WSCAL - Morning Devotions

For a church facing cultural and doctrinal pressure it is easy to be sharp in doctrine but dull in love for the lost. Eating of the tree that gives life is the promised solution held out by the risen Christ. 

In this devotional we explore what it means to pray for our Father's kingdom to come and his will to be done. We recognize that we are asking that the kingdom which Jesus inaugurated in his first coming will be consummated in his second coming. We are praying for our Father to grow us in grace and conform us to the image of Jesus in our affections, actions, and volitions. May we love and serve him and our neighbors faithfully and fruitfully through the Spirit.

There is a temptation in the desperate moments of our lives to let fear give way to doubt.  But Exodus 2:1-10 shows us that God can be trusted in the darkest of times.  He is working powerfully on our behalf to bring a Savior, and deliver us from our slavery to sin.  

We will consider the outcome of the meal the Lord prepares for us in the presence of our enemies.

Within the Tabernacle, the Lord set a regular table for his covenant people to enjoy peace and joy with God and to have a foretaste of better things to come.  

This devotional explores the first petition of the Lord's Prayer, "Hallowed be your name." When we make this request we are asking for God's grace to enable us to rightly honor the Lord for who he is, what has done, and what he is doing in and through us. We ask that what we think, do, and say will be informed by his words and works and directed towards his glory.

At the close of his Gospel account, John describes the disciples having breakfast on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. After the tumultuous events of Calvary and the empty tomb, this may strike us an insignificant or anti-climatic event to record. Is it?

This message addresses the 'who' of prayer. We do not pray to an unknown or unknowable deity. We do not pray to an indifferent or aloof God. Rather, Christians pray to Our Father. The one who loves, creates, redeems, rescues, and renews us in Christ through his Holy Spirit. We are his  beloved children and he is our heavenly father.

Because communing with God was the goal of our creation, the story of Scripture begins with instructions on what and what not to eat. Throughout the history of salvation, the Lord signified and sealed his salvation of his people with a meal. In John 6:53-56, however, our Lord made explicit the reality was heretofore covered in shadows: what must be eaten is neither fruit nor bread but Christ himself. 

We are reminded by the Word always to give thanks.  No matter the circumstance, the Lord's grace and presence give us sufficient reasons for thanks.  

This devotional highlights Jesus' willingness and power to heal and to save. Furthermore, it reveals the heart of thanksgiving and praise which flows from a life touched by God's grace and mercy.

Among the sterling characters of the Old Testament few surpass Joseph for integrity and faith—which shine all the more given the suffering he was called to endure. From one perspective, his life could be summed up as, "how everything went wrong." But Joseph would insist that "everything went right." Is Joseph a special case and have a special faith?  Or does he testify to a promise that applies to the people of Christ as well?

Psalm 130 is a microcosm of the ordinary Christian life of guilt, grace, and gratitude.

Peter exhorts Christians to trust in God’s sovereign plan and remain vigilant while we await our blessed hope.

This meditation reflects upon the Apostle Paul's prayer for the church in Ephesus, which he planted, knows, and loves. By extension this prayer is for Christ's church and people in this present age as we await the Lord's return. Paul's prayer is bold and audacious. It is confident and comforting, knowing that the Lord is able and willing to do more than we can even ask and think.

We will be looking at God’s promise to restore the fortunes of Zion and the various ways in which he has done and will do that.  

In his 1521 translation of the Greek New Testament into German Luther used the word allein (alone) in his translation of Romans 3:28, which says, “For we reckon that a man is justified through faith apart from the works of the law.” Luther was right. He captured Paul's intent, which was to teach salvation sola fide, by faith alone.  

Genesis 11:1-9

In this devotional we reflect upon Mary's prayer of praise to the Lord for his favor towards her and his mercy toward all of his children. Mary marvels at the word, works, and presence of the Lord, as do all who share the same faith and Lord as Mary.

The Old Covenant was a visible thing --  the priests, the altar, the animals and the blood.  The New Covenant is, in many ways, an invisible reality.  

In the passage Hannah rejoices in the Lord for answering her personal prayer for a son and sees in him the salvation of all of Israel. 

Judges 16:15-31 

Jonah 1:17-2:10

God’s compassion for those outside of Christ is so different from ours.  He focuses our attention on this in one of the most sublime short stories in literature: the little book of Jonah.  

What does it mean to ask for daily bread?   

In Romans 5:1-11, the Apostle Paul preached the bad news of our sin and the good news of our free, once-for-all, justification and salvation. The heart of passage is that, in Christ, God loves sinners, justifies them, saves them, and as a consequence, sanctifies them by his love and Spirit. 

This devotional explores Jesus' parable about two people who pray. One is proud and confident of his  alleged avoidance of sin and good works; the other recognizes his sin and cries out to the Lord for mercy. Mercy is what he received.

All human boasting is subverted by the surprising grace of God's calling and election. The Christian's boasting is inverted, redirected away from ourselves toward the cruciform glory of Christ our Mediator.  

This devotional examines Jesus' request to avoid the cross, if possible; coupled with his wholehearted resolve to endure the cross for his people. This is not merely an example of radical obedience, but the foundation for the forgiveness, righteousness, and reconciliation of the Christian.

God has robbed the graves of his people

This devotional unpacks Jesus' praying for Peter that his faith would not fail and the implications for us that our faithful High Priest lives to intercede for us. 

 "To those who struggle with faith and life, Paul assures that nothing - absolutely nothing - that can keep us from the love of God in Christ Jesus."

Westminster Seminary California President Joel Kim delivers the spring 2020 President's Chapel

Westminster Seminary California Professor A. Craig Troxel gives a morning devotion from 1 Corinthians 13.

Westminster Seminary California Professor A. Craig Troxel gives a morning devotion from 1 Corinthians 13.

Westminster Seminary California President Joel Kim gives a morning devotion from Psalm 137.

Westminster Seminary California Professor A. Craig Troxel gives a morning devotion from 1 Corinthians 13.

Westminster Seminary California Professor A. Craig Troxel gives a morning devotion from 1 Corinthians 13.

Westminster Seminary California President Joel Kim gives a morning devotion from Psalm 3.

The psalmist sets forth the way of comprehensive, whole-hearted devotion to God’s law. And in light of his own sin and the evil of the world, he expresses a great uneasiness, mixed with an expectant faith in God for help.

Graduating senior, Ryan Thomas  gives a morning devotion from Hosea 5

Psalm 68 records the march of God across the desert from Sinai to Zion.  Probably composed for the installation of the ark of the covenant in the Jerusalem temple, this Psalm lies at the heart of Israel’s story—and ours as well.  

C.S. Lewis wrote that the first step to “acquire humility” is “to realize that one is proud. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.” Lewis is probably correct that pride shadows us more than we know. Thankfully the Word of God helps us to see how we can re-orient our lives, speech and motives more humbly. Moreover, the eternal Word become flesh helps us to see what humbling oneself looks like; especially when it is motivated by love.