This is not a devotional about dental hygiene. It’s all about the words we speak. I’m also not writing to discuss proper grammar or the importance of a good vocabulary. This is about how your words can literally change the direction of a community.

Very seldom will someone just give up at the first indication of struggle or pain. It’s when it persists for very long that discouragement creeps in. Before you realize it, the negative self-talk begins. But it doesn’t need to continue.

Sometimes we wish we had a formula that would guarantee the kids grow up successful,, full of faith, and without pain. Eventually we realize our children are free to make their own choices. I thought of this when I read today about Eutychus.

When I someone says, “I have a situation,” often this means they are in the middle of a difficultly or, worse, a crisis. We all have situations, and today’s passage gives clues for getting through them.

Given the chance to escape our captors, which one of us wouldn’t have decided to leave? Maybe we can learn something from Paul’s decision just to stay put.

God and I have had many conversations on this topic. I’ve gotten better at stillness. But these daily devotionals convict me. I have to fight simply to listen.

It’s a sad story, one that could have been so inspiring, one that we don’t have to repeat in our lives.

You won’t find this verse on a Hallmark card. It probably isn’t posted on Instagram or Facebook, either. But maybe we need to consider it and remember its truth.

Waiting is frustrating. Waiting on God sometimes seems unfair or unending. But here’s a story where God answered the petition of the one who had been waiting for years.

Since the beginning of time we’ve seen famine. And throughout the ages God has used his people to provide in times of need.

It's a pattern we see in the Old Testament: blessing, pride, repentance, and then blessing again. So is sad to watch, but so easy to replicate.

When storytelling faltered, faith failed. What stories are we telling the generation behind us?

They were descended from a disobedient family slain by God in his displeasure. But they rendered service still blessing us today.

We see big changes as we read the earliest church history in these chapters from Acts. They may give us a pattern for change in our world today.

Ultimately each of these two men had the same decision before them. And it’s a decision for every believer today as well.

The first chapters of Acts are inspiring, that’s for sure. But they also give us a picture of what being “new Testament Christians” may look like for some today.

Governments and governors have tried to stop it. Strategists in every corner have tried to improve on it. But the power of the gospel will never be quenched.

Joshua experienced victory from God again and again. And God will help us fight our battles, too.

I was bewildered and lost until the man spoke to me in my language. I’m guessing that’s similar to what many felt when Peter preached his sermon.

The evidence for our faith may be simpler—and more challenging—than we realize.