With a sincere gust of breath, I blew out the candles on my birthday cake. As seven gave way to eight, I quickly turned from my cake to the nearby present and tore in with youthful ferocity. Though severely weakened by fiery pricks of pain, my mom had wrapped that gift with dear love. As […]
“I don’t know exactly what I want to do,” Tricia said to her friend and prayer partner, Susan. “I’ve been just a mom and housewife, but now that the kids are out of the house, I feel I’m supposed to run a business that will honor the Lord and reach out into our community.” “Let’s […]
Suffering, loss, grief, and death are all part of this fallen world. No one is immune; believers and non-believers alike endure them. If we’re honest, Bible verses about suffering and trials are not the ones we want to embrace. It is human nature to avoid pain or discomfort, or even the mention of it. But […]
Me: Hey God. God: Hello. Me: I’m falling apart. Can you put me back together? God: I would rather not. Me: Why? God: Because you aren’t a puzzle. Me: What about all of the pieces of my life that are falling down onto the ground? God: Let them stay there for a while. They fell […]
Sometimes I catch myself looking at an old picture of my mother holding me as a baby. A proud, happy smile spreads across her face as she holds me tightly on her hip. I look content, as if I know I am happy and comfortable in my mother’s arms. Looking at this picture, I get […]
Does being made righteous refer to a status or a process? The short answer is both. Let’s take a closer look at this great word, starting with its background in the Old Testament. In both Hebrew and Greek, the basic meaning of righteousness is “conformity to a norm.” In its biblical context, the norm that […]
A Glimpse I catch a glimpse of who I was — who I used to be. A stranger now, but still so close, lurks inside of me. The invisible God is changing me into someone new. When He began I cannot say; I only know it’s true. The stranger inside — my sinful self — […]
The Gospel of John was written by the direction of the Holy Spirit as comfort, life instruction, and theology for every individual. John is a spiritually thrilling book. Its words and message are straightforward and so basic that this Gospel moves us to clearly understand the very heart of Jesus and comprehend why He came […]
Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things (Isaiah 40:26). In reference to this verse, Oswald Chambers said that the people in Isaiah’s day had been gazing on idols, and now they were encouraged to use their imagination rightly to see the Creator. In My Utmost for His Highest: Selections […]
My childhood memories of many sermons in church were from men who seemed angry about a lot of things. They preached long and hard about world conditions and the imminent battle of Armageddon. I greatly feared the nations of Gog and Magog! Late at night, I thought I could hear those evil armies crashing over […]
