John 1:12 "But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God." (NLT) Today's Thought One of the keepsakes my mom kept for me from the day I was born was the little hospital wrist bracelet. It’s so tiny! “Ruttan. Male.” As soon as I entered the world, there were … Continue reading A label you cannot lose
devotional
Stop it
1 Peter 5:8 "Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." (ESV) Today's Thought Stop beating yourself up. The Devil doesn’t need another ally. By Matthew Ruttan
A noose God has already loosed
1 Peter 2:24 "[Jesus] himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness…” (NIV) Today's Thought In 1829 George Wilson robbed a mail carrier. For a crime “against the peace and dignity of the United States of America” and endangering the mailman he … Continue reading A noose God has already loosed
With apologies to Christmas cards everywhere
1 Peter 5:7 "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." (NIV) Today's Thought One of the benefits to writing a daily devotional is that it keeps me accountable. Not only do I spend time praying, thinking and writing every day, but it challenges me to live out the things I write … Continue reading With apologies to Christmas cards everywhere
The War on Christmas
Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father..." (ESV) Today's Thought Is there a war on Christmas? According to some people, there certainly is. The “war on Christmas” phrase sometimes comes up in news stories or conversations … Continue reading The War on Christmas
Angels with Dirty Faces
Philippians 2:4 "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." (ESV) Today's Thought In the movie Angels with Dirty Faces, James Cagney plays a criminal gangster named William “Rocky” Sullivan who is admired by a bunch of young misfits and delinquents in the city. He … Continue reading Angels with Dirty Faces
Scattered scurry masters
Ecclesiastes 3:1 "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens" (NIV) Today's Thought Yesterday we walked through December’s door. Today we find ourselves in a world of twinkling lights and overflowing parking lots at the mall. Since I try to be an organized kind of person, I like … Continue reading Scattered scurry masters
When the vertical gets priority
Matthew 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God..." (ESV) Today's Thought There’s a relationship between the vertical and the horizontal. By “vertical,” I mean your relationship with God. Time and time again the Bible describes this as the primarily relationship in your life. And by “horizontal,” I mean your relationship with the people around … Continue reading When the vertical gets priority
169,518,829,100,544,000,000,000,000,000
Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything..." (NIV) Today's Thought So many different things can happen in life. I recently read about how many possible outcomes there are in the first 10 moves of a chess game. It’s a lot because of all the different directions that the chess pieces can move. Okay, ready … Continue reading 169,518,829,100,544,000,000,000,000,000
Is there an “except-when-online” clause?
Luke 6:31 “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Luke 6:31 (NIV) Today's Thought We live in the information age. Facebook has 700,000,000 users. In case you’re not a math whiz… that’s a lot! Information is being produced at an incredible rate. It’s also being consumed at an incredible rate. One … Continue reading Is there an “except-when-online” clause?
