Category Archives: Devo Drops

Thoughts on daily devotional scripture readings

Yield

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Back in December,
I started asking God if He had a word for me to carry into the new year.
Nothing came.

I kept asking and tried to listen.
Nothing.

I started to get a little twitchy when January 1st came and went.
Still no word.

Me: Lord, what word do You have for me in 2026?
God: What word do you have for Me?
Me: (long pause) Huh? You are waiting for me to pick a word?
God: I yield the word-picking to you this year.
Me: Yield.
God: Good word.

Yield is a good word. It does double duty as a noun and a verb.
Yield, n. — quantity of harvest or income produced
Yield, v. — to give up or surrender; to give precedence to; to relinquish

Two years ago, I copied down this quote:

“Abiding is a humble, gentle persistency
in attending to Jesus and only to Him,
and a kind of unyielding yieldedness to Him alone.”
(Leighton Ford, The Attentive Life)

Those two words “unyielding yieldedness” stuck with me.
I’m going to spend the coming year figuring out what that means.
And how to do it.

Offer yourselves to God as those alive from the dead,
and your members as instruments of righteousness, yielded to God.
Romans 6:13


2026 Bible Reading Plan

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I’ve been creating my own Bible Reading Plan for twelve years now. It must be the teacher in me—I get a kick out of giving myself assignments. I also don’t like being told by someone else what to read. (Must be the rebel in me.) I’ve kept track over the years of all the books of the Bible I’ve read (must be the perfectionist in me) and there are some glaring holes indicating books I have been avoiding for twelve years.

If I fail to plan, I can plan to fail. And sometimes I fail even when I do plan. But having a plan in place helps me get back on track. Eventually.

This year is going to be challenging. You are welcome to join me, if you dare.

I’m starting off with the Gospel of Mark because I need to begin the year with my eyes on Jesus.

In February, I’ll take a slow stroll through Colossians, one chapter a week in small bite-size portions Monday-Friday.

Here’s where it gets tricky. 1 & 2 Chronicles have never been my favorites. Especially the first nine chapters which contain lists of unpronounceable names. I’m sure there is treasure in there somewhere, but it will be a test of my patience. Close on the heels of Chronicles will be Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. No dilly-dallying here — a quick run through the chapters.

In June and July I’ll slow down a bit and take my time reading the book of Hebrews.

August is usually the time of year when I falter, so I’m returning to my beloved Psalm 119. It will be like a visit with an old friend.

This fall, strap on your seatbelts if you’re still with me. Ezekiel is weird. And probably wonderful, but I wouldn’t know because this has been my #1 book to ignore. Not anymore! I’m diving in. After Ezekiel, I’ll stay on the weird and wonderful track by reading Revelation, then end 2026 with an Advent study to be determined.

Note: This is a “reading plan, ” not a “study plan.” The point is to stay engaged with God’s Word consistently. God gave us a book and He arranged every word in it. Those words are nutrition for our souls. As Moses said,

“These are not just idle words for you; they are your life.”
Deuteronomy 32:47

God bless the reading of the Word in 2026!

Christmas Eyes

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Something about Christmas brings out the kid in all of us.
PB’s natural fun-loving personality really shines during the holidays.
He brings home all kinds of goodies. Every day. They are piling up.

Bags of Farm & Fleet Tootsie Roll Pops are a staple around here. In December, though, the stash is considerably expanded. After all, there are Christmas programs and dance recitals and extra church services. The demand rises dramatically, so PB keeps his pockets jammed full of suckers to pass out when the kids’ start to wiggle.

One year, PB brought home a yodeling pickle ornament. It’s motion sensitive, which means when I get up at 5:30 a.m. and tiptoe out to the kitchen, a shrill voice coming from a dark corner scares the Charles Dickens out of me. So fun!

It’s not all candy and toys for PB. He also goes in for a good game to play with the grandkids. This one is sure to be a hit with the 6-year-old and 8-year-old grandsons. We need to give them more reasons to talk about butts.

Of all PB’s fun finds, these get my seal of approval.
They don’t cause cavities,
they don’t yodel,
and they have nothing to do with butts.

These flimsy “glasses” transform the Christmas tree lights into fun shapes. We have glasses that create snowmen, reindeer, trees, candy canes and gingerbread men. These magical specs cost $1.69 each, which is the best deal in town.

See what I mean?
The glasses help you see something that nobody else sees.
It’s magic.

