Category: Communication

3/31/2026 0 Comments

The Joy of Sharpening

Ugandan Strong Leader's Hand Training--God's Word

When I lived in the Philippines from 1974-‘77, it took three weeks for a letter to get from Manila to anyone in the United States. My parents did not call our grandparents so we could talk on the phone because it was way too expensive. So I continually marvel at the ability to connect with brothers and sisters in the faith from Colorado, California, Georgia, and Uganda via ZOOM calls. We can provide leadership training for 90 minutes and see each other and interact for very little cost—incredible!

0 Comments

2/1/2026 1 Comment

Bumper Stickers

I was walking through a Walmart parking lot and couldn’t help but notice different bumper stickers on the back windows of cars and trucks.
·
The words “Raising Arrows” sat underneath three arrows pointed north. I thought what a great statement, a parent who no doubt is reflecting Psalm 127:4,5:
"Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons born in one’s youth. Happy is the man who has filled his quiver with them. Such men will never be put to shame when they speak with their enemies at the city gate.”

Another read, “I Support Single Moms,” accompanied a picture of a woman wrapped around a pole. Proverbs 19:3 came to mind, “A man’s own foolishness leads him astray, yet his heart rages against the Lord.”
·
Many vehicles displayed the University of Georgia’s Bulldog logo, featuring a G surrounded by red.
·
One logo was so nasty that it would be inappropriate to share. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “Woe to those who drag wickedness with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes” (Isaiah 5:18).

Meditation
Psalm 34:3--Proclaim Yahweh’s greatness with me; let us exalt His name together.
71:17--God, You have taught me from my youth, and I still proclaim Your wonderful works.

Bumper stickers are works of proclamation. They tell people what is important or not important to us. They provide a way to convey humor. They suggest values, loyalties, how we think or don’t think. They state who or what we like or dislike. They reveal safety protocols or recklessness.  They show places we have been and the right to free expression.

In a way, our lives are bumper stickers. Just as we ought to be thoughtful and purposeful about what we proclaim on our vehicles, so we ought to be attentive and wise about what we broadcast in the way we live. I am reminded of the story of the woman who lost her temper, honked at, and berated the driver in front of her for stopping at a crosswalk, causing her to miss the green light ahead. The policeman who was behind her pulled her over. He asked for her license and insurance, and she demanded to know what she had done wrong. After checking her information, the policeman returned and said, I’m sorry, ma’am. I pulled you over because the car’s bumper stickers read “What would Jesus do?” and featured a fish emblem. I assumed the car must have been stolen.

Inspiration
“In our behavior, in the words we write and speak, we can become ambassadors of God's inspiration. Whenever we strive to lift up others in ways that are good and noble we are serving as radiating centers for God's inspiration.”—Wilferd Peterson

©2026 Daniel York  ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  To receive these devotionals, go to www.firstcause.org and click the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed, subject to the inclusion of this copyright notice.

Ecclesiastes 12:10—"The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.”  (Holman CSB)

1 Comment

7/30/2025 1 Comment

Restraint

Jeff [1] works in a start-up company that meets in a new office complex in Seattle. He is a bright, creative young man who would have a fantastic future except for one glaring character flaw—his inability to keep his words and emotions in check. When Jeff joined four other young entrepreneurs to launch Still Waters, a meta platform that focuses on AI research, his team was excited about his experience and skills utilizing AI. But after six months of working together, the team found several frustrating traits about him.

1 Comment

4/22/2025 0 Comments

Fully Mature

In a conversation bemoaning people's lack of curiosity about others today, 81-year-old Ross shared an interesting observation he learned from someone he respected. “We are high in connectivity and low in connection.” People are more engaged on social media than ever, but they are making fewer connections because most posts are self-focused. He identified this as expressive individualism, where “what I have to say is more important than what I have to hear.”

