The Up Devotional

Let me say something bold. Hear me out, and then I'll explain. To not believe in the effectiveness of prayer is to say that God is a liar. Woah, hold on. Who wants to call God a liar? Not me! And I'm sure you don't want to do that either.  However, the Bible—which is God's […]

In Ecclesiastes 2, the Teacher is on a hunt for wisdom. At this point in the book, he is frustrated. Things often don't make sense. They often don't work out as he'd like.  Can you relate? That's when he has a realization: “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and […]

Everyone leaves some sort of legacy. What will yours be?  In Ecclesiastes 2, the Teacher frets about this—a lot. He started to hate his job because his life's work might be squandered by someone who came after him: “I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave […]

There can be “seasons” to one's faith. For example, it is often noted how new Christians have zeal. They are “on fire for the Lord”! That's amazing. Sometimes it lasts. Sometimes it doesn't. There are seasons. And that's okay. Life includes ups and downs. One of the risks with this particular season is that as […]

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (1 Timothy 6:10). Mother Teresa was known for her devotion to God and for serving the poorest of the poor. People respected her […]

[Workshop notice below in footnotes…] ~ Every day we are surrounded with physical things that can remind us about spiritual realities.  For example, the sun can remind us about the light of Christ. An evening breeze can remind us to “be still” and know that only God is God (Psalm 46:1). A loud horn can […]

The author of Ecclesiastes did some first-hand research. He was looking for wisdom and knowledge but was getting frustrated. Nothing seemed to satisfy him.  “I built houses and planted vineyards for myself,” he said. “I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also […]

Good habits, bad habits. We probably all have both.  At first you make your habits, and then your habits make you. That's the part about habits that we often neglect—that they are shaping us and leading us in a certain direction. They are not “one offs.” They have a cumulative effect. They are directional. Like […]

All of us sin, myself included. When this happens, we feel bad about it. And who likes to feel bad, right?  Well, today I'd like to explain how even feeling bad about sin can be a sign of God's love for you. Let me explain—and you've got to stick with me on this one. Before […]

Note: New podcast episode link in the footnotes below – “Habits are Coordinates.” ~ In Ecclesiastes 1:8, the teacher says: “All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.” In other words, nothing makes him content. Nothing he sees, and […]

We've been spending some time with the book of Ecclesiastes. At first glance, chapter one seems pretty dreary. “All things are full of weariness,” the author says, “a man cannot utter it…” (Ecclesiastes 1:8). See what I mean! But the teacher is expressing frustrations, not making conclusions. He's working out his thoughts and feelings about […]

In Ecclesiastes 1:3 the teacher asks a question: “What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?”  Let's note a few things.  First, when he says ‘man,' he means ‘humankind.' He's not just talking about himself. He's asking a question of all of us. Second, when he says ‘toil,' […]

The start of the biblical book of Ecclesiastes is not what I would call “positive.”  “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). In case it's not obvious, he's thinks everything is vanity.  His keyword in Hebrew is “hevel.” It's hard to translate because there isn't an exact English […]

Proverbs 4:26 says: “Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.” In the Bible, various writers speak about a level path. Picture a hiker on a trail making her way up a mountain. If the path is level, that's good. If it's rocky, she could roll over […]

Summer schedules can become unpredictable. When that happens, it's easy to let certain practices slip, like having meals together, like regular exercise… And like going to church.  Consider this. The average educator spends five thousand hours studying child development before they teach a class. The average paediatrician spends ten years and $500,000 to practice medicine […]

Matthew 19:26 includes one of Jesus' most famous sayings: “…with God all things are possible.” We often appeal to that verse when praying for a something super-big, like a miracle. When we want a dramatic healing, or when we want people who absolutely hate each other to reconcile, or when we want a hurricane to […]

Like many others, I grew up thinking Obi-Wan Kenobi was pretty cool. He was one of the good guys on Star Wars. In a recent spin-off series, he said: “Only when the eyes are closed can you truly see.”* If you think that sounds decidedly biblical, you're right. It's very reminiscent of what the apostle […]

