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 […]
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 […]