0 Comments

3/11/2025 3 Comments

Mindlock

They were college roommates with a friendship that brought laughter and fun to almost everyone who entered their orbit. Now, 44 years later, on opposite sides of the political spectrum, they bash each other on social media with barely concealed contempt. Whoever said, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” was internally dishonest. Negative words do more than upset, they create resentment, rifts, and land littered with destroyed relationships.

3 Comments

1/21/2025 0 Comments

The Lips of a Priest

Pastor Richard Wurmbrand was arrested and thrown in a Romanian prison for fourteen years.[1] For two of those years, they placed him in solitary confinement. A political prisoner in an adjoining room taught him Morse Code. Using this knowledge, Richard was able to share Bible verses and proclaim Christ to other prisoners. One day, a neighbor tapped that it was Good Friday. Richard found a nail in the lavatory and inscribed “Jesus” on his cell wall, hoping it might comfort someone later assigned to the same room. A guard caught him and angrily placed him in a carcer for two days.

0 Comments

11/6/2024 1 Comment

Calling on God

During the prophet Jeremiah’s lifetime, the world was perilous. Countries were at war. The Israelites were dispersed throughout many nations after Assyria overthrew them. Those living with Jeremiah in Judah were threatened by Babylon, who eventually destroyed Jerusalem and deported those who survived. Pessimism abounded, and great angst filled the hearts of those who pondered their future. Most of the world’s population was ungodly, resulting in chaos and turmoil. Yet, despite all this, God spoke to Jeremiah and encouraged him to call on Him in prayer.

1 Comment

9/11/2024 1 Comment

Debating

Meditation
Jude 9--Yet Michael the archangel, when he was disputing with the Devil in a debate about Moses’ body, did not dare bring an abusive condemnation against him but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

1 Comment

5/27/2024 1 Comment

When in Doubt, Ask Twice

In God’s Workmanship, Oswald Chambers wrote, “We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.” Sometimes, our difficulty surpasses the faith we need to trust God’s voice. In this season of doubt, what are we to do?

1 Comment

5/18/2024 1 Comment

Not Shrinking Back

What is the purpose of your life?

1 Comment

4/18/2024 1 Comment

Diatribe

Joshua 22:15-16--They went to the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and told them, “This is what the Lord’s entire community says: ‘What is this treachery you have committed today against the God of Israel by turning away from the Lord and building an altar for yourselves, so that you are in rebellion against the Lord today?’”

1 Comment

3/20/2024 1 Comment

Pretending

Alice* presented her plan for her organization to succeed if certain political events went differently than expected. Sadly, her presentation failed because she neglected to vet it with her peers, and her message needed to be clearer. It caused subordinates to question how in touch their senior leaders were with them.

One of the junior supervisors, Becky, wept as she shared her frustration with senior leadership’s inability to appreciate their needs. Her vulnerability encouraged many in the room to speak up with similar thoughts, and the atmosphere in the room became tense and somewhat awkward. Feeling overwhelmed, Becky left the meeting.

1 Comment

1/31/2024 1 Comment

God Will Speak

Stac saw an older man in Kroger with an Army Vietnam Veteran cap, so she thanked him for his service. They talked for a while, swapping stories, and just before she left, he asked if he could share one more story with her. Mike said that while serving in Vietnam, he was in his Quonset hut one night, lying on his cot all alone, when a voice told him to get up and move away from it. He thought that was strange and ignored the message and tried to sleep. But again, he heard a voice telling him to move. He did nothing and fell asleep, only to be shaken awake and ordered by a clear voice a third time to get up and move outside the hut. Finally, he listened and went outside. Almost immediately, a mortar round crashed through his hut, destroying his cot. Had he not gotten up and moved, he would have been killed. With tears in his eyes, he smiled and said God is so good. Stac answered, “He certainly is.” Mike hugged her, and they parted with Stac, saying if we don’t see each other again, we’ll see each other in heaven.

