Spiritual Dryness
Read: John 5:30-47 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. (vv. 39-40) Can our spiritual lives get dry even amidst a busy routine of religious activities? You […]
Danger Within
Read: 2 Timothy 3:1-17 Continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it. (v. 14) We live in a world of spam—junk emails, scam phone calls, and conniving social media messages. Some may try to rob you of your money, character, and peace. Others may just want to […]
The Value of Silence
Read: James 1:16-27 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. (v. 19) Have you ever regretted a conversation that turned out to be unproductive? Sometimes, I have dropped my guard and later wondered, “Why did I say that? What was the point? How did […]
How Should We Pray?
Read: Matthew 6:5-15 Pray then like this . . . (v. 9) During the pandemic, people prayed regularly—for quick healing and relief, turning everything over to God. It’s always good to turn to God in prayer and cry out to him for help, but sometimes I heard prayers that seemed like the people praying wanted […]
The Pain of Waiting
Read: Luke 2:25-35 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. (v. 25) Waiting can be excruciating, especially when one is waiting with uncertainty, remaining suspended between “yes and no” and “now […]
Broken Heart
Read: 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (vv. 8-9) Horatio Spafford was a successful lawyer and real estate investor in Chicago in the 1800s. In […]
A Perfect Home
Read: Hebrews 11:8-16 They desire a better country . . . a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (v. 16) Every human heart longs for a perfect home—a place where one can make a good life. This has been a century […]
Together at Last
Read: Revelation 21:1-6, 22-26 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. (v. 1) My wedding day was chaotic. It was marked by torrential rain. When the flowers arrived, they were inexplicably the wrong color. My future grandfather-in-law booked into the wrong hotel and was unaccounted for until minutes before the ceremony. And […]
The Way Home
Read: Hebrews 10:11-23 We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus. (v. 19) My first sleepover did not go according to plan. The friend who invited me lived in a big house, with video games, the latest toys, and cable television. The night started out well. We played with his […]