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Today’s devotion is an excerpt from “Devotions from the Beach,” published by Thomas Nelson.

Have you ever placed your chair on the beach right on the ocean’s rim? It may be the most relaxing spot on shore. The chair legs sink into the wet sand so that you are completely stationary. Leaning back and lying still, feeling the breeze, you unwind as the waves come up and cool your feet as the tide tickles your toes. This is what vacations are made of. When we receive the grace of God, it’s like taking a vacation for our soul. In a world where we are conditioned, educated, and trained on how to work for a living for food, entertainment, and daily needs, it’s easy to translate this work mentality to church and faith. Surely, we must work as hard, if not harder, to be good and righteous enough for God, to get to partake in His gifts, peace, and promises. No wonder, when we fail in these attempts, that we feel defeated, maybe even angry or depressed: we didn’t hit the mark. The Bible assures us that no one has hit the mark, but goodness and righteousness have already been attained for us. We are justified, made right, brought up to heavenly standards as a gift freely given by Jesus. Our souls can sit in beach chairs by the tide, lean back, and soak up the warmth of God’s radiant love. The ocean waves wash our feet just as Jesus washes us.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a gift. [Romans 3:23-24]

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Written by Michael A. Milton, a contemporary minister, author, and retired military chaplain. This is an excerpt from his work “Witnessing in a World Like Ours.”

Our age is “A Secular Age” as the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor put it. And it is becoming more so. How do we bear witness to Jesus Christ in a world like ours? … The Bible says that Jesus ate with sinners. Mark 2:15 tells not only of a suppertime gathering but an obvious feature of Jesus’ ministry: he kept company with scoundrels. Now, this became a problem for Jesus. For in the eyes of the Pharisees, Jesus’ choice of table companions was an endorsement of their sins and, thus, an indictment of Himself. Jesus had a problem with the religious ruling class. They had a problem with Jesus. If you are a paragon of piety which the Pharisees fancied themselves, Jesus just didn’t fit. The Lord’s association with “low life” characters cast suspicion on His piety. His dinner parties with undesirables placed Him in the same class as the tax collectors and the sinners… The Pharisees’ piety was such that It excluded other people. Their piety was something they (were convinced) had earned, something they had built, something they had cultivated. Their self-serving show of religion was, in a word, a sham. False piety can be weaponized to elevate self by diminishing others. Their piety was merely white-washed tombs. Jesus was with the common people of all backgrounds because He was for them. All of the disciples came out of some sort of quagmire of sinful behavior, doubt, unbelief, or despair. So did we. The Bible says that God sent His only begotten Son into the world to save because the world is already condemned. God is for us… The Pharisees weaponized their piety to put others down. How can we reveal our brokenness to lift others to God?

While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” [Mark 2:15-17]

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Written by Max Lucado, a contemporary pastor, author, and speaker. This is an excerpt from his work “Outlive Your Life.”

Many years ago I heard a woman discuss the work of Matthew 25:31–46. The event wasn’t publicized. The audience was chatty and restless. Yet when she entered the room, all stirring stopped. She wore her characteristic white Indian sari with a blue border that represented the Missionaries of Charity, the order she had founded in 1950. Her sixty-nine years had bent her already small frame. But there was nothing small about Mother Teresa’s presence. “Give me your unborn children,” she offered. “Don’t abort them. If you cannot raise them, I will. They are precious to God.” Who would’ve ever pegged this slight Albanian woman as a change agent? I wonder if God creates people like Mother Teresa so he can prove his point: “See, you can do something today that will outlive your life.” There are several billion reasons to consider his challenge. Some of them live in your neighborhood; others live in jungles you can’t find and have names you can’t pronounce. Some of them play in cardboard slums or sell sex on a busy street. None of us can help everyone. But all of us can help someone. And when we help them, we serve Jesus. Who would want to miss a chance to do that?

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. [Matthew 25:35-36]

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Written by the Lead Like Jesus team, an organization founded by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges that promotes a transformational leadership model based on following Jesus.

Christian hope is both a verb and a noun: something we do, and something we possess. Even more importantly, our hope is a person. Christian hope is not the same as optimism. It does not deny the reality of sorrow, loss, failure, and suffering. Yet hope is rooted in the person and work of Jesus Christ and what was accomplished on the cross. It comes from faith that Christ continues to work in this world, and because of Christ’s work, our own work is not in vain.

All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. [1 John 3:3]

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Written by A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), an American pastor, author, magazine editor, and spiritual mentor.

Some of you will object to my saying this, but it is my opinion that in Christianity we have over-emphasized the psychology of the lost sinner’s condition. We spend time describing the sinner’s woes and the great burden he carries until we almost forget the principal fact that the sinner is actually a rebel against properly constituted authority! That is what makes sin SIN! We are rebels; we are sons of disobedience. Sin is the breaking of the Law, and we are fugitives from the just laws of God while we are sinners. We are fugitives from divine judgment. But thankfully, the plan of salvation reverses that and restores the original relationship so that the first thing the returning sinner does is confess, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in Thy sight, and I am no more worthy to be called Thy son. Make me as one of Thy hired servants!” Thus, in repentance, we reverse that relationship and we fully submit to the Word of God and the will of God as obedient children!

Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.  [James 1:15]

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Written by John Henry Jewett (1864-1923), a British preacher and author.

The secret of life is to love the Lord our God, and our neighbors as ourselves. But how are we to love the Lord? We cannot manufacture love. We cannot love to order. We cannot by an act of will command its appearing. No, not in these ways is love created. Love is not a work, it is a fruit. It grows in suitable soils, and it is our part to prepare the soils. When the conditions are congenial, love appears, just as the crocus and the snowdrop appear in the congenial air of the spring. What, then, can we do? We can seek the Lord’s society. We can think about Him. We can read about Him. We can fill our imaginations with the grace of His life and service. We can be much with Him, talking to Him in prayer, singing to Him in praise, telling Him our yearnings and confessing to Him our defeats. And love will be quietly born. For this is how love is born between heart and heart. Two people are “much together,” and love is born! And when we are much with the Lord, we are with One who already loves us with an everlasting love. We are with One who yearns for our love and who seeks in every way to win it. “We love Him because He first loved us.” And when we truly love God, every other kind of holy love will follow. Given the fountain, the rivers are sure.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.  [Luke 10:27]

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Written by A. B. Simpson (1843-1919), a Canadian preacher, theologian, and author.

There are secrets of Providence that God’s dear children may learn. His dealings with them often seem, to the outward eye, dark and terrible. Faith looks deeper and says, “This is God’s secret. You look only on the outside; I can look deeper and see the hidden meaning.” Sometimes diamonds are done up in rough packages, so that their value cannot be seen. When the Tabernacle was built in the wilderness there was nothing rich in its outside appearance. The costly things were all within, and its outward covering of rough badger skin gave no hint of the valuable things that it contained. God may send you, dear friends, some costly packages. Do not worry if they are done up in rough wrappings. You may be sure there are treasures of love, and kindness, and wisdom hidden within. If we take what He sends, and trust Him for the goodness in it, even in the dark, we shall learn the meaning of the secrets of Providence.



The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. [Psalm 25:14]

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Written by Matthew Dickerson, a contemporary author. This is an excerpt from his work “Leading with Intimacy, Even When it Hurts.”

Lord, I thank you for the intimacy we have with you, through the Holy Spirit. We know that our restored relationship with you was entirely your work, reaching out to us. We thank you for what Jesus did on the cross to restore our intimacy with you, and also for the example he set. Give us the strength to follow Jesus’ example of honesty and vulnerability as we seek to deepen the relationships you have called us to. Amen.



Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. [Revelation 3:20].

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Written by Jennifer Tucker, a contemporary professor and author. This is an excerpt from her book “Breath as Prayer.”

Anxiety. Some of us fight it, some of us deny it, and some of us may need help managing it — but I don’t think there’s a single one of us who hasn’t experienced its suffocating grip at some point in our life… when God tells us to not be anxious or fearful, it is not with a voice of judgment and condemnation, but with a voice of gentleness and compassion. He knows we will experience anxiety. He knows we will worry. He knows we will be afraid. These are common human emotions. So, He comes to us as, not as a harsh judge, but as a kind Father, gently scooping us and all our worries into His arms, and lovingly reminding us, “You don’t need to worry. You don’t have to be afraid. I’m here. I’ll take care of you.” I have two daughters, and I think of all the times they came to me in the middle of the night, afraid of the dark or a noise or their own scary dreams. I didn’t get angry because they felt afraid. I let them climb into my bed and curl up in my arms, and I held them and gently told them they didn’t need to be afraid, that they were not alone, that they were safe and loved and held. That’s what God does with us.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. [Deuteronomy 31:16]

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Written
by Ian Wooldridge, a contemporary pastor and guide on the Dwell app.

The philosopher and master teacher of the Way of Jesus, Dallas Willard, once said, “The main thing God gets out of your life is into the achievements you accomplish. It’s the person you become.” Our world is so accustomed to measuring value, worth, and esteem on the outward and the externals…But what if actual success looked a whole lot differently than how the world would define success? You see, in the ancient mind, to be successful had more to do with virtue than it did with talent or skill. The writer David Brooks differentiates between what he calls “resume virtues” and “eulogy virtues.”  What if the great invitation before you and me as followers of Jesus is to greatly consider our “eulogy virtues?” That is, how we want to be remembered when we die? Rarely, if ever, are people’s accomplishments praised at their funeral. Usually, it’s the kind of person who they were and became that gets remembered. How do you want to be remembered? These are the kind of things that God sees, honors, and blesses. And we have the power today, through our choices, to give shape to these eulogy virtues. Ironically enough, we do our best work and produce our best accomplishments when we remember that our heart, not our hands, is where we must first invest.

The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”  [1 Samuel 16:7]

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