Today, our devotion focuses on the Old Testament Reading of Jeremiah and comes from a sermon in Concordia Pulpit Resources.

On today’s feast day, we read a devotion about the Nativity of St. John the Baptist taken from Classic Commentary on Luke.

Today, our devotion focuses on the Epistle and comes from Romans: A Commentary.

In any case, the Book of James is one of action—how we are to live out our repentance, avoid a lazy faith, and seek to do what is right. As you read through James, use these free study helps to guide you.

Today’s commemoration is for the prophet Elisha, and we read a devotion from Lutheran Bible Companion, Volume 1: Introduction and Old Testament.

To remember the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea today, we read a brief historical devotion from Historical Introductions to the Lutheran Confessions.

As we celebrate the Holy Trinity today, we read a devotion adapted from Theological Commonplaces: On the Nature of God and on the Trinity.

Pentecost is one of my favorite seasons within the Church Year. Acts 2 gets my mind going and my blood pumping with its imagery and promise.

My professional association, the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, has as its theme for 2017 “Whole Health Begins with Mental Health . . . Let It Begin with You!” I like this theme because it lifts up the wholeness in which we are created: body, mind, and spirit. It also reminds me that spiritual and emotional health is the foundation for a person’s whole health. Unless we tend to our spiritual and emotional needs, it is not possible to live in a state of health. The body, mind, and spirit are inextricably bound together. The last part of the phrase, “Let it begin with you,” is a good place to start as we seek to serve as advocates for those who suffer with mental illness among us.

I would like to lift up three attitudes and actions that begin with oneself:

Today, our devotion continues with the celebration of Pentecost, and we read about Acts 8 in an excerpt from The Big Book of New Testament Questions and Answers.