Today's Devotional

Faithful at the Door

February 12, 2026 ●
By Pastor Jerry A. Burns
Proverbs 20:6
"“Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?”"
Listen ToDevotional

About a year ago, our family decided to add a puppy to our home. I’ll be honest with you—I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with that dog. There are moments when I enjoy her company, and then there are moments when I’m chasing her around the house because she has something she definitely shouldn’t. It’s amazing how one little dog can bring comfort and crisis all in the same day.

They say a dog is man’s best friend, and if I had to explain why, I’d say it comes down to loyalty. Our dog’s name is Cookie—black and white like an Oreo, though Oreo felt a little too easy. Cookie is incredibly loyal. No matter how my day has gone—good or bad—she’s always at the door, tail wagging, happy to see me. She doesn’t measure my mood. She doesn’t keep score. She’s just there.

That kind of loyalty makes me stop and think. Dogs are loyal by nature, often to a fault. And yet, if an animal can be that faithful to a master who forgets to refill the water bowl or gets distracted with life, why do I struggle to be faithful to a God who has never failed me? God has never let me down—not once. And yet, in the ups and downs of life, I still find myself wrestling with trust.

I’m not comparing the Christian life to the life of a dog—that’s not the point. I’m drawing a contrast. Jesus did something similar in Matthew 6 when He spoke about the birds of the air. God feeds them, and they don’t worry about tomorrow. And then Jesus reminds us that we are far more valuable than they are. Still, He says, “O ye of little faith.” If God cares for birds—and if loyalty comes so naturally to animals—why do we hesitate to trust a faithful God?

I’ll admit it plainly: my faith isn’t always where it should be. I lean too easily on my own emotions and reasoning. But God keeps calling me back—to trust Him, to depend on Him, to place every concern in His hands. Cookie, in her own simple way, has become a lesson to me. If she can trust an imperfect owner so completely, how much more should I trust a perfect God who has never failed me?

Never miss a devotional — get them delivered to your inbox.
Application

Ask yourself today where your loyalty and trust truly rest. When worry or self-reliance creeps in, choose to respond with faith instead. Intentionally place your concerns before God in prayer, reminding your heart that He has never let you down—and He never will.

Additional Readings
Matthew 6:26–30
"Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?"
Psalm 37:3–5
"Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass."
Lamentations 3:22–23
"It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."
Hebrews 13:5
"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

Scripture Reading

Daily Bible Reading Plan

Exodus 34:1-35:9

1 And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.
2 And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount.
3 And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.
4 And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.
5 And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.
6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
9 And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.
10 And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the Lord: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee.
11 Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:
13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:
14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
15 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;
16 And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.
17 Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
18 The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.
19 All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.
20 But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty.
21 Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.
22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.
23 Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.
24 For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year.
25 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.
26 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.
27 And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.
28 And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.
30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.
31 And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them.
32 And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him in mount Sinai.
33 And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face.
34 But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded.
35 And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

(Exodus 35)

1 And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, These are the words which the Lord hath commanded, that ye should do them.
2 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the Lord: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.
3 Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.
4 And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying,
5 Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord; gold, and silver, and brass,
6 And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair,
7 And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood,
8 And oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense,
9 And onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod, and for the breastplate.

Matthew 27:15-31

15 Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would.
16 And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas.
17 Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?
18 For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.
19 When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.
20 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus.
21 The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas.
22 Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified.
23 And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.
24 When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.
25 Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.
26 Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.
28 And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.
29 And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
30 And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.
31 And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.

Psalm 33:12-22

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
13 The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.
14 From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.
15 He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.
16 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
17 An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.
18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.
22 Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

Proverbs 9:1-6

1 Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:
2 She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table.
3 She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city,
4 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
5 Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.
6 Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

This Week's Radio Program

Week Eight  •  February 19, 2026

Trust in Him

Trust God Enough to Put Him First (Part 2)

0:00 0:00

Every year begins with plans, priorities, and pressures. We think about finances, family, responsibilities, and the future. Yet Jesus teaches that nothing will shape our lives more than what we place first.

In this message from Matthew 6:24–34, Pastor Jerry Burns explains Christ’s clear and freeing command: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Jesus spoke these words to people living with real uncertainty and daily worry. He reveals that anxiety often grows out of divided loyalty — trying to serve both God and material security. When anything takes God’s rightful place, peace disappears and worry takes hold.

This sermon explores four life-changing truths from Christ’s teaching:

  • The priority of seeking God
  • The pursuit of His kingdom
  • The practice of His righteousness
  • The promise of His provision

You will see how putting God first reshapes priorities, quiets anxiety, and restores trust in the Father’s faithful care. Rather than living consumed by tomorrow’s fears, believers are invited to live in today’s grace — confident that God knows, God cares, and God provides.

If you desire a life marked by peace instead of worry and trust instead of fear, this message will encourage you to place Christ back at the center where He belongs.

Listen to Past Programs

Trust in Him Trusting God to Put Him First Week Eight  •  Feb 19, 2026
Get Our Devotional Right to Your InBoxStart your day with inspiration delivered daily.
Support Our MinistryHelp us continue spreading the word.

Recent Devotionals

February 24, 2026

You Can’t Just Sit There

 February 23, 2026

Don’t Forget Where You’re Going

 February 22, 2026

Trusting in the Dark