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DAVID'S DAILY
DEVOTIONAL
Photo by Andrik Langfield on Unsplash
WELCOME!
This devotional blog is a weekday "non-fluffy" devotional in the Word based on the two greatest commandments: "Love the Lord, love your neighbor." Each devotion will answer these three questions: What does the message speak to me (the author) today? What is it saying to you (the reader)? And what are we going to do about it? The Bible will speak to us every day if we will let it. So what is it saying today?
You can just come to this page every morning to see the latest blog post, but if you prefer email, subscribe below to have the link to the daily devotion dropped in your email inbox every morning.
A Sluggardly Garden
**Reader's Note:** For my attentive readers, you might have felt a sense of familiarity with yesterday's devotional. I had been reading back through James, and those verses stood out to me, and I wrote up the devotional. I didn't notice until I was completely finished that it was strikingly similar to one I wrote a while back. After the self-flagellation for this oversight, I considered writing/posting another one instead. But I decided to follow the inspiration, and hoped th
David Ayres
1 day ago3 min read
"Orion"
Read Ephesians 4:29 (KJV) Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. What it is speaking to me: Confession time. I am not a road rage guy. I don't struggle with anger in traffic (most of the time), I don't get particularly annoyed at people cutting me off or other things that often annoy a daily driver in a busy metropolis. BUT. I do have this one thing: when I see someone
David Ayres
3 days ago2 min read
Spiritual Prep Cooks
Read Luke 10:1-2 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” What it is speaking to me: My first job was in a kitchen as a dishwasher. Eventually, I worked my way up to line cook, and one of my jobs was doi
David Ayres
5 days ago2 min read
Fruit by Trial
Read Galatians 5:22–26 (NKJV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. What It's Speaking to Me I learned songs in children's church about the fruit of t
David Ayres
May 202 min read
The "Silent" Cog
Read 1 Thessalonians 4:10–12 (CSB) In fact, you are doing this toward all the brothers and sisters in the entire region of Macedonia. But we encourage you, brothers and sisters, to do this even more, to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, so that you may behave properly in the presence of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone. What it is speaking to me: We live in a world that is genuinely obsessed wit
David Ayres
May 142 min read
Made to Make
Read Genesis 1:1; 2:15 (ESV) "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth... The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it." What It Is Speaking to Me Have you ever watched someone do their job in a way that was clearly more than just going through the motions? My first job was as a dish monkey at a fancy restaurant. There was a chef there that really cared about the food he made. It wasn't just the job. My wife is a choir teac
David Ayres
May 72 min read
Enduring the Grind
Read Hebrews 12:1–3 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that y
David Ayres
Apr 222 min read
All Your Might
Read Ecclesiastes 9:10 (NIV)"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom." What It Is Speaking to Me If you haven't read Ecclesiastes before, you can read this verse and miss the embedded irony that is intentionally woven throughout the whole book until the last chapter. That's a devotional for another time. The point of this devotional is tucked in
David Ayres
Apr 162 min read
Mathing Your days
Read Psalm 90:12 (KJV) So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. What it is speaking to me: Perhaps you have heard the phrase, "The days are long but the years are short." More importantly, you probably can identify with that statement. People have postulated for centuries why this effect exists, and according to the never-wrong internet there are two popular explanations. I will get the one involving math out first, as I don't like math and wa
David Ayres
Apr 93 min read
Ant Man
Read Proverbs 6:6–8 Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest. What It Is Speaking to Me We spend our teen years bucking our authority system (parents), our twenties convinced we have arrived at the knowledge of all things, and sometime in our thirties and forties we start to wonder if having someone still telling us what to do might actually
David Ayres
Apr 22 min read
Prayer=Work
Read James 5:15–17 (NKJV) And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. What it is speaking t
David Ayres
Mar 262 min read
Working
Read 2 Thessalonians 3:9–11 (NKJV)"…not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies." What it is speaking to me I grew up watching my dad work. He worked hard. He worked full time, he worked on the house, he volu
David Ayres
Mar 192 min read
Carnal Babes
Read 1 Corinthians 3:1–7 NKJV And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not carnal
David Ayres
Mar 123 min read
Hospitality Gifts
Read 1 Peter 4:9–11 (NET) 9- Show hospitality to one another without complaining. 10- Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God. 11- Whoever speaks, let it be with God's words. Whoever serves, do so with the strength that God supplies, so that in everything God will be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen. What it is speaking to me: Isn't it funny when
David Ayres
Mar 52 min read
A Little Profit
Read 1 Timothy 4:8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. What It Is Speaking to Me Sometime in the last year, I got old. Some of my older readers would scoff at that remark, and I don't blame you. But what I mean is that generally speaking, I can do any kind of regular physical activity — sports, yard work, light construction, etc. — without getting sore or having
David Ayres
Feb 262 min read
The Dishwasher Perspective
Read Luke 10:1–2 “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’” What it is speaking to me: Have you ever worked a job—or had a task at work—that felt completely overwhelming? One of those situations where there’s so much to do, not enoug
David Ayres
Feb 122 min read
Cheerleaders
Read 1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. What it is speaking to me It should not come as any surprise to you dear reader, that cheerleading is not in my background. Besides the outfits not suiting my style, I do not possess the proper demeanor—too few smiles, cheers, and pom-poms. While I don’t have an affinity for the " sport" of cheerleading, there is a place for it in the church—not the pom-pom version
David Ayres
Feb 52 min read
Whatever you do...
Read Colossians 3:23–24 “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.” What it is speaking to me: I can’t say that I like doing everything. As a kid, you don’t like doing most jobs—especially chores. As you get older, some chores don’t bother you as much, and then you start working. Unless you are incredibly lucky, every job you have will have at l
David Ayres
Jan 292 min read
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