[Note: After today, The Up Devotional will go on pause for a week, returning on June 12, 2023.] If you want to read something that tells you that everything is always wonderful and that life should be a non-stop parade of flowers and lollipops, don’t read the Bible. The Bible is too honest for that. … Continue reading Perspective corrective
Author: MatthewRuttan
Even if you have to wait
“LORD, you are the God who saves me; day and night I cry out to you.” So prayed Heman in Psalm 88:1. He then went on to chronicle his lack of strength, feelings of death, despair, isolation, grief, sense of betrayal, rejection and terror! One of the things that strikes me about Heman’s prayer is … Continue reading Even if you have to wait
Experiences of hardship
It’s an unpopular thought: Experiences of hardship can make us wiser and better positioned to help others. Here’s why it’s unpopular. When you’re in the middle of hard times, you just want them to end. You want things to be good again. When enduring incredible stress and strain you probably don’t want to hear about … Continue reading Experiences of hardship
Where God puts a comma
Have you ever felt like God has let you down? Perhaps illness has come into your life. Perhaps you wanted a baby and it never happened. Perhaps you experienced a personal and brutal attack. Perhaps you have been so stressed or anxious that you wondered if it wouldn’t just be better if you weren’t on … Continue reading Where God puts a comma
With all your mind
On May 19, 2023 Tim Keller died. He was a best-selling author, pastor and apologist. He spoke to millions, met with Presidents, but was ever down-to-earth. My first introduction to his writing was through his best-seller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. His writing gave evidence of a genuine, biblical faith … Continue reading With all your mind
What is in us, not what ought to be in us
One of the reasons people have loved the psalms through the ages is because they are so personal and honest. David was certainly honest with God in Psalm 51. Another example is found in Psalm 88. It’s a look-into-my-aching-heart-and-help-me-urgently type of psalm. A man named Heman had been afflicted since his youth. In verse 15 … Continue reading What is in us, not what ought to be in us
Create in me a clean heart
In Psalm 51:10 David prayed: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” As outlined a few days ago, David had committed multiple sins. Big sins. Snowballing sins. Then he was confronted by the prophet Nathan. Psalm 51 is David’s prayer of repentance. He asked God for mercy … Continue reading Create in me a clean heart
Salvation and sanctification
Salvation and sanctification are central to Christianity. But if we get them mixed up, it can mess with our thinking. Salvation is being made right with God, both in this life and the next. When you believe in Jesus and what he has done for you on the cross (dying in your place and paying … Continue reading Salvation and sanctification
Against you only have I sinned
King David sinned. Big time. He committed adultery with Bathsheba. She became pregnant. Her husband Uriah was in David’s army and away at battle. David invited him back with the hopes that he would sleep with his wife making people think the baby was from him instead. But in an act of solidarity with his … Continue reading Against you only have I sinned
When God’s answer is better
“Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears!” (Psalm 39:12) “God didn’t answer my prayer.” Have you ever said that? Have you ever thought it? In my experience, when someone says that God didn’t answer their prayer, what they usually mean is that God didn’t … Continue reading When God’s answer is better
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