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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.
Vain Labor
Read Psalm 127:1–2 (KJV) Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. What it is speaking to me: I love new ideas. I love the beginnings of things. A new idea shows up, and something in me wants to just go. Spreadsheets get built. Brainstorms fly in all directions. Timelines
David Ayres
4 days ago2 min read
Luv Is A Verb
Read 1 John 3:16-18 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. What it is speaking to me: I am going to quote two songs that will date my childhood for you. First, a song that aired o
David Ayres
Jul 152 min read
Sagrada Familia
Read 1 Corinthians 15:57–16:1 (KJV) But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. What it is speaking to me: In Barcelona, Spain, there is a cathedral called the Sagrada Familia. Construction began in 1882. This past June, in 2026, after 144 years and five generations of archi
David Ayres
Jul 12 min read
Slipping Thru My Fingers
Read Ephesians 5:15–17 (KJV) See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. What it is speaking to me: Life is fleeting. One day we are here, the next we are gone. It can be so easy to take for granted how much time we have in a given day, week, month, or year. But in reality we are guaranteed nothing. I don't say all this from a place of
David Ayres
Jun 242 min read
The Long Game
Read Hebrews 6:10-12 — "For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." What it is speaking to me: The promises of God are often marathons, not sprints. I am not
David Ayres
Jun 222 min read
Waldeinsamkeit
Read Mark 6:30-31 The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. And He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while." (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) What it is speaking to me: I am terrible at speaking the German language, but man I love how they create crazy words to describe very specific concepts or situations. Like: "Kummerspeck"
David Ayres
Jun 192 min read
Disciplined Rest
Read Genesis 2:2-3 (NIV) By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. What It Is Speaking to Me Why did God rest on the seventh day? I mean, He rested. It couldn't have been because He was tired. So why? Could it be as an act of intentional rhythm? Could He be modeling what He wants u
David Ayres
Jun 82 min read
Say Less
Read Proverbs 10:18-19 (NKJV) — "Whoever hides hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool. In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise." What It Is Speaking to Me We have all been there. In the midst of a great conversation, a terrible fight, or anything in between — and we do it. Or more accurately, we say it. That one word, that one phrase we shouldn't have said. That one word that was over the line. The rude sentenc
David Ayres
Jun 32 min read
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
May 293 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
May 272 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
May 252 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
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