can be a positive role… 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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