A story is told by Mitch Albom. ‘A farmer wakes up to find that his horse has run off. The neighbours come by and say, “Too bad, such awful luck.” The farmer says, “Maybe.”  The next day, the horse returns with a few other horses. The neighbours congratulate the farmer for his reversal of fortune. […]

We're back!  After some heavenly vacation time, The Up Daily Devotional is back to your email inboxes, social media feeds, and podcast platforms five mornings a week. There's a book by Daniel J. Brown called The Boys in the Boat. It's about Americans who went to the Berlin Olympics for rowing. I haven't read it […]

[PAUSE ALERT – After today, The Up Daily Devotional will go on pause for 2 weeks, resuming on September 7, 2026.] ~ Let's begin with three verses from John 15. As we go through them, let's look for what Jesus says about joy. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide […]

In the previous devotional we talked about prayer. There is more than one way to pray, of course. I included some suggestions of short, biblical statements that you can put on a mental “loop” as you go about your day. Here's some additional motivation to pray, no matter how you do it.  It comes to […]

Have you ever heard of “The Jesus Prayer”?  It's an ancient prayer that goes like this: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” It's common for people to repeat it—as if on a loop—as they go about their day.  It comes from a variety of different statements in the Bible […]

Today I'm going to say something that might sound a bit jarring. But I think it's for your own good. Please hear me out.  Do you find it difficult to find time to pray, even though you don't find it difficult to do other less important things?  Do you find it hard to focus your […]

In the world of business, companies can outsource all sorts of things. They can outsource administrative tasks, or even their payroll or legal services. As people, however, we can't outsource intimacy.  John Ortberg tells the unfortunate story of a man who became attracted to a certain woman and wanted to ask her out on a […]

This week we have been spending some time thinking about the forgiveness that God gives to his children.  Today, let's flip that coin and talk about the forgiveness that we can extend to others. First, it's important to remember that our approach to forgiveness is grounded in what we have first received in Christ. Paul […]

We have been spending some time with Psalm 32. It is one of seven “penitential” psalms. That word is connected to repentance. If it sounds like “penitentiary,” you're right. Prisons are intended to be houses of repentance, where inmates gather in cells (notice that a ‘cell' is also where a monk lives as a place […]

Several years ago, I was watching an episode of Little House on the Prairie. There was a girl in a wheelchair. She was upset about how much her life had changed.  Her mom, wanting the best for her, knew she needed to change her perspective. She said: “Live your life as it is, not as […]

In Psalm 32:1, David wrote: “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” According to the psalm, if you have received God's forgiveness, you are “blessed.” That's a popular phrase to use these days. “Blessed.” It's even used as a hashtag by people who would not otherwise call themselves “religious.”  When […]

In John's Gospel, Jesus makes a series of well-known statements that begin with the words, “I am.” Here they are: “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35)“I am the light of the world” (John 8:12)“I am the door of the sheep” (John 10:7)“I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11)“I am the resurrection and the […]

“Abide in me, and I in you.” That's what Jesus says in John 15:4.  The idea of “abiding” with Jesus presumes closeness and time. In other words, it presumes that we are drawing near to him, and that we are prioritizing him in our schedules. Lately, I've been thinking about the phrase ‘Slowing down in […]

[Alert: New article for summer, link below.] ~ Recently, we have been spending time with John 15:4. That's where Jesus said: “Abide in me, and I in you.” In the previous devotional, we talked about taking our time with Jesus' words instead of rushing past them. This is one of the ways we can “abide” […]

In John 15:4 Jesus says something that is easy to skip over, even though it takes a lifetime to digest: “Abide in me, and I in you.” Various translation teams have tried to capture this enigmatic phrase. The NET Bible says: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you.” In the footnotes they also […]

Mark Zuckerberg is the co-founder of Meta and Facebook. In his early days, he had a motto: “Move fast and break things.”  At first, it seems appealing. ‘Let's innovate, move forward, and not get held back by the consequences!' It certainly captures something about the sentiment of our times.  However, let's not kid ourselves. Our […]

The Star Wars movies have spawned a series of spin-off TV shows. One of them is called Andor.  In it, rebels (who are actually the good guys) are plotting against the evil Empire who keeps trying to expand its grip. It's appetite for darkness and control seem insatiable. In Season 2, there is a moving […]

