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 […]
Ambassadors of Heaven
Read: Philippians 3:12-21 Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior. (v. 20) I recently read an interview with a retired US ambassador. As an ambassador, he described himself as the personal representative of the US president. He added, “An embassy is a miniature version of the federal government in a […]
The New Natural
Read: Acts 8:26-39 The Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away. (v. 39) The first time I went to a magic show, I was mesmerized as the magician made objects disappear and reappear, and sawed his assistant in two. Yet I was also skeptical. I was convinced there was a natural explanation for the “magic” […]
(Don’t) Hold On
Read: John 20:11-21 Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended. (v. 17) In my final year of swimming lessons, I learned some basic lifeguarding skills. My instructor emphasized the importance of approaching a panicking swimmer with caution. He explained that a drowning person will cling so powerfully that a would-be rescuer […]
To Your Advantage
Read: John 16:5-16 If I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. (v. 7) In the musical Mary Poppins, the Banks family hires Mary to impose order and discipline upon their children, Michael and Jane. However, the children’s bad behavior stems not from an absence of discipline, but an absence of […]
Heaven Breaks Through
Read: Matthew 27:45-54 The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. (vv. 51-52) In the beginning, God made heaven and earth: one creation consisting of two realms, seamlessly, perfectly united. After the beginning, human sin forged a barrier between heaven and earth. The barrier was signified by the flaming sword […]