Author: Dwight Clough

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.php[Faith] is what the ancients were commended for. — Hebrews 11:2Every time I kiss my wife, every time I tell her how beautiful she is, she has a choice. She can believe and enjoy, or she can question my motives. Of course I want her to believe and enjoy, but I cannot force her to do so. That response ultimately is her choice.I’m glad I’m a husband for many reasons. One of them is…

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. … By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. — Hebrews 11:1,3If our five senses could take in the unseen universe, we would be overwhelmed. We simply couldn’t handle it. But God graciously draws the curtain, and we don’t see most of what is out there.At the same time, God knows that we need to know some of what’s on the other side of the…

The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all. — Psalm 103:19I need this verse also. I need to know that Someone is in charge. Chaos does not rule. God does. In 1998, my grandmother passed away. She was 102 years old. She saw the rise and fall of the Soviet empire. She outlived Lenin, Hitler, Stalin. Her lifetime encompassed Kitty Hawk and Neil Armstrong. She was seventeen when she saw her first automobile.She never talked about these things, of course. Her heart was all about showing kindness in a quiet, unobtrusive way to little…

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust. — Psalm 103:13-14I need this verse. I need to know that God knows my limitations. I need to know that God knows my weaknesses, my breaking points, how small and fragile I really am. We think we need to do so much for God. But God understands how little we are able to do for Him. That’s why most of what we are trying to do, God has already…

As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. — Psalm 103:12One day I was out walking along a trail out in the country. Just for the fun of it, I picked up a piece of gravel and threw it far out into a field. After I had done that, I felt a voice inside me saying, "Go find it."I knew instantly that finding that rock was impossible. There was nothing to mark where the stone had fallen — only marshy grass spread out for dozens of acres in all directions.…

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him. — Psalm 103:11There’s something about a clear night sky. One Christmas Eve we visited my wife’s brother in Ohio. It was terribly cold out, but we sat in his outside hot tub, the steam forming icicles in our hair, staring up at the sky. I remember feeling a sense of wonder as I thought about what I saw in the sky. There is simply no way to comprehend the distance between the stars, the size of our galaxy, the vast,…

[God] will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His anger forever; He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. — Psalm 103:9-10There are those who will face the eternal wrath of God. There are those who hate God and devise all sorts of ways to show their hatred toward Him. But anger is not God’s first choice. God is not mean, small or calculating. He has room to look beyond the ledger and see the human being in you that He loves. The Bible says that love keeps no record of…

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. — Psalm 103:8For most of my life, I have not been slow to anger. If someone insulted me, I have been quick to anger, quick to take offense. Thankfully, the Lord has been working in me, and His character is more and more taking the place of my old defensiveness.The LORD is slow to anger. What does this mean in practical terms?It means that we can run to God with all our faults. God’s patience is an open invitation for us to receive the renewal that we need.Do…

He made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel. — Psalm 103:7God meets us with both ways and deeds — explanation and with experience. Both are needed. Explanation without experience doesn’t hold up in the real world. Wind and waves don’t listen to explanations. Giants don’t fall with explanations. Dead don’t rise with explanations.But experience without explanation invites in every kind of false god and every kind of confusion. God wants us to know who He really is.I briefly dated an identical twin when I was in college. She told me about young men who…

The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. — Psalm 103:6I need this verse. I need to know that God has an answer to the Holocaust. I need to know that God has an answer for the families of the 100 million Christians who lost their lives for their faith during the 20th Century. I need to know that God will stand up and make things right for ALL the oppressed, not just the ones who agree with my theology.How is God going to do this? I don’t know. I don’t pretend to know. I just know that…