Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

IN MANY CHURCHES, Christians tend to get so caught up in a success-and-size race that the primary calling of following Jesus gets lost in the journey.

I LOVE THE STORY OF a sea captain who, while navigating his ship through a storm, found himself on a collision course with what he thought was a large vessel in the distance.

JOURNEY BACK WITH ME for a moment to one of the many scenes that demonstrated just how ordinary Jesus' disciples were.

Nothing is more refreshing than a servant's heart and a giving spirit. This is especially true when such Christlike qualities are displayed in a person tagged as celebrity.

OUR WORLD HAS become a large, impersonal, busy affair. Social media and the technological age have caused us to become alienated from each other.

AN OLD YEAR HAS COMPLETED ITS COURSE. A new year is smiling at us, with twelve months of the unknown.

WHAT HAPPENS THAT causes you to be disappointed? Someone or something has failed to fulfill your expectations.

I refuse to force hilarity into the backseat every time responsibility takes the wheel. If the fun's done, it's because we didn't want it around, not because it didn't fit.

THE MALCOLM BALDRIGE National Quality Award was awarded many years ago to the iconic Ritz-Carlton Hotels.

AS WE MOVE TOWARD the close of this year, we must refocus our priorities. Here is an anchor passage for us as we end one year and begin another.

EVER WONDERED WHAT happened shortly after Jesus was born? That's an interesting question. We all feel that sense of uncertainty and even confusion after the crowds leave.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Lost in the wonder of it all, I believe a little child upon my knee would whisper simple words of advice up close to my ear.

IN 1818, a roving band of actors was performing in towns throughout the Austrian Alps. Their performance on a starry December night in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria, impacted local pastor Joseph Mohr as the words of the Christ story remained in his heart.

YOU'VE SEEN IT. SO HAVE I. The phrase is on bumper stickers, it appears on coffee mugs, it often finds its way onto greeting cards, billboards, and church signs. It has become almost synonymous with Christ.

THE WONDER OF AMAZON just continues to spread. Tens of thousands of employees and hundreds of thousands of square feet of operations all work with amazing precision to coordinate the receiving, packaging, and shipping of millions of products all around the world.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD can I give to ______ this Christmas?" Sound familiar? Sure, it's probably the most frequently asked question every Yuletide season.

CHRISTMAS DAY NEVER arrived so slowly, but finally it dawned. While no one was looking, I had shaken the box enough to know that it had to contain what I had been wanting so badly—right size, right weight, everything.

THE CHRISTMAS STORY HAS been so sanitized and romanticized over the centuries that even Hollywood—as jaded a culture as can be found anywhere—fails to capture the gritty pathos that surrounded Jesus' arrival.

A FEW DECEMBERS AGO, I saw something that I won't soon forget. The bumper sticker on the back of the car in front of me caught my eye. It made me think. And it even aroused some guilt.

IN THIS SEASON OF EXTREME BUSYNESS, we Christians need to stay alert to any potential dangers. I'll mention only four of them . . . along with some strategies that will allow us to combat each risk.