Carter Conlon | Daily Devotionals

In Luke 15, Jesus told the story of a son who left his father's house and wasted his inheritance living for himself. When he finally returned home, his father embraced him, covered him with a robe, put a ring of authority on his finger, and put shoes on his feet. Now those shoes speak of something important. God has a pathway for you, a plan for your life, a journey He's going to take you on into somebody else's struggle. Be very, very sure that you will not walk there alone. You will walk into that place with God by your...

The son in Luke 15 finally came to himself. He did not fully understand his father's house, but he knew it was better there than where he was. He was starving, and in his father's house there was nourishment and plenty of it. You see, his sin of selfishness had found him out. His neglect of what he was called to do had left him spiritually starving. Maybe you're a child of God and you're saying, "What's wrong with me? Why am I so unfulfilled? Why am I spiritually starving all the time?" Do like the prodigal son once did. Get...

When you take up your cross, you will find that some people will turn against you. It's almost as natural as breathing. When you go all in for God, there will be a force of hell that comes against you to stop you. You can set your watch by it. Actually, you can be sure of it. I always call Judas an unfortunate necessity in our redemption. Without Judas, there would have been no cross, and without the cross, there'd be no redemption. There are seasons when opposition doesn't make any sense. There are moments when betrayal deeply hurts, yet...

In Luke 15, a son asked his father for his inheritance. He wanted freedom, forgiveness, the feeling of knowing what belonged to him, but he took it and went far away from his father's heart. He spent everything that he had on himself. You know, there's a point of healing, a point of learning, a point of growing in grace, but there is also a point of maturity as well, where you and I understand that if any of us would be the disciple of Jesus Christ, we must deny ourselves, take up our own cross, and follow Him. There comes...

In the book of Acts, there were 120 failures in an upper room, praying and waiting on God. When God came, He filled them with the Holy Spirit and they became His battle plan in the New Testament. They stood out in the public square without weaponry, without a plan, but they had in their hearts the presence and power of God. They were speaking about Jesus, not about themselves. It was not about anything they had strategized. It was all about Jesus Christ and the power of His Holy Spirit. Thousands that day saw it and turned to God. Now...

Luke 9:23. Jesus said, "If anyone would be my disciple, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." When we first come to Christ, we have a tendency to focus almost uniquely and solely on ourselves. It's about my freedom, my addictions, my needs, my everything. We're babes in Christ, but there's a point of healing, learning, and growing in grace. There's also a point of maturity as well. At some point, you and I are expected to escape ourselves and become involved in what the kingdom of God is all about. You see, It Is No...

Luke 23:34. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, they don't know what they do." I once met a missionary who had served for almost three decades in a war-torn country. He came home with certificates, medals, and accolades, but he ended up stuck in his basement and wouldn't come out. He had had a church wounding from almost 40 years earlier, and he had never forgiven the people who had done it. He knew what to do and would not do it. He had covered it all with activity, but eventually the bitterness came to the surface and ruined what should have been...

There comes a point where we stop coming to the house of God asking, "What's in it for me today?" And we begin to ask a different question: "God, give me something today for somebody else. Give me courage to go into that place and speak to those people. Give me victory in my own life so I can take that victory to others and say, 'Listen, I want to tell you what God has done for me, and he can do it for you.'" This is the point of spiritual maturity, when we begin to understand that the...

Galatians 6:7, Paul the Apostle says, whatever a man sows, that's what he's going to reap. Whatever seed you put in the ground, that's the harvest that you're going to reap. If you plant corn, you're certainly not going to grow watermelons. There's a day coming when you may need somebody to come and help you. You may be as low as you can go and say, "God, please send somebody to help me." But the question is now, where were you when somebody else was saying, "God, send somebody to help me?" The Bible says in the measure that you...

You and I are living in a crisis time in this world. I personally believe that this world is launching its final assault against the lordship of Jesus Christ. You can read about that all throughout the scriptures. There are some particular chapters like Matthew 24 that deal almost exclusively with this moment. Paul the apostle talks about it in the books of Timothy and Thessalonians. I encourage you to take time and read those books and study them. You and I are seeing this rising of lawlessness in our generation. We're beginning to realize that there is no real hope...

Numbers 32:23 says, Be sure your sin will find you out. When Moses spoke these words, there was a group of people who were considering not going with their brethren across Jordan and helping them establish their home in the promised land. They were actually very comfortable where they were. This would have been the sin of selfishness, self-focus, knowing what to do and then choosing not to do it. It wouldn't have been hidden. It would have been known. You can hide everything that's going on in your heart with activity. You can come to church regularly, but ultimately sin...

In the book of Esther, the king had not called for Esther for 30 days. Her relationship with the king was not at its pinnacle when the call of God came, yet that was the moment that God chose to use her. Sometimes we imagine God can only use us when everything feels perfect. We think He can only call us when our faith is strong, our prayers are passionate, and our spiritual life feels effortless. But God's calling is not dependent on our feelings. Quite often He calls us when we feel the least qualified to do what He's calling...