Author: Dwight Clough

"Who touched Me?" Jesus asked. — Luke 8:45I hate interrupting people. I hate being interrupted. Jesus, of course, was interrupted constantly. If you read through the gospels, you’ll find that much — maybe most — of His ministry was responding to interruptions.In this passage, Jesus is on a mission: to heal a dying twelve-year-old girl. I have two daughters so I can imagine how urgent her father’s pleas were for Jesus to waste no time and come to his home right away.Along the way, Jesus was interrupted — not once, but constantly. The crowd was jostling Him, throwing questions at…

Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. — John 7:38Dig deep enough inside, and you will find the indestructible you — the you created and imagined by the mind of God. The you that will live forever, strong in the Father’s joy, rich with the Savior’s tears, afraid of nothing, understanding everything. How do you find that hero within? How do you dig through the dirt, wash away the mud to reveal the diamond deep down? The old way of trying harder, the shame and frustration gospel only rearranges…

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. — Hebrews 12:22-24On the day your name was written in heaven, you became part of something bigger than…

By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days. — Hebrews 11:30God always has a plan and it doesn’t always make sense … to us. It was time to pay taxes and Jesus sent Peter fishing. It was time to take a city and God sent His people marching. It was time to save the world, and Jesus told His followers to put away their swords.All of these things seemed crazy at the time. But now we marvel. I don’t know what your life is like, but my life seems crazy right…

By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days. — Hebrews 11:30How many cities fell because people marched around them? One. How many times did the sun stand still? One.How many times did the Red Sea part? One.What’s the point? God isn’t stuck in yesterday. He’s solidly into today. He has something new for you this moment. He doesn’t make you gnaw on the crusts of yesterday’s leftover revelation. He gives new illumination from his timeless word every day.Be encouraged!Dwight Discoveries Devotional – Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily byDwight Clough…

By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. — Hebrews 11:31God is much more optimistic than most of us are. How many of us are willing — even quick — to write off certain people as hopeless, as beyond our help. But even as God planned judgment for Jericho, He was also determining how to rescue Rahab.We think people are hopeless because we forget that the Christian life is a miracle. It is supernatural. It cannot occur without the intervention of God. But when God shows up, all the obstacles…

Do your friends know about “Discoveries – Inspiration in Your Inbox” Devotionals? Feel free to pass these messages on to them. They can learn more at http://www.dwightclough.com/discoveries.phpBy faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. — Hebrews 11:29The focus is never on the miracle; it is always on the God behind the miracle. The pagans sometimes saw the supernatural acts of the God of Israel. But they didn’t know the God of Israel and couldn’t make His "magic" work for them. That’s why they hauled…

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God … — Hebrews 11:24-25There are some things which I admit I do not understand. Why Peter turned around and walked back into Rome to be crucified. Why Paul insisted on going to Jerusalem even though he knew prison and hardship awaited him. How Stephen could ask the Lord to forgive those who were stoning him. How the Father could stand to see wicked men crucify His only Son.There are many people…

… they saw he was no ordinary child … — Hebrews 11:23The verse speaks of Moses, of his parents’ daring defiance of the king’s edict that all the baby boys are to be drowned, of their certainty that he was cut out for greatness.I remember holding each of my newborn children, unable to grasp how it was that we were given the privilege of creating and caring for something so precious as this human life. I remember holding their hands as they took their first uncertain steps. I watched them play, without their knowing it, and drank in all over…

By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons … — Hebrews 11:21I often ponder the life of Jacob. He starts out conniving, getting his own way by shrewd and tough negotiation. But then everything goes against him. He is deprived of the woman he wants as his wife, and is only allowed to marry her in exchange for another seven years of servitude. Once he has her, she bears him no children, until the end. Finally, she dies with the birth of her second son. If that wasn’t enough, the sons of his other wife sell…