Today Daily Devotional

By ReFrame Ministries

Today is a daily devotional that helps God's people refresh, refocus and renew their faith through Bible reading, reflection, and prayer.... more

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FAQs about Today Daily Devotional:

How many episodes does Today Daily Devotional have?

The podcast currently has 2,850 episodes available.

Today Daily Devotional episodes:

July 16, 2018 Follow Me
Imagine
going to a financial planner who tells you that if you want to save
for retirement, you have to spend all your money. Or imagine talking
to a dietician who says that if you want to lose weight, you need to
eat as many cheeseburgers as you can. It just doesn’t make sense.
But Jesus’ teaching here can sound almost like that: To find life,
you have to give up your life for him.
Being
a disciple of Jesus is often about not doing what the world says we
should do. We live in a culture of hyper-individualism and
self-interest. “Do what is good for yourself first,” the world
says. “Look out for number one.” But following Jesus means doing
what he asks and not always what I want. It means relying on his
strength and power, not my own. It means putting his mission and
purpose above my own ambitions and goals. It means humbling myself
and following Jesus, wherever he leads.
Discipleship
is hard work. Even his disciples, who heard these teachings directly
from Jesus, didn’t get it right all the time.
Discipleship
requires that we listen closely for God to guide us. It means that we
get to know his Word and what it means for our lives. It means that
we seek the counsel of believers around us and discern his calling in
our lives together. It also means that we stop putting ourselves
first and instead love God with everything we have.
...more
2min
July 15, 2018 Healed
I
have to be honest: this story confuses me on my best day and angers
me on my worst. I have known many people with faith much stronger
than mine who have died from illnesses like cancer, heart disease,
and pneumonia. I can remember sitting in a small country church and
hearing a pastor express his belief that if anyone was battling an
illness like cancer, all they had to do was pray harder and have more
faith and they would be healed. My wife had to work hard to keep me
calm.
Even
so, Jesus says quite clearly that this woman was healed because of
her faith. So how do we understand the role that faith plays here?
First,
faith is planted and nurtured by God and grows in us because of
Jesus’ work in our lives. It is a product of his closeness to us.
While we do things to develop our faith, it is all in relationship to
God and not by our own works. Faith is from God, and this woman’s
healing happened in relationship with God through Christ.
Second,
Jesus says that this woman’s faith healed her. He doesn’t say
that everyone’s faith heals all things. To think that all illness
can and should be healed by the faith of the sick person isn’t what
Jesus means here. But Jesus is pointing out that faith is a strong
and important component of our lives.
God’s
gift of faith in us can do amazing things for us and for those around
us. Let’s ask God to increase our faith today.
...more
2min
July 14, 2018 Where?
Jesus
often asked really challenging questions. And when someone asked him
a question, he often responded with a question in return. He wanted
people to think about what they were doing in life and why.
When
his disciples woke him in the midst of a storm on the lake, Jesus
could have asked a lot of questions: Where are we? What time is it?
Which way to shore? Who knows how to swim? But he didn’t ask any of
those questions. Instead, he rebuked the wind and the waves, stood
there in the renewed calm looking at his disciples, and asked them,
“Where is your faith?”
When
we think about it, even though we can understand the disciples’
fear, maybe we should wonder about their reaction to this storm. Did
they really think their journey with Jesus was going to end in a
storm at sea?
How
often might Jesus ask us where our faith is? Storms come up all the
time: a cancer diagnosis, an empty bank account, the loss of a job, a
broken relationship. All of these things can knock us off balance,
and in the midst of them, our faith can falter. We wonder where God
is. We question his judgment and love. But Jesus calmly asks, “Where
is your faith?”—not in a condemning way, but with the most love
and patience we have ever known.
Jesus’
question begs the answer: “My faith is standing right there,
embodied in Jesus Christ, who is in control of all things, even the
fiercest storm.”
...more
2min
July 13, 2018 Foundation
Have
you ever seen pictures of a house fallen into the sea after a storm
washed away its foundation? I can’t imagine what it would be like
to watch the house I call home ruined by a storm. It must be