I’m wondering if Simeon had a special pair of glasses.

In Luke 2, when Joseph and Mary brought their 8-day-old baby boy to the temple, Simeon saw something that nobody else saw. The elderly gentleman took baby Jesus in his arms and declared, “My eyes have seen your salvation.” (Luke 2:30)

Everyone else in the temple saw a baby.
Simeon saw salvation.
He must have had Holy-Spirit-glasses.
Oh, for eyes to see like Simeon.

Two Ways to Give Thanks

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My inbox greeted me with two messages on this Thanksgiving morning.

I signed up for the NYT emails so I can play Wordle.
I get SpurgeonBooks emails so I can pray the Word.

Feast your eyes on two ways to give thanks today.

“Everything will be OK. Try to enjoy the day. You can do it.”
vs.
“Always thankful to our merciful God”

Take your pick.

“Give thanks as you move through the day.
And hug your people tight.” (NYT)
vs.
“We all have some cause for thankfulness,
therefore will we praise the Lord from the rising of the sun
unto the going down of the same.” (Spurg)

It helps to know Who to thank.

Also, you didn’t think we would finish the year without a plan, did you?

The 2025 Bible Reading Plan was left wide open for December. But never fear, we will finish strong in 2025 with an Advent Reading Plan. Also, fear not—most days are only a few verses. Grab yourself a cup of coffee in the wee hours of dark December mornings, light a candle, and join me for a moment of stillness and study of His Word. The same Word that became Flesh.

Greatly Grateful

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“If you think little of what God has done for you,
you will do very little for Him;
but if you have a great notion
of His great mercy to you,
you will be greatly grateful to your gracious God.”
~Charles Spurgeon~

I am greatly grateful to you for reading a small drop of ink.
“I thank my God every time I remember you.”
Philippians 1:3

Gotta go make gravy now.

We Got Robbed

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Many years ago, PB and I drove to Winona, Minnesota for a Keith Green concert. We arrived early, so we left our car in the empty parking ramp and slipped into the auditorium to listen to the sound checks.

Keith Green was a radical-hippie-Jesus-lover. He had crazy piano skills and wrote songs that brought worship to a new level. I’d never heard anyone sing with so much conviction and passion. The lyrics to his songs were raw and deeply honest. It was a thrill to be able to hear him live. We sat in the front row.

After the concert, we walked back to the parking ramp and discovered our car had been broken into. The window had been smashed and our bags torn apart. We were poor college students at the time, so the robbers didn’t find anything worth stealing. It was a cold ride home to LaCrosse that night, but it could have been worse and we were thankful.

A year after we heard Keith Green perform, he died in a plane crash. He was 28 years old. I remember hearing the news on the radio, sitting on the stairs in our townhouse apartment, and weeping.

I recalled this memory because of a quote I read this week by another old dead guy, Matthew Henry. He was a preacher in the 1700’s and was attacked one night by robbers on the streets of London. Reflecting on his unsettling experience he said:

“I am thankful first because I have never been robbed before.
Second, although they took my money, they did not take my life.
Third, they took everything, but it wasn’t much.
Fourth, I am thankful that it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.“

As we count our many blessings,
let’s be thankful for all the disasters that didn’t happen,
for all the close calls that were avoided,
for all the near misses that were thwarted.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip.
The Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.
Psalm 121

Spurgeon

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Charles Spurgeon is my favorite old dead guy.
I call him my 19th century boyfriend.
PB doesn’t mind because Spurg has been dead for 133 years.

A few years ago, friends gave me a portrait of Charles that hangs in my home office. He watches over me as I sit in my chair every morning–reading, praying, thinking, writing.

The man inspires me.

He wrote 500 personal letters every week.
He preached four to ten sermons each week.
He wrote 135 books and published 63 volumes of sermons.
He read six books per week, reading no less than 500 pages every day.
He gave a two-hour lecture at the Pastor’s College every Friday.

All without a computer. No cutting and pasting, no typing even.
Every word he wrote was put to paper with a pen
that had to be dipped into an ink bottle.

His Sunday morning schedule was as follows:
Wake early and ride carriage to church.
Smoke one cigar to the glory of God.
Lead worship service, preaching no more than 45 minutes.
Greet people in the church vestry all afternoon.
Begin sermon prep for the evening service.
Preach Sunday evening sermon.
Ride carriage home and go to bed.

