Written by Chuck Swindoll, these encouraging devotional thoughts are published seven days per week.
Read Acts 20:22–24
There is a strange statement in Scripture that flashes like a bright neon sign. Paul made it while he was saying good-bye to a group of friends standing near him. It was a sad moment heavy with emotion. Most of the men were choking back tears, realizing they would never see him again. Looking around, the ageing apostle, with his weather-beaten hand pointing south toward the stormy skies above the Mediterranean Sea, voiced these words:
Read Ecclesiastes 12:1–2
Disorientation is the pits. When you travel a lot (like airline personnel) you must deal with it. When you fight deadlines as days run into nights (like tax consultants and publishing editors and pastors) you must work out ways to cope with it. When you are confined to tight places or inescapable spaces (like astronauts or prisoners or victims of confining illnesses)—again, that old bugaboo is there ready to bite, leaving you in the wake of depression or one of its emotional relatives. It happens frequently after people retire.
Read Ephesians 6:13
Tucked away in the folds of Hebrews 11 is a two-word biography worth a second glance: “He endured” (11:27, NASB).
The Living Bible says, “[he] kept right on going.”
The New International Version: “He persevered.”
The New English Bible: “He was resolute.”
The Amplified Bible, Classic Edition: “He held staunchly to his purpose.”
And Moffatt’s quaint rendering: “He never flinched.”
Read Proverbs 27:9
Webster defines the word “cordial” as of or relating to the heart: vital, tending to revive, cheer, or invigorate, heartfelt, gracious. That’s really a mouthful; in fact, that’s worth a few minutes of our time together. Being cordial starts from the heart, as I see it. How do we project cordiality? In answer to that question, allow me to offer four special ingredients:
Read Philippians 4:6–7
Paul wanted to be in heaven but needed to be on earth. In a temporal sort of way, in the time of year coming up, I share his frustration.
I am hard pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and watch the NFL...yet to remain in the pulpit is more necessary for your sake. (Philippians 1:23-24, Swindoll paraphrase)
Read Amos 7:14–15
There is only one you. In our overly-populated, identity-crisis era it is easy to forget this. Individuality is played down. We are asked to conform to the “system.”
Read Acts 16:1–3
Years ago, when I pastored in California, an usher met me as I was leaving the church. He had been involved in counting the morning offering. He smiled as he walked up to me, stuck out his hand, and said, “I’ve got something for you. It came in the offering.”
He handed me a note from a child who had been in our service. It read:
TO PASTER CHUCK SWINDOL
Read 2 Corinthians 5:17
All of us have practiced certain areas of wrong from our youth. It is a pattern of life that comes “second nature” to us. As a result, it strongly resists change. We gloss over our resistance with the varnish of excuses:
“Well, nobody’s perfect.”
“I’ll never be any different; that’s just the way I am.”
“I was born this way—nothing can be done about it.”
“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
Jeremiah tells us why such excuses come easily:
Read Psalm 103:8–12
It happens to all of us. Teachers as well as students. Cops as well as criminals. Parents as well as kids. The diligent as well as the lazy. Not even presidents are immune. Or corporation heads who earn six-figure salaries.
What am I talking about? Making mistakes, that’s what. Doing the wrong thing, usually with the best of motives. And it happens with remarkable regularity.
Read Romans 5:8
Whoever is soft on depravity should watch Schindler’s List.
It’s not for the fainthearted, I should warn you. It is a raw, harsh, shocking exposé of unbridled prejudice, the kind of anti-Semitic brutality spawned in hellish hate among the Nazis prior to and during World War II.
How could such hatred fill the minds of those wearing swastikas? How could they walk back into their barracks or offices or homes wearing blood-splattered uniforms and forget what just happened?
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