Devotionals

Devotionals gathers Christian Standard articles designed to encourage daily faithfulness through Scripture, prayer, and reflection. Here you’ll find short, accessible readings that connect God’s Word to everyday life—offering wisdom for discipleship, comfort in hardship, and reminders of the hope found in Christ. These devotionals aim to help readers stay rooted in the gospel, grow in spiritual maturity, and practice consistent habits of worship and obedience.

May 16, 2019

Christian Standard

Off on a Side Track

Here is a curious article from 1904 that could have started, “A preacher gets on a train with a Baptist and a Methodist. . . .” Actually, this is more a transcribed conversation than article. One might wonder, Was this real or imagined? Did it really occur? _ _ _ Off on a Side Track By Joseph A. WaltersOct. 1, 1904; p. 11 “I don’t like your exclusive baptism,” said a Methodist preacher to a Baptist preacher, a few years ago, on a train on which I was traveling in a Western State. B. Why do you dislike it? M.

May 14, 2019

Stuart Powell

Contemplative Steps

By Stuart Powell On the southern end of the temple mount in Jerusalem is a broad staircase that led throngs of first-century worshippers of Israel’s God to the center of the Jewish faith. The steps were built irregularly and uneven, alternating between long and short treads. This pattern seemed intended to slow down the hectic pace of worship, possibly by directing the pilgrims’ attentions away from social interaction surrounding them. Instead, they focused on what it meant to approach the awesome presence of the Creator. The temple entrance was designed to demand contemplative steps, so that the multitudes passing through

May 7, 2019

Christian Standard

Marcus: Choosing to Love

By Jon Wren Nobody came to his first birthday party. He spent it alone in a wing designed for medically fragile infants in a hospital room in Northern Indiana. Marcus was born 3 months premature, weighing 1 pound, to a heroin-addicted mother who left him at the hospital as an orphan. He suffered from multiple medical complications, could not breathe on his own, and wasn’t expected to ever learn how to talk. Truth be told, doctors didn’t expect Marcus to live to see his 2nd birthday. But not long after, Marcus had a visitor, a 56-year-old nurse named Kelly. She

April 25, 2019

Christian Standard

You Can Call Me Grumpy

By Dan Schantz “Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly . . .” (Leviticus 19:32). With church members in America steadily aging, we need to know how to respectfully address our elders, but the last thing we need is more politically correct gag orders. Therefore, now that my body has passed its “best by” date, I hereby give you permission to call me by any of the following terms. YOU CAN CALL ME . . . 1. Old Fogy—Meaning “old-fashioned,” or “living in the past,” the term fogy comes from the word fog, and

April 16, 2019

Stuart Powell

Remembering Excellence

By Stuart Powell Have you noticed the prevalence of sorrow-filled information that surrounds us? The daily news is laden with violence, and much popular entertainment is dark. Many of our words, even in church, are glum . . . almost heartbreaking. Most of our prayers are petitions for the sick and pleas for God to comfort those who have endured loss. Bible studies and sermons highlight the risks we face from cultural evils. This shouldn’t surprise us, for the brokenness of sin warps the human mind. The effects of sin direct our focus to violence and death. Our culture seems

March 25, 2019

Christian Standard

It’s God’s Kindness

By Vince Antonucci One time after a church service a lady bounced up to me and said, “Hey!” I said, “Hey!” “My name’s Sandy,” she said very quickly, “but not for long it isn’t. I’m changing it! It’s been a bad year for Sandys—Hurricane Sandy, Sandy Hook Elementary.” I nodded, a bit confused. “So, hey!” Sandy continued, “I just wanted to thank you for keeping it positive.” I asked what she meant. “I went to church a few times growing up, and I’ve gone a couple times as an adult, and I hate it. Hate it!” Sandy said. “You always

March 12, 2019

Christian Standard

Addicted to the New

By Randy Gordon This Wednesday is the first day of spring [in the northern hemisphere], a season we celebrate the newness of life all around us. We’re addicted to the new. That’s just the world we live in. We love the new iPhone. We love new cars (and if we can’t afford a new car, we buy a used car and a “new car smell” air freshener). We love new fashion, new books, new songs . . . new, new, new. Marketing strives to convince us that the newest version of anything—everything—is better than the previous version. It offers more

February 5, 2019

Christian Standard

To Love

By Ronald G. Davis  The word valentine speaks to us of love. And to love is to be the most like God we can be. Let me repeat that: to love is to be the most like God we can be. For God is love. The disciple who most sensed the love of God wrote to early Christians and to us, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8) and “Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God” (4:7). In his image, we want the very best for all those

February 2, 2019

Christian Standard

It All Boils Down to Faith

By Emily Drayne Organizations and missionaries face an uphill battle with regard to donations. When we see a photo of a half-clothed child, a disaster-torn house, or a village that lacks clean water, our natural reaction is to want to help. Sadly, there are many needs, and not every single one can be captured in a photograph. Missionaries and their families need everyday support . . . so their children can get glasses . . . because the cost of living in their chosen part of the world is high . . . because they are starting a new ministry

January 29, 2019

Jerry Harris

Jesus’ Ability to Transform

By Jerry Harris I walked into the quiet room where a mom and dad sat stunned. Their only son, Mark, a boy of about 5, had been playing T-ball and complained he was having trouble seeing the ball. His mother took him to an eye doctor thinking he might need glasses. The concern on the face of the optometrist was obvious when he referred them immediately to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. Further tests revealed a very serious brain tumor. I sat with mom and dad as doctor after doctor came into the little room to report ever graver

January 29, 2019

Christian Standard

One Thing

By L. Mackenzie 
As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17). Jesus commented that only God is good and then recited several commandments, to which the man replied, “All these I have kept since I was a boy” (v. 20). Jesus told that “rich young ruler” he still lacked one thing if he wanted a heavenly inheritance. Darn, that one thing! And it was a big thing. The man knew it. Romans 3 says no

January 8, 2019

Christian Standard

Can Dry Bones Live Again?