Charles Spurgeon, a.k.a. The Prince of Preachers,
preached 3,561 sermons over 40 years,
making him my second favorite preacher of all time.

My #1 pastor never smoked cigars.
Not even to the glory of God.

Long Distance

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PB and I first met way back in 1974, before cell phones and email. We wrote letters to each other and PB saved up his dimes so he could go to the phone booth on the corner and make an occasional long-distance call.

By 1977, we were both in college and living several states apart. Because he was a poor college student, and I was a less poor college student, we devised a system for making those long distance phone calls.  It went like this:

The phone would ring in my dorm room.
I would answer it.
The operator would say, “Person-to-person call for Betty.”
I would say, “Betty is not here right now.”
The operator would say, “Thank you. The caller will try back later.”
Click.
Then I would call PB on my dime.

Long distance was never a problem for Jesus. When a centurion asked the Rabbi to heal his servant, Jesus offered to come to his house. The soldier resisted, saying he knew how authority worked—all Jesus had to do was say the word and it would be done. It was a remarkable statement of faith, coming from a Roman.

Just imagine the servant, paralyzed and in great pain at home, possibly dying. Suddenly the nerves in his body fire up and feeling starts to return. The pain subsides. His feet and legs begin to twitch and then he springs out of bed and runs around the room. He thinks, “How did this just happen?”

Someone once told me that God’s phone number is Jeremiah 33:3.
“Call to me and I will answer you
and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”

So go ahead—call Him.
He’s already paid for it.
He promises to answer.
He’ll never hang up on you.
Call person-to-person.
The Holy Spirit will connect you.

Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat

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Long before Yosemite Sam came up with the phrase “Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat!” there was an actual person named Jehoshaphat. He was king of Judah from 873 BC to 848 BC. There is no record of him doing any jumping.

In a long line of no-good, terrible, very-bad kings, Jeho stands out as a pretty-good, decent, not-too-bad leader of Judah. Not perfect, but better than most.

When King Jehoshaphat heard that a huge enemy army was approaching, he was shook. But instead of having a melt-down, he “resolved to inquire of the Lord” and called for a nation-wide fast. All the people gathered at the temple for a prayer meeting, led by their king. Jeho reminded the people who God was, what God had done for them in the past, and asked for God’s help.

Then Jehoshaphat prayed one of the best prayers in the Bible:
“We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”*

During the prayer meeting, a prophet received a message from the Lord:
“Do not be afraid or discouraged for the battle is not yours, but God’s.”

Further instructions were given:
“Take up your positions; stand firm; face the enemy.”

Jehoshaphat had a brilliant idea:
“He appointed singers to praise the Lord at the head of the army.”

Then God had a brilliant plan:
“As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes
and the enemy armies destroyed each other.”

The King knew what to do next:
“Led by Jehoshaphat, they returned joyfully and went to the temple.”

I think maybe he jumped up and down a little bit, too.

I also think maybe we could learn some things from this account.

  • When under stress, resolve to seek the Lord.
  • Ask some people to fast and pray with you.
  • Preach to yourself what you know to be true about God.
  • Go over all the things God has done for you in the past.
  • Stand firm in the armor of God.
  • Put praise out in front.
  • Watch God move in miraculous ways.
  • Go to church and thank Him.
  • Jump up and down.

*Read it for yourself in 2 Chronicles 20.

I’m An Idiot

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It’s true.
Are you one, too?
Before you answer that, read on.

“Now when they (the Pharisees) saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13

The Greek word for “untrained” is “idiotes” (id-ee-o’-tace) meaning someone who is an “unlearned, unskilled, common ignoramus.”

When Jesus was building His team of disciples, He didn’t go to the local synagogue to interview the students with the highest grade point averages. Jesus went to the lakeshore and called uneducated, untrained fishermen.

Jesus was looking for “idiotes”—just like me.

I’ve never been to seminary.
I don’t know Greek and Hebrew.
I can’t explain the Trinity or the impassability of God
or why He sometimes uses anthropomorphism to describe Himself.

God is not looking for any old idiot, however. God is looking for regular folks who have been with Jesus. He’s looking for people who will make others around them take note—the kind of followers who may not be the most intellectual, but have Holy-Spirit-wisdom gained from time with Jesus.

Like Peter and John.

Their boldness unnerved the Pharisees and sent them into a panic.
Then those “idiotes” went out and turned the world upside down.