Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

IF WE HAD THE unusual opportunity to spend a day talking to the apostles, men like Paul, Peter, James, and John, I think they'd emphasize an oft-spoken discipline-but one that's rarely deployed in our lives: praying for others.

THERE IS NOTHING QUITE like the charm and personal touch conveyed in a handwritten note.

AS YOU WAVED GOOD-BYE TO your friends at church last Sunday, what mental darts were left stuck in the target of your thinking?

SLICE IT ANY WAY YOU WISH, ignorance is not bliss. Dress it in whatever garb you please, ignorance is not attractive.

LOST IN THE SILENT SOLITUDE of recent days, I have been impressed anew with the vast handiwork of our incomprehensible God.

We who live in this fast-paced jungle, this never-slowing treadmill of our high-tech society, have no idea how deeply entrenched we are in the rut of routine.

WHO IS IT THE LORD HAS used to model His message and challenge you to change, to shake off that tendency to settle for less than your full potential, to stretch and pursue and conquer new territory you once never dreamed possible?

AT A BAZAAR IN NORTHERN INDIA, an old farmer brought in a whole covey of quail. He had tied a string around one leg of each bird.

I KNOW, I KNOW . . . THIS IS A ROTTEN WORLD. And some people just can't be trusted. And con men (and women) and phonies and charlatans are out there, ready to rip us off.

A YOUNG BOY LIVED WITH his grandfather on the top of a mountain in the Swiss Alps.

You are never more like God when you are available to those who suffer. I urge you to be available for the long haul to that one who is grieving a devastating loss of a loved one.

THE BIBLE doesn't try to paint its heroes as anything but real people with real flaws. Consequently, Abraham becomes real, not despite his frailties, but because of them. Like all real people, he had weaknesses.

IN THE BOOK of Hebrews, Abraham is praised for believing God's promises. God called Abraham to move to a place where he didn't know a soul.

HEBREWS 11 has been called "the hall of faith"—and for good reason. Beginning with one of the first people on earth, the author traces the essential quality of faith through Hebrew history, highlighting ten great men and women.

DIRECT INTERCHANGES between God and individuals don't occur often in Scripture. But in Abraham's life, his interchange with God takes the form of a true dialogue, a back-and-forth conversation between friends.

DON'T CRY for Abraham. Don't mourn his death. Don't grieve his departure. Rejoice! Celebrate him. Look at what he made of his life and his final years on earth.

BEFORE ABRAHAM DIED, he took good care of all his children, establishing each of his sons financially as they left the nest and started families of their own.

EVER THOUGHT about how you hope to die? I’m not necessarily talking about your literal death; I’m really asking about how you intend to live until you die.

IN RESPONSE to Eliezer’s prayer, the Lord directed Abraham’s servant to a woman from Abraham’s family clan—a woman of uncommon character who worshiped the one true Creator. And in addition to all that, she was pretty!

WHEN ABRAHAM was growing old, he knew it was time to find a suitable wife for Isaac. To accomplish the all-important task, Abraham called on his most trusted employee, Eliezer.