Be the Tree
Today we are discussing Psalm 1. The Psalms are an amazing book in the Bible — a beautiful compilation of songs, prayers, and poems. In many ways, it is like an ancient songbook.…
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Devotions
Written Devotions
Written devotions designed to help you engage the Bible with confidence — 56 teachings from 2020 to today.
2026
2025
Jesus Calms the Storm
We continue the Jesus Said What? series today, with one of my favorite stories. Lets pick up in Matthew 8:23-27 (ESV) “And when He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.…
Read the devotion2024
Does Paul forbid women to speak in church in 1 Timothy Chapter 2?
I Timothy 2 v 11 to 14 – “Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.…
Read the devotionJesus Said What?!?
The Golden Rule Matthew 7 v 12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” This is quite possibly the most famous…
Read the devotionJesus Said What
Ask, Seek, and Knock We are currently in a prolonged series called Jesus Said What?!?. We are focusing on the Red Words of the Bible, which are the words of Jesus while he was on…
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A Call to Secret Service
The passage we will be studying today is long. It is Matthew 6 v 1 -18. We continue in the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus is talking about the way a Christian must live. As…
Read the devotionJesus Said What?!? Ep.10
LOVE YOUR ENEMIES Mathew 5 v 43-48 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for t…
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Jesus Said What?!? Part 2
This week we find ourselves in the gospel of Matthew again. We come onto the scene of Jesus’ first public appearance in this passage. Since his birth, escape from Herod into…
Read the devotionJesus Said What?!?
“Seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they not understand” I am excited about this new series on Pick Up Your Bible, called “Jesus Said What?!?”. Thi…
Read the devotionThe Desert of Unanswered Prayers
Potentially one of the most difficult aspects of walking the Christian life is prayer. I don’t mind being completely honest about this because it is indeed quite mysterious and…
Read the devotionWhy Pray if God does His Will anyways?
In his book Secrets of a Prayer Warrior, Derek Prince makes the observation that the quality of our prayers rests on the image of God we have in our mind. Each of us has indeed…
Read the devotionWhat is Prayer?
“What did you buy at the store?” I read the question out loud to Mei Mei. She answered promptly. “At the store I bought the bag of chips.” “A bag of chips; not the bag of chips.”…
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The Reason for the Season
Merry Christmas, PUYB listeners! Thanks for tuning in! Hope everyone is having a wonderful time of rest and rejoicing. I love this time of year. I love the season, the lights, the…
Read the devotionMary Magdalene – The Faithful Disciple
Mary Magdalene, is the last person we will discuss in this series of “The Six Unusual Women of the Bible”. I indeed saved my favorite for the end. Most people familiar with the…
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We come across our next unusual woman of the Bible in first century Rome. Emperor Claudius, a cruel and vicious dictator, had had it with the constant dissention between the Jews…
Read the devotionDeborah -The Judge
“Create in me a new heart and renew within me the right spirit.” Psalms 51 v 10 The Israelites, led by Moses, finally …
Read the devotionLydia -The First Century Influencer
The beautiful conversion story of Lydia took place in Philippi, a roman colony in Europe. But how did she hear of Christ all the way in Europe? We see God’s providence in her…
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“Is anything too hard for God?” This is the reassuring question that God asks of Sarai in the midst of her disbelief. A mighty declaration of His omnipotence is exactly what she…
Read the devotionSix Unusual Women on the Bible – 1.EVE
Eve. Through her story, we learn about the creation, fall and redemption of mankind Quoted in the Bible is a conversation between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit about the…
Read the devotionHow Do We Respond to the Situation in Afghanistan?
The past many days have been rough and beyond words. It’s been hard to process what we are seeing on our TV screens, on our social media feeds and hearing on the news about…
Read the devotionHow Can We Know the Bible is True?
Sometimes we ask this question in very trying seasons of our own journey as we read the Bible sometimes, we ask this question to defend the Word of God to unbelievers. Let’s start…
Read the devotionWhy did God Create Us?
