Daily Devotions

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” (John 21:15 ESV)

Peter decided he wasn’t worthy and couldn’t be useful any longer to the world, so he went back to the beginning after the resurrection of Jesus. He got in his little boat, rowed out into the sea, and fished the night away in vain.

In the morning, the resurrected Christ, the true Lover of our souls who sees us for what we really are, told him to cast his net on the other side of the boat. When he obeyed, once again writhed that familiar haul of fish, and once again this man found himself before the Living God, broken as if for the very first time.

Did Christ wait for him along the shore to punish him?

Read moreJohn 21:15 – Hope in Haiti: Part 5

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. (Jeremiah 18:1-4 ESV)

This clay is of the earth. I am not a heavenly vessel. While I may have found myself in such a brokenness that it seemed best to lay my head in the dust, sit in silence and claw the ground, He forgave, and poured into me His mercy and grace. And the best news is that I’ve been dug up from that dark pit and placed into His hands, this dirty old earth in the hands of the Great I AM! I’m HIS to form.

It’s as if God tells us,

Read moreJeremiah 18:1-4 – Hope in Haiti: Part 4

Daily Devotional Bible Verse

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. (Colossians 1:28-29 ESV)

From the outside looking in, sending food and other aid seems the most logical answer in helping impoverished nations like Haiti. But the answer is actually found in giving them hope, something to live for, joy and a peace that passes all understanding.

That only comes from Jesus Christ.

A bag of rice lasts a family of eight less than a month. Then what? What about three or four months down the road? How about next year?

Let’s instead ask this question: How about their grandchildren’s grandchildren?

If the world would truly serve Haiti it will be in provision of something lasting, stable, and eternally valuable. That requires a measure of care far heavier than a bag of rice. It requires a real and genuine love.

The purpose of a Christian is not only to love and to serve, running kids to the hospital, buying rice and oil, and sponsoring kids for school, but to express the reason behind that love. Because Jesus calls us to serve, we serve. Because Jesus loves, we love. For my family, God showed us that expressing that love meant laying down our desires, our dreams, our goals, and our lives.

This is why I give the Bible, God’s love letter to us all.

His Word has been the single most effective tool I’ve ever seen in repurposing the human heart. I’ve seen people walk for ten miles down a mountain trail better suited for a billy goat for the first Bible in their family’s history. I’ve seen them cradle it like a newborn baby; even smell its pages. They have a hunger of which our generation has no understanding.

Each day is different, because the purpose of every morning is to hand it over to God with one question: “Lord, where are you working today, and how can we help?”

Guest devotion by Dan Elliott. Dan is a missionary who sold everything, left America, and started Bibles For Haiti—an organization that does exactly what it sounds like. Learn more about Dan and Bibles For Haiti visit biblesforhaiti.org. This post is adapted from “Haiti Ever After,” the interactive online story of Bibles For Haiti. You can see more, here.