The Knee Jerk Devotional

What tracks are you leaving in the desert dust?

Will I trust in God's goodness or my silly schemes?

Welcome back to The Knee Jerk Devotional, mostly daily devotionals. I respond to my reading of Jeremiah 1:1-10 today.

John 7:20-24 How do I know what's right? That's a question that plagues many of us. It seems to find us everywhere we go. As we scroll the social media feeds or we see the news or as we parent or as we talk with friends, this question is lingering in the background. So what do we do?

Jesus once said, “A person making things up tries to make himself look good. But someone trying to honor the one who sent him sticks to the facts and doesn't tamper with reality.” Read that again. If I put that into my own words, I'd say, “When we forget who we are really are, we lose the plot.” So many of us have lost the plot. We've lost our sense of self. We have become so bound to our political tribe that we have become blind to reality. As a result, we “tamper with reality.”

The great theologian Michael Scott once said, “Would I rather be feared or loved? Um… easy, both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me.” This always makes me chuckle because it rings so true. What kind of leader is a good leader? The one who casts fear in their followers or the one that creates love? I think we would say the latter, yet so much of what we see in our institutions is the former. It's as if we don't really believe that it's possible to lead from a place of love or humility.

John 6:27-59

John 6:1-15

John 5:41-47

John 5:39-40

John 5:28-38

John 5:24-27

John 5:19-23

John 5:1-18

John 4:43-54

John 4:39-42

John 4:31-38

John 4:31-34

John 4:25-30

John 4:15-24

John 4:3-14

John 4:1-3

John 3:22-36

John 3:1-8

John 2:13-25

John 2:1-12

John 1:43-51

John 1:35-42

John 1:29-34

John 1:19-28

Welcome to 2022! Today's mostly daily spiritual insight for the short attention span is from John 1:15-18

John 1:9-13

John 1:4-9

At the end of last week I asked for some help via a survey for my sermon. A few folks asked if the sermon was going to be recorded. That isn't usually something I do. But, I thought I would make a special podcast episode for it. 1 Corinthians 12:1-3

John 1:1-5

Colossians 4:2-6

Colossians 3:15-17

This morning we wrestle with lament in the wake of the murders of three high school students in Oxford, MI.

Today's devotional is about what makes us truest versions of ourselves. Colossians 3:12-14

Colossians 3:5-11

Colossians 3:3-4

Colossians 3:1-2

Colossians 2:20-23

Colossians 2:16-19

Colossians 2:11-15

Colossians 2:8-10

Colossians 2:6-7