Devotions based on James Smith’s book The Good and Beautiful Life More today on real treasure. Wealth pretends to offer what we want from God- Security, comfort, and happiness. That is why we are prone to serve money. But money is not the real issue; our hearts are.  It is possible to be very poor…

Devotions based on James Smith book The Good and Beautiful Life Our minds are imprinted with narratives that begin very early in life. The way we handle money can be traced to our early experiences regarding material wealth.  When Rockefeller was asked how much money he would need  to make him happy he said, “Just…

Devotions from James Smith book, The Good and Beautiful Life “Live for an audience of One.”  This Puritan saying reflects God’s kingdom living. Much of our lives are spent playing for an audience of many, and fixating on what others are thinking or saying of us. But we need to shift to an audience of…

Devotions from James Smith’s book The Good and Beautiful Life We all want to be loved and feel valuable, worthwhile and wonderful.  The world measures our worth on the basis of our appearance, production and performance. Image is everything!  But this need for affirmation from others makes us vulnerable to the sin of Vainglory.  It…

Devotions from James Smith’s book, The Good and Beautiful Life Jesus ways are so different from the ways of our world. Often people of this world feel vulnerable, impotent, and exposed. Their false narrative is that the only way to protect themselves is to use force.  But that does not produce lasting change but just…

Devotions from Haase’s book, Living the Lord’s Prayer Another characteristic of keepers of His kingdom is their peace and joy.  They are unflappable! In the midst of outward storms they have an inner peace and calm. Even if the battle rages around them, even if people speak ill of them, even if they suffer pain…

We are leaving for Kansas at 3 am tomorrow so am writing this today. 2-17 Devotions from James Smith’s book, The Good and Beautiful Life Today’s devotion is on keeping the Sabbath as an exercise to help us deal better with our anger.  At first I wondered what the connection is between the two but…

2-16 Devotions from James Smith’s book, The Good and Beautiful Life. Today’s devotion is on anger and Jesus concern is for the heart of the issues, not just the outward action. We can be doing the right thing but have a heart full of anger. Anger itself is not wrong. In fact, righteous anger is…

Devotions from James Smith’s book, The Good and the Beautiful Life Living in the kingdom of God involves loving others, because He is a God of love. Living in God’s kingdom involves forgiveness because he is a God of forgiveness. Living in God’s kingdom involves hospitality – inviting and including others – because He is…

2-13 Devotions from James Smith’s book, The Good and the Beautiful Life In the Beatitudes Jesus invites the down and out to live in fellowship with Him. This is not just concept but He invites us into a vibrant, interactive relationship with Himself. “He is the kingdom of God. HE is a living, breathing, tangible,…