“God is love.” That's exactly what the apostle John says in 1 John 4:8. He is also “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (Psalm 145:8). At the same time, he is holy and just. He punishes sin. There are times when he also exercises his wrath. And that, my friends, […]

I recently spent a lot of time studying 2 Peter. At the end of the letter, he said: “…take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability” (2 Peter 3:17). This was a topic that was clearly important to him. Since he had already spent […]

Peter was a fisherman. Jesus called him into a life of discipleship and leadership: “Follow me,” he said, “and I will make you become fishers of men” (Mark 1:17). Sure, Peter was imperfect. There was a time when he denied Jesus (Luke 22:58). He also had a habit of putting his foot in his mouth, […]

“The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him…” (Exodus 15:2) Recently, I saw a video someone recorded while passing by a home. It had been devastated by a massive fire. The entire inside was burned out. All that was left […]

As you probably know, Jerusalem has seen a lot of bombs.  Fairly recently, I learned about a group of people named the Zaka. After a bomb goes off, they put on their yellow visibility vests and rush to the scene. They often get there before the paramedics.  They gather the body pieces of people who […]

I recently watched Disclosure Day. It's the latest movie from producer Steven Spielberg.  I was interested because there had been a lot of talk about it, including from within the Christian community. The reason for this chatter had to do with the topic—Aliens!   But not just that. Spielberg went out of his way to […]

In 2 Peter 3:3, the apostle gives a warning to his fellow Christians: “scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.”  He is about to teach them about the return of Jesus. There are “scoffers,” he says. Literally, the text says “scoffers in their scoffing.” They doubt God, they […]

In the previous devotional, I talked about how the future is beautiful. Yes, there can be ugliness in our world, but it won't always be this way. This is partly based on passages like 2 Peter 3:13 where the apostle says this: “But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a […]

There is a lot of beauty in our world. But let's be honest. There is also a lot of ugliness. Let me provide a few examples:  The non-stop fighting—between nations, in politics, and sometimes even in homes.  Profanity and pornography which continually reinvents itself to shock and ensnare us more and more.  The trafficking of […]

The world can seem like a very big place. There are lots of people. There are lots of voices—some good, some bad. There is a lot of noise. There is a lot of arguing. There is a lot of information. The word “overload” comes to mind. In light of all of this, it's easy to […]

Serving others is mentioned in a variety of biblical passages. One of them is Galatians 5:13: “Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Ultimately, Jesus is our example. He was serving others non-stop. He washed his disciples' feet. He healed people. He cast out […]

In 2 Peter 2, the apostle warns against false teachers. In fact, I think it's safe to say that the entire chapter might be the closest thing we have to a biblical rant!  The difference, however, is that Peter's words are inspired by God. Plus, he's motivated by love and a desire to protect others.  […]

When something is “objectively true,” it is true no matter what. When something is “subjectively true,” its truth is dependent on someone's experience or perspective. To explain more fully, here is a list of five statements. Which ones are true? 1) The C.N. Tower is in Toronto.2) The average gravitational pull of earth is 9.8 […]

Are there good things in our world? Yes. There are a lot of good things.  At the same time, when we look around at all the division, violence, and sin—including the celebration of sin—it's easy to get discouraged.  That's why it's good to remember that God's people have always been called to be different, even […]

I remember hearing a song on the radio by Casting Crowns. It was called “Slow Fade.”  The point of the song is that falling away from God's ways and into sin is rarely an all-at-once experience. It is a “slow fade.” In other words, it is the cumulative effect of a series of smaller decisions […]

I was recently reminded of a story about Martin Luther, the well-known church reformer from the sixteenth century.  One day he was confronted by the devil who accused him of sin after sin. I'm paraphrasing, but in essence the devil said, ‘How can you pretend to be a leader and reformer of the church? You're […]

Recently, I was putting together a new piece of furniture. The instruction manual had some spelling mistakes. As a result, I started to doubt how accurate it was. If you don't trust what you're reading, you'll start to question whether or not it's actually going to help you. This is why it's important to be […]