By Ronald G. Davis  Old Doc Richardson, of my Appalachian hometown, kept a human skeleton on display in his office. Carefully wired together and suspended from a metal stand, that skeleton clinked and clanked at the slightest touch of my small-child hand. It was eerie. It was also obvious to my unsophisticated mind: Whoever’s bones these were would never come to life again. Those bones were dead and dry. In Ezekiel 37, when God led Ezekiel back and forth across a field filled with bones, he asked the prophet a simple question: “Son of man, can these bones live?” Now

January 3, 2019

Christian Standard

Amazing Grace: How One Sunday in a Small, Dying Iowa Church Changed My Life

By Rick Chromey   “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me.” I’ve been singing that hymn my whole life, yet never captured what it truly meant until one frigid Sunday morning. I was a student at Nebraska Christian College. For extra money, I’d occasionally preach for churches in need, and this particular weekend, I agreed to speak for a small church about two hours from school. It was a brutally cold Sunday. The tiny, white, clapboard and steepled church was miles from the nearest town, saddled by snowbanks, and guarded by Iowa cornfields. Only a

January 1, 2019

Christian Standard

How Far?

By L. Mackenzie In churches around the world, people celebrate Epiphany, when magi came to Bethlehem to worship baby Jesus. Elaborate feasts, complete with king cakes, paper crowns, caroling, winter swimming, and house blessings mark this festival each year as the end of the Christmas season for many. When we strip away all the traditions, the heart of the Epiphany story shares a future picture of God’s manifestation to the Gentile world through his Son Jesus. It’s the story of men being drawn toward a heavenly King. “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your

December 25, 2018

Christian Standard

Meditating on Joy

(Today we republish a Christmas Day meditation that was part of a monthlong series of meditations by Becky Ahlberg we ran back in December 2015. We hope you enjoy it. Merry Christmas!)   By Becky Ahlberg December 25 It’s Christmas Day—a day defined by giving. But oh how quickly (for many) it has become the season of “getting.” Today as you open gifts and celebrate with your family traditions and one another, here are a few Scriptures to remind you of who gave first, and how very much: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and

December 25, 2018

Christian Standard

Traveling by Starlight

(This Communion Meditation originally appeared online in December 2012.)   By Lee Magness For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (John 3:16, 17). About AD 110 in the ancient city of Antioch, a revered Christian leader named Ignatius wrote these words: A star shone forth in the heaven above all the stars; and its light was unutterable, and its strangeness caused

December 9, 2018

Michael C. Mack

When God Doesn’t Feel Like ‘Immanuel’

By Michael C. Mack What do you do when everyone around you is singing about joy and glad tidings and peace on earth . . . but your life reflects none of it? How do you get through “the most wonderful time of year” when your season is anything but merry and bright? And let me ask leaders, how do you lead others to experience Immanuel, God with us, when God feels far away this Christmas? Let’s face it, we are surrounded by people who are experiencing sadness, depression, sorrow, discouragement, and pain this December. Perhaps you are among them.

December 3, 2018

Christian Standard

The ‘Perfect’ Christmas Tree

By Max Lucado The Christmas tree hunt is on. Families are entering tents and patrolling sidewalks. They lift limbs and examine needles. They measure. They ponder. They consider. They barter. The tree can’t be too tall or too short. It needs to fit the room and the budget. It must be full yet not dense, mature but not dry. A noble fir for some. A Douglas fir or Virginia pine for others. The preferences are different, but the desire is the same. We want the perfect Christmas tree. And, oh, the special moment when we find it. When we lash

November 27, 2018

Christian Standard

Redemption Drawing Near

(This Communion meditation originally appeared on our website in December 2011. Advent is this coming Sunday, Dec. 2.)   By Robert F. Hull Jr. Millions of Christians around the world celebrate this coming Sunday as the beginning of Advent, the first of four Sundays of preparation for the grand festival of light we know as Christmas. No matter how often we have observed Advent, for many of us the first Sunday still comes as a shock, for its focus is on the second coming of Jesus, not the first: People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on

October 23, 2018

Christian Standard

The Eyes of Jesus

By Tom Claibourne Jesus’ eyes must have been quite similar to ours, but he didn’t always look at things the way we do. He saw things from an eternal perspective. Therefore, when Jesus walked out of Nazareth to begin his ministry, his eyes saw things we usually do not see. He saw the spiritual battle that rages between God’s angelic hosts and Satan’s demonic forces. He saw beyond the surface. Jesus saw people’s hearts, along with their needs and potential. When others saw filthy, sinful women (Luke 7; John 4 and 8), Jesus saw women who had taken some wrong

Help Keep Christian Standard Free & Accessible with a Tax Deductible Donation

We can do more together!

Every gift makes a difference!

No, thank you.
100% secure transactions - receipts provided.
Does Your Church Want to Support Christian Standard?

Would your church consider including support for Christian Standard in its annual missions budget? Your support would help us not only continue the 160-year legacy of this unifying ministry, but also expand the free resources, cooperative opportunities, and practical guidance we provide to strengthen churches in the U.S. and around the world.

We can do more together!

Every gift makes a difference!

No, thank you.
100% secure transactions - receipts provided.
Secret Link