devastating and make you feel so helpless.
Jesus
gives some building advice in the parable we have read today. But he
is talking about more than building houses. He is talking about
building our lives and making sure their foundation is firm, made up
of wisdom and faith in him.
This
foundation requires two things. It first involves listening to Jesus’
words. Listening is really important and can be hard to do. I
work with students a lot, and getting them to listen to instructions
isn’t always easy. Listening often means putting aside our own
ideas or agendas and paying attention for a while.
But
listening is only the first step in the foundation of our faith
lives. The next step is doing what he asks of us. If we only listen
and don’t do what is asked, we haven’t really accomplished
anything. Our faith can be filled with knowledge and belief, but if
it isn’t tied to action, it rings hollow. Doing is really
important!
Is
the house of your life built on the foundation of faith that involves
both listening to what Jesus is saying and doing what he asks? That
is the way of life Jesus is calling us to.
...more
2min
July 12, 2018 Fruit
We
enjoyed gardening when we lived in California. Every year we would
harvest a variety of produce from our small garden beds. One of my
favorite photos from that time shows our son holding up a head of
broccoli bigger than his own head. We also planted some fruit trees.
But we didn’t label some of them and couldn’t remember which ones
were peach and which ones were nectarine—until they produced fruit,
that is.
In
Luke 6, Jesus isn’t just talking about trees. He’s talking about
people. People can be known by what they produce. On the outside
everything can look good, but the fruit that is produced might not be
as pleasant as the outward appearance.
Faith
has a way of producing fruit in us. Faith that is founded on strong
roots in God, his promises to us, his Word in us, faithful prayer,
and a community of believers around us can’t help producing the
fruits of justice, peace, good news, grace, love, and forgiveness.
Good trees bear good fruit, and bad trees bear bad fruit.
What
kind of fruit is faith producing in you? If the produce of your life
isn’t very good, it’s time to take a look at the tree of your
life. Take a look at what roots you have, and begin to develop the
good roots of faith provided by Christ. When the roots are good, the
fruit can’t help being good as well.
...more
2min
July 11, 2018 Love
I
don’t know if I have any enemies. As a Chicago Cubs fan, the
closest thing to an enemy that I can think of is a St. Louis
Cardinals fan. But, then, my best friend is a Cardinals fan, so I’m
sure that’s not the kind of “enemy” Jesus is talking about. We
might not like each other’s baseball teams, but we don’t curse
each other or wish any harm on one another.
The
world is filled with examples of enemies, though. Our Internet feed
is bursting with people who speak out against each other and may wish
harm on others. There are probably even people in my life who
disagree with me to the point that they wouldn’t mind if something
bad happened to me. If I’m honest, I can think of a few people that
I don’t particularly like either. Some people are harder to love
than others.
Jesus’
words here are challenging. He doesn’t just tell us to put up with
our enemies. He tells us to love
them. Love isn’t just a feeling; it is an action. He calls us to
actively love those who hate and mistreat us. These are hard commands
to follow.
But
if we are to have the kind of faith that Jesus calls us to, then
action is needed. So we must actively love our enemies and pray for
those who mistreat us. We put the lives of those people in the hands
of Jesus, and we let go of grudges, hatred, and all the evil that may
have been done to us. We also ask others to do the same for us.
Loving
our friends is easy. Loving our enemies is a real step of faith.
...more
2min
July 10, 2018 Salt and Light
Our
family went on a tour of the Jewel Cave National Monument in
South Dakota last summer. My favorite part of a cave tour like that
is when they turn off all the lights and there is nothing but
darkness all around. You could stare at your hand for hours and never
see it in front of you. Your eyes need light in order to see
anything, so they can’t see in total darkness. But once a light is
turned on again, everything is illuminated. You can see the walls and
the floor and the people around you. Even the smallest amount of
light makes a difference in a totally dark cave.
Jesus
tells his listeners that they are the salt of the earth and the light
of the world. They cannot be hidden; they are called to influence
what is around them. The faith that Jesus forms in us compels us do
that. It doesn’t just remain inside of us. It overflows from us and
shines God’s light in the darkness of the world around us.
In
