Category: Devotionals

Devotionals

Do you understand the way you are going?  

Loring Schultz

“The LORD directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?” Proverbs 20:24 NLT

 
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It should behoove us to plan out our future. Any endeavor we decide to take on should not proceed until perfectly planned out. Skipping this first step will prove unsuccessful. I’m afraid I’ve been a casualty of my own neglect in this area of my life several times. Lessons learned. Hopefully, not to be repeated again!

Proper planning sets boundaries along the path we decide to take. It guides us to stay in our lane and not drift into unproductive areas. With no plan in place we drift from side to side even if we have an end goal in mind. We make adjustments along the way to compensate for lost time and finances but realize we don’t understand the way we are going. It is a helpless feeling.

Our need for planning is essential, that’s number 1. The need to give it to the Lord is number 2. Feel free to reverse that order especially if it is Lord laying it upon your heart. There are a couple of things we need to know when we give our plans over to the Lord. “You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.” (Pr.19:21 nlt) The Lord will direct our plans in the direction of His will, where He desires them to go. A second thing we need to know is that we still may not understand everything in the way we are going and that’s OK because it is the Lord who is directing our steps.

It is better for us to not understand our way with the Lord leading and directing our steps than for us to wander around aimlessly with no plans. Either way we won’t comprehend, but with God in control we don’t need to try to understand everything along the way. He will get us to our destination.

Devotionals

Advent 2025: Let Christ fill the void in your life this Christmas

Loring Schultz

“Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him.” Luke 15:1 NASB

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What was it about Jesus that drew sinners and the outcasts of society to Him? Tax collectors in Jesus’s day extorted money from people by demanding excessive amounts above the required payment. They were the most hated and mistrusted individuals in that day. They were earning a lucrative living by openly stealing. Note that it was not just tax collectors who were drawn to Jesus for the Bible says “and the sinners were coming near Him.”

And who were the sinners? Yes, drunkards, prostitutes, swindlers, thieves, liars, murderers and the like, “coming near Him to listen to Him.”

And who are the tax collectors and sinners in our day? I’m afraid it’s you and me. In some degree all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Ro. 3:23). And we all have a void, a deep hole in our souls that can only be filled by Jesus Christ. We were created to have a relationship with our heavenly Father, but that relationship is broken by our sin. It is an empty and nagging feeling that if you admit it; you know it is there. The tax collectors and sinners in Jesus’s day knew it was there. They didn’t want religious rules and regulations, they wanted forgiveness, and they wanted to fill the void, that deep hole in their life.

May you take the opportunity this Christmas to fill the void in your life by accepting Christ as your personal Savior. That is why He came. That is why we celebrate Christmas.

Devotionals

Are We Walking in Paul’s Sandals?    

Loring Schultz

“Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:9 NLT

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The apostle Paul was the greatest teacher and example in living the Christian life outside of Jesus Christ Himself. Paul was a vessel chosen of Christ to bear His name before Gentiles, kings, and sons of Israel. (Acts 9:15) Paul was taught by the Lord, the greatest teacher, so he knew what he was talking about. He also wrote one half of the New Testament under the influence of the Holy Spirit. He wrote to several churches and individuals inspiring and teaching them all to live godly and according to their calling in Christ Jesus. Paul also led by example.

Paul’s words of instruction are just as much for us today as it was for those early Christians. In writing to the church at Philippi, Paul encouraged them to, “Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.” (Ph.4:9 nlt) As we apply Paul’s words to ourselves in 2025, how are we doing? Are we walking in his sandals?

It is a much bigger responsibility than most of us may realize. It’s not just living the godly life but living in such a way that we are influencing the next generation for Christ. Are we setting Christlike examples for others to follow on a consistent basis? Paul opens up his life for examination to the Philippians by saying to follow his example in everything they heard him say and do. It is a bold statement that is more challenging than I’d like to admit, but it is what Paul is instructing us to do. So, again the question is, are we walking in Paul’s sandals? 

Devotionals

Advent 2025: Set Free

Loring Schultz

“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32 NLT

“Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.” 2 Timothy 2:26 NLT

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Like it or not, we are all held captive by the world in one fashion or another. The Christmas holiday is a prime example of being influenced by the events around us that holds us captive. Of course, not all of the festive trimmings and wrappings of the season are a bad influence or have the ability to hold us captive. But when we take our eyes and our minds off the true meaning of Christmas we set ourselves up to fall into the devil’s trap. Satan would like nothing better than to have Jesus placed second or even third on His birthday. The less we inform people of the true ‘reason for the season’ as we say, the more he likes it.

Jesus said to those who had said they believed in Him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (Jn. 8:32 nlt) But they questioned Jesus saying that they have never been in slavery to anyone, so how can they be set free. They did not understand that Jesus was not referring to physical slavery, but to the spiritual condition of their souls. They were enslaved to sin and to the father of lies, Satan himself. They needed to know the truth (divine revelation) and that truth says Jesus came to set us free from the captivity of sin and of Satan.

I trust that those of us who know Jesus as our personal Savior will not be held captive by the surroundings of Christmas that the truth of gospel fails to resonate with those around us. The Christmas story is more than about a baby in a manger on a silent night. There was a distinct and necessary purpose for the Christ child’s arrival; to set us free from the captivity of sin.