1 Comment

12/17/2023 0 Comments

Making the Effort

“If you cannot express yourself on any subject, struggle until you can. If you do not, someone will be the poorer all the days of his life.”[1] Did you catch the wisdom in Chambers’ exhortation? Poor or inadequate communication robs the listener of the rich opportunity to be bettered, wiser, and possess clear understanding.
There is an old joke about two hunters who are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He's not breathing, so his friend calls 911 and says to the operator, "My friend is dead! What should I do?" The operator replies, "Calm down, sir. First, make sure that he's really dead." There is silence, and then the operator hears a loud bang. Back on the phone, the man says, "OK, now what?"[2]

0 Comments

6/19/2023 0 Comments

Using Discernment

Ann faced a challenging situation in her new supervisory role with a nonprofit company that recently hired her. One of the employees, Calista, who worked on a different team, was giving her a tough time. Calista had applied for the job Ann now held and resented that she was not chosen. She used Ann’s inexperience to belittle her on calls (shared by others in the organization) and was rude when speaking to her. Ann realized she needed Calista’s help, but she first had to figure out a way to win her over, and that did not seem easy. So she asked for prayer from her close friends and asked God for His assistance.

0 Comments

5/11/2023 1 Comment

Repetition

A Russian proverb says, “Repetition is the mother of learning.” Zig Ziglar noted, “Repetition is the mother of learning, the father of action, which makes it the architect of accomplishment.” Great leaders are masters of repetition and recognize it as a tool for more effective leading.

1 Comment

12/31/2022 1 Comment

Schlep Naches

Schlep naches is a Yiddish phrase that means “deriving pleasure from the achievement of others.” In her book, The Myths of Happiness, Sonja Lyubomisrsky wrote:
The surprising finding is that the closest, most intimate, and most trusting relationships appear to be distinguished not by how the partners respond to each other’s disappointments, losses, and reversals but how they react to good news. Flourishing relationships have been revealed to be those in which the couple responds “actively and constructively”—that is, with interest and delight—to each other’s windfalls and successes . . . Both men and women who say that their partners respond in this “active-constructive” way report the highest levels of satisfaction, trust, and intimacy in their relationships.

1 Comment

12/6/2022 2 Comments

The Best Message Never Preached

Dan with Ralph Holland

Ralph was invited to preach by pastors who had seen his television program broadcast throughout Latin America. Two pastors met him at the airport and took him to the venue—an auditorium full of worshipers. As the service progressed, the host pastor asked Ralph to be finished preaching by 9:00 p.m. so people who required public transportation could make the last bus. Two groups provided music and even played some of the same songs. An offering was taken, and the person facilitating it decided to preach a short message and then had one of the bands come up and play yet another song. By the time Ralph was introduced to speak it was 8:55!

2 Comments

10/24/2022 0 Comments

The Art of Silence

Perhaps one of the more challenging aspects of parenting is knowing when to speak into the lives of our children and when to refrain from doing so. Talking to closed ears is like pouring water on the sidewalk and not on the soil—it does no good. Or consider the coworker who when corrected is appreciative—to be silent in this occasion could be harmful. Some people when frustrated cannot hold back toxic words. Still others withhold thoughts and in quiet feed chaos.

Solomon wrote there is “a time to be silent and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:7b). Tony Evans says “We can sin not just with our words but also with our silence. Knowing when to speak and when to withhold something requires wisdom.”[1] Wisdom should not be neglected.

0 Comments

10/10/2022 0 Comments

Trees and Fungi

Suzanne Simard is the tree professor at the University of British Columbia.[1] She discovered through her research that yew trees communicate chemically through fungi with their neighboring trees for mutual defense. Trees are connected below ground through a fungi network that resembles the human brain’s neural networks. For example, Simard observed a Douglas fir injured by insects that seemingly passed chemical warning messages to a nearby ponderosa. The pine tree produced defense enzymes that protected it against insects. Similarly, birch trees protected fir from Armillaria root disease. When trees are dying, they pass off as much as 40% of their carbon to their neighboring trees.

0 Comments