I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it.Revelation 2:17 She called herself a worrier, but when her child was hurt in an accident, she learned how to escape that restricting label. As her child was recovering, she met each week with friends to talk and pray, asking God for help and healing. […]

Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. – 1 Samuel 16:7 When Thomas Aquinas began to attend classes at the University of Paris in the 13th century, he seldom spoke up in class. His fellow students thought that his silence meant he wasn’t very smart, so they nicknamed him “the dumb ox.” His peers […]

He who comes from heaven is above all. – John 3:31 In the mid-1800s, Ralph Waldo Emerson became a leader in a philosophical movement known as “transcendentalism,” which says that truth comes from personal insight. Emerson wrote, “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men—that is […]

We all . . . are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. – 2 Corinthians 3:18 In one version of the mythical tale of King Arthur, the young king is hiding in a tree, nervously awaiting his betrothed. After falling, he felt he had to explain himself to […]

There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. – Proverbs 18:24 Traditionally, medical schools have trained their students to help patients live, while offering little instruction in helping them face death. But that is changing with the addition of courses in end-of-life care. Physicians are now taught that when they have used all their medical expertise without achieving […]

This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. —Psalm 118:24  I was in a convenience store one day, standing in line behind a man paying for his groceries. When he was finished, the clerk sent him off with a cheery “Have a great day!” To the clerk’s surprise (and mine) the man […]

You shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just. – Luke 14:14  Suppose a boss were to say to an employee, “We really appreciate what you’re doing around here, but we’ve decided to change the way we pay you. Starting today, we’re going to pay you later—after you retire.” Would the employee jump for joy? Of course not. That’s […]

Pray for one another.  – James 5:16 Prayer is a conversation with God, not a formula. Yet sometimes we might need to use a “method” to freshen up our prayer time. We can pray the Psalms or other Scriptures (such as The Lord’s Prayer), or use the ACTS method (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication). I recently came across this “Five-Finger […]

You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. – Psalm 23:4 When 8-year-old Jacob visited his Grampa in the hospital, he came with his own custom-made “Get Well” card. It was an 81/2″ x 11″ piece of stiff white paper folded in half. On the front he had written, “Hope you feel better soon.” On the […]

With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.Mark 10:27 Chinese philosopher Han Feizi made this observation about life: “Knowing the facts is easy. Knowing how to act based on the facts is difficult.” A rich man with that problem once came to Jesus. He knew the law of Moses and believed he had kept […]

Southern women scattered spring flowers on graves of both northern Union and southern Confederate soldiers of the Civil War in which over a half-million died. Many places claimed to have held the original Memorial Day, such as: Warrenton, Virginia; Columbus, Georgia; Savannah, Georgia; Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; Waterloo, New York. One such place was Charleston, South Carolina, where a mass […]

A broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.Psalm 51:17 During my friend Myrna’s travels to another country, she visited a church for worship. She noticed that as people entered the sanctuary they immediately knelt and prayed, facing away from the front of the church. My friend learned that people in that church confessed their sin to God before […]

By John Piper  Sooner or later in your life — young people, heads up, old people know this. Sooner or later in your life, pressures and problems become almost overwhelming. • Physical problems — “Give me bread.”• Relational and mental problems — “Please forgive me.”• Moral problems — “Don’t let me go into that temptation again.” And what I want you […]

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Matthew 10:28 Born into slavery and badly treated as a young girl, Harriet Tubman (c. 1822–1913) found a shining ray of hope in the Bible stories her mother told. The account of Israel’s escape from slavery under Pharaoh showed her a God who desired freedom […]

Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.