Devotionals

Perpetual Fire of Forgiveness

Loring Schultz

“The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.” Leviticus 6:13 NIV

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The third book of the Law of Moses is the Old Testament book of Leviticus. Its theme is God’s holiness, and God’s will for Israel’s holiness. God’s teaching to Israel in Leviticus is how to approach their holy God in worship and in the sacrifices required of them, especially those concerning their sin. Much emphasis is placed on the priests in establishing this reverent and holy approach to God. All animals sacrificed on the altar had to be perfect without defect. “In this way the priest will make atonement for them for the sin they have committed, and they will be forgiven.” (Lev.4:35niv)

The Lord gave Moses detailed instructions of all the sacrifices the priests were going to perform. The most significant command was that the fire on the altar was to be continuous. “The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it.” (Lev. 6:12niv) The people of Israel were assured of God’s readiness to always forgive their sin at any time of the day or night.

The same assurance has been granted us today. God is always there waiting for us to come before Him with our confession. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 Jn.1:9niv) No need to bring a perfect animal to an altar for sacrifice every time we sin. A perfect lamb was sacrificed on the cross at Calvary to take away our sin. Jesus, the lamb of God paid the penalty for our sin ‘once for all.’ But we still sin and for that there is the perpetual fire of God’s readiness to forgive.

Devotionals

What to say?        

Loring Schultz

Read: Matthew 10:16-20 NLT – “Look, I am sending you out as sheep – Bible Gateway

“When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” Matthew 10:19-20 NLT

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The world is increasingly becoming more hostile towards Christians both in word and deed. Here in the United States legislation has been passed over the years to stifle the voice of Christianity, while other faiths are left to be or even promoted. Many countries around the world suffer not only the same anti-Christian laws but are suffering violently under physical persecution.

Jesus warned His disciples as he sent them to preach the gospel, “But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues. You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me.” (Mt.10:17-18 nlt) Jesus doesn’t guarantee us a trouble-free Christian life. Jesus was hated while He walked the earth and He is still hated today. The world hated Him then and the world hates us now. But the Lord promises never to leave us or forsake us. His Holy Sprit is always with us leading us all the way.

We are told not to worry as to what we will say when those days of persecution come upon us. Jesus tells us that God through the Holy Spirit will give us the words to say in that hour. It is a comfort to know we can count on the Lord God during these days of persecution. Perhaps you are one who have had such an experience, or a member of your family. Let us all pray for those today who are under heavy persecution for their Christian faith across the world. May they discover the peace on earth from that baby who left heaven’s glory to save us and to help know what to say.

Devotionals

Advent 2025: Preparing a Place

Loring Schultz

“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:1-3 NASB

Jesus’s love for us is such that He wants us to be with Him throughout all eternity. He has been preparing a place for us for two thousand years. His love for us is such that He left His heavenly place in order to make it possible for us to be in that place with Him. Sound confusing? It’s not really! Jesus, God the Son, left heaven’s throne coming down to earth to redeem those who will put their trust in Him for Salvation. Let’s just say the necessary arrangements needed to be made for us to enter eternity with the Lord Jesus.

The incarnation of Christ is part of God’s plan of Salvation for mankind. We are all in a lost state, sinners from birth, and cannot stand or live in the presence of God. Our society today tells us that God is a God of love and He would not condemn anyone. It is true God is a God of love, but He is also a Holy God who cannot accept sin. Sin against a Holy God must be dealt with and there is nothing we can do to make it right. Isaiah 64:6 says, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteous nesses are as filthy rags.” (nkjv) As much as we try and as careful as we are to live a clean life doing what is right, the Bible says that our very best is as ‘filthy rags.’

So where is our hope this Christmas? Our hope is in Jesus, the Christ child, who lived a perfect life, and laid down that perfect life for us to accept Him for Salvation. We can then stand before God in Christ’s righteousness and live in eternity in the place He has been preparing for you and me these past two thousand years.

Devotionals

How to lose a guilty conscience

Loring Schultz

Read: Psalm 32:1-7 ESV – Blessed Are the Forgiven – A Maskil of – Bible Gateway

“I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” Psalm 32:5 ESV

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The three most common words used in the Old Testament for evil thoughts and actions are sin, iniquity, and transgressions. Although these words are not so common today, evil thoughts and actions are still quite popular. Perhaps a reason why these words are not used is because they are never considered applicable to us. They are words in the Bible that condemns and we want no part of them, for we are not like that. We may make mistakes and mess up, but evil thinking and evil acts, well, that’s not us.

 Well, if that is the case, have you ever had a guilty conscience? Has there ever been a feeling you just can’t shake off no matter how hard you try? You trace it back to something you said or did or both. You may not want to admit it, but it was wrong even in your eyes. Your feelings are feeding your conscience and vice versa. You are able to say with David in Psalm 32, “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.  For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.” (Ps.32:3-4 esv) Your words or actions were also wrong in the eyes of your creator, the Lord God. That’s why you feel the way you do.

But there is a sure way to lose that feeling, that guilty conscience. Admit your guilt (sin) before the Lord, and don’t try to hide your (iniquity). You are able to fool some people, but not God. Confess your (transgressions) to the Lord. These words do apply. They bring a realization to our fallen state, but we don’t need to live in it. When we confess our sin, the Lord forgives us. He cleanses us, restores us to a right relationship with Himself and gets rid of our guilty conscience.