This is an interesting question. Interesting because this question could potentially have very different implications? Brace yourselves because I am going to start off with an…
Read the devotionPeer Pressure
Today’s question is a really good one. It comes from one of our younger listeners and its about peer pressure. Young or not, all of us can relate to feeling some degree of…
Read the devotionWhen God says “Wait”
Have you ever felt like prayer is more like a one sided rant than a deep and meaningful conversation with the all-powerful King of the Universe? I have. I’ve had what I often…
Read the devotionThe Beatitudes – Blessed are the Pure in Heart
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” Matthew 5 v 8 Jesus is all about transforming us from the inside out. The beatitudes consequently are all about the heart.…
Read the devotionThe Beatitudes – Blessed are the Merciful
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” Matthew 5 v 7 So far, the beatitudes we have covered have been the blessings given to the citizens of the Kingdom of…
Read the devotionThe Beatitudes – Blessed are Those who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness
Disclaimer: This is a repost from Feb 2021 to follow podcast release. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied.” Romans 5 v 6 When…
Read the devotionBeatitudes – Blessed are the Meek
Disclaimer: This is a repost from January 2021 intended for Podcast Series ” Blessed are the meek, for shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5v 5 This is quite a well known verse and…
Read the devotionThe Beatitudes -Those who Mourn
Disclaimer: This is a repost from January 2021 intended for Podcast Series “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Matthew 5 v 4 The Beatitudes is a…
Read the devotionThe Beatitudes – The Poor in Spirit
Disclaimer: This is a repost from January 2021 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5 v 3 The Beatitudes is a series of eight blessings…
Read the devotionGodly Parenting
“And these words that I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you…
Read the devotionHonoring Marriage
Sitting in my cozy chair by the fireplace, my eyes scan the room around me. Its full of lovely things that I cherish. Chubby Bear, my 3 yr old lab cuddles at my feet, an 80yr old…
Read the devotionA City on a Hill
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the…
Read the devotionA Friend Indeed
In our PUYB series on relationships, so far we’ve talked about familial relationships as that between child and parent, and that of siblings. This week, we step outside the family…
Read the devotionMy Brother’s Keeper
If the Lord of the universe were to ask you where you brother or sister were, how would you answer? What do you think you’d tell Him other than what He already knows? When we read…
Read the devotionA GOD-HONORING CHILD
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Honor your father and mother (this is the first commandment with a promise), that it may go well with you and that you…
Read the devotionBeatitudes – Blessed are those who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness
“Blesse are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied” Matt 5 v 6 When Jesus was speaking these words to his disciples He was talking to those who…
Read the devotionBeatitudes – Blessed are the Meek
” Blessed are the meek, for shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5v 5 This is quite a well known verse and often quoted and misquoted for various purposes. It is important that as we…
Read the devotionThe Beatitudes -Those who Mourn
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Matthew 5 v 4 The Beatitudes is a fascinating piece of Biblical text. In it we see Jesus call a people blessed whom…
Read the devotionThe Beatitudes – The Poor In Spirit
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5 v 3 The Beatitudes is a series of eight blessings that forms the introduction of the ‘Sermon on th…
Read the devotionThe Sermon on the Mount – the Beatitudes
It is my desire this year to read and study the New Testament of the Bible. Just a few pages in to the NT, the Bible reader encounters an early introduction to the teachings of…
Read the devotionThe Gentle Leading of the Shepherd
“He will tend to His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in His arms; He will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.” Isaiah 40 v 11 There…
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Come and Rest
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for…
Read the devotionAn Earthly Home for the Savior
A long time ago, as a matter of fact, so long ago that it was before time itself, God in his providence chose an earthly family to fulfill an impossible mission. Imagine making…
Read the devotionThe Helper
“I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth…” John 14 v 16,17 Red letters light up the Bible as Jesus says goodbye…
Read the devotionReconciliation with God
“We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” Romans 5 v 11 What does reconciliation mean? We must understand this as…
Read the devotionSaved From Judgement
“Since, therefore, we have now have been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” Romans 5 V 9 Day 6 of the account of the spiritual…
Read the devotionGod’s Love
“God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5 v 5 I missed you over the weekend PUYB readers! But we are back, exploring …
Read the devotionChristian Character
“We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character and character produces hope.” Romans 5 v 3,4 This is Day 4 of the PUYB 7 day…
Read the devotionGlorious Hope
“Through Him…we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Romans 2 Our current topic of discussion on PUYB is the 7 spiritual blessings that Paul lists out in Romans 5. In the past tw…
Read the devotionAccess to Grace
“Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace by which we stand” Romans 5 v 2 When God redeemed you and declared you righteous through Jesus Christ, He gave…
Read the devotionPeace with God
“Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5 v 1. When God redeemed you and declared you righteous through Jesus Christ,…
Read the devotionThe Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
In Luke 18 v 9-14 we read one of the forty parables that Jesus told the crowds that gathered around him. Jesus was a wonderful story teller. He mesmerized his audience with…
Read the devotionPride and Patience
I’ve been feeling the need to do something about my ever waning patience for quite some time. The older I get, the less patience I seem to have for anything or anyone. This is…
Read the devotionWhy Here Why Now
Pick Up Your Bible was started to encourage fellow Christians to read the Bible. Pretty simple. Our lives as Christians become truly remarkable when we take the time to study the…
Read the devotionHello.
I’m Cynthia, a follower of Jesus Christ. In my journey as a Christian, I’ve gone through periods of being lost within my faith. I know I’m not the only one. Many experience the sa…
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