our conversations with people—whether they are friends or
people we haven’t met before—is there a right or a wrong time to
talk about our faith in Jesus? Some friends and I were discussing
that one day. But maybe that discussion was misleading. Light doesn’t
wait around, choosing the right time to express itself. Neither does
salt. And neither does our faith. It makes an impact on its
surroundings at all times.
Faith
should always influence our conversations and actions. It has
to—that’s just its nature.
...more
2min
July 09, 2018 Blessed
I
often do my studying and sermon writing at a local Starbucks, and
every once in a while I take a moment to watch people. In a coffee
shop like this, one often sees hip-looking people buying expensive
drinks and pastries from Millennial baristas. But sometimes something
happens that sort of flips the script a bit. A homeless man walked in
today and asked for some water. Everyone looked uncomfortable. He got
his water, meandered around for a bit, and left. Then everything went
back to “normal.”
In
his teaching to the crowds, Jesus often flipped the script, saying
and doing things that were not expected. “Blessed are the poor in
spirit”? “Blessed are those who mourn”? “Blessed are those
who are persecuted . . .”? This makes no sense to
our “normal” way of thinking, and most of it makes us
uncomfortable.
But
faith isn’t formed in comfort. It is formed when challenged and
when we aren’t allowed to sit smugly in our preconceived notions
about people and the world around us. Faith is formed when Jesus
looks at a crowd of people and points out that the ones who are
blessed are those who realize they are not self-sufficient but
depend totally on God. When we wake up to that realization, we are
blessed as well.
Though
we don’t deserve it, God’s blessing is available to all of us.
Blessed are you, dear reader, when you know you depend on God,
because his love will see you through.
...more
2min
July 08, 2018 Do Good
What
keeps us from doing good? Sometimes it’s our busyness. Other times
it may be that doing something good is not convenient. Or perhaps we
just don’t want to go against social norms, so we hold back.
Whatever the reason, at one time or another, most of us have passed
up an opportunity to do something good for someone.
The
Pharisees presented Jesus with a difficult situation. Their laws said
it was a violation to do work on the Sabbath, unless it meant saving
a life. But here in the temple was a man with a withered hand. His
life was not in danger, though. Should he be healed on the Sabbath?
Jesus
didn’t even hesitate. He asked the religious leaders what they
would do if something bad happened to one of their precious sheep on
the Sabbath. Of course they would help the animal. And wasn’t a
person more valuable than a sheep? This man with a shriveled hand was
precious to God. So of course this man could be helped on the
Sabbath. Then Jesus healed the man.
Should
anything stop us from doing good for each other? No.
Nothing
stood in Jesus’ way. We are his treasured possessions. He has done
and will do whatever it takes to rescue us and make us whole.
Healing, deliverance, salvation, care—none of these things is
beyond reason for God to act. So nothing should stand in our way
either.
...more
2min
July 07, 2018 Faith
Perhaps
you have heard the phrase “Faith can move mountains.” Jesus
actually talks about faith that strong later in his ministry (see
Mark 11:22-25). I’ve always marveled at that phrase. I’ve spent
considerable time in the mountains. I’ve lived near the Rockies,
the Sierra Nevadas, and the Cascades in the western United States.
Mountains are huge. They are ancient geological barriers that can
weather any storm. They are solid and enduring, strong and
unyielding.
But
faith in Jesus is even stronger and bigger. The faith of the friends
in this passage is strong enough to tear apart a roof to bring their
paralyzed friend to Jesus, because they know he can heal their
friend. Jesus is so moved by their faith that he does what they want
him to do—and he doesn’t even criticize them for damaging the
roof! The amazing thing is that Jesus does even more than they have
hoped. He forgives the man’s sins as well as healing him from
paralysis. In this way the friends’ faith becomes an example to
everyone there who has come to see Jesus.
Faith
can move people to do incredible things. And in response, Jesus can
make huge impacts in this world. He can heal and forgive. He can
change the heart of an individual or the hearts an entire group of
people. This is all because of his ability to see faith in anyone who
comes to him, whether they walk or are carried by their friends.
...more
2min

FAQs about Today Daily Devotional:

How many episodes does Today Daily Devotional have?

The podcast currently has 2,850 episodes available.

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