Pathway Weeklies

The devotionals below give you a once-a-week dose of the Pathway Devotionals series that Dr. Larry Ashlock publishes daily. (For more information, click here.)
Week of March 17
March 17th, 2024
“There is more safety with Christ in the tempest than without Christ in the calmest waters” (Alexander Grosse). Sadly, we all too often permit deep waters amid life’s deluges and the tall mountains of trials to cause us doubt, rather than trusting God’s providential care. Psalm 40 will change this attitude if we will allow it to minister to our hesitations! It will cause us to praise God for His g...
Week of March 10
March 10th, 2024
Christ will have no person or nation supplant His authority. This opening statement to today’s culture seems provocative, but it is filled with urgent purpose. I penned the words because I want us to consider them carefully as we enter this Easter season. Christ presents a parable in Mark 12:1-11 where the chief theme may be summed up in our focal verses. Jesus quotes Psalm 118:22-23 in the passag...
Week of March 3
March 3rd, 2024
“God bestows His blessing without discrimination. The followers of Jesus are children of God, and they should manifest the family likeness by doing good to all, even to those who deserve the opposite” (F.F. Bruce, italics mine). Professor Bruce clearly understood a Christian’s call to virtue, which meant to love God and love one’s neighbor. The Corinthians were a bit slow to arrive at this same un...
Week of February 25
February 25th, 2024
I hear Christians in recent years express the fear that God has abandoned them in their difficulty. J.I. Packer has said, “God has not abandoned us any more than he abandoned Job. He never abandons anyone on whom he has set his love; nor does Christ, the good shepherd, ever lose track of his sheep.” We may trust the Lord, our Shepherd. Psalm 23, often termed a “song of confidence,” points us to th...
Week of February 18
February 18th, 2024
Were Paul to have a life statement, this would be it! In fact, he similarly writes, “To me, to live is Christ and to die is gain,” in Philippians 1:21. My first childhood pastor penned this exact verse in my Bible. I opened my Bible to that page on countless occasions and wondered why he had hung that statement above his life and ministry. I understand better now, at this stage in my life, his rea...
Week of February 11
February 11th, 2024
Who will reside in God’s house? I believe that most people decide when to calendar their worship attendance, and it never occurs to them that there might be requirements to enter God’s house. Christians in America have been coddled for decades and led to believe that engagement with God is an entitlement. Notice the irony of finite creatures approaching the Eternal Creator of the universe in this ...
Week of February 4
February 4th, 2024
“There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope.” The English moral philosopher, Bernard Williams’s (1929-2003) words captured my imagination this morning. I have often viewed beautiful sunrises at home or here where I work, and my heart warms as my lips whisper a “Thank you, Lord, for another day!” I do not know what time of day that David stared heavenward, but I can say ...
Week of January 28
January 28th, 2024
The eyes of the heart are an essential travel tool when walking by faith in the Lord. So many of the great saints listed in the roll call of faith, Hebrews 11, walked by faith and not sight (see Hebrews 11:8-10, 11, 13-16, 26-27, & 39-40). Most will know the oft-quoted scripture verse, “We walk by faith not by sight,” but the Israelites in our passage today are being taught how to embody this prin...
Week of January 21
January 21st, 2024
Little things often count in a big way. Bolts on a Boeing 737 Max door that rips off while in flight, thus endangering the lives of all onboard, comes to my mind. What appeared to be inconsequential held deep significance, because human lives were at stake. Two small coins in an offering box hardly mean anything except when they represent the attitude that is a must for all who enter the kingdom o...
Week of January 14
January 14th, 2024
Social scientists have been engaged in longitudinal studies across several generations to discover reasons for the apparent decline in religious involvement. Indeed, twenty percent of Americans are now described as being “nones,” meaning they are religiously unaffiliated. This number has doubled in just one decade. Some are anti-religious, others are skeptical about God, or only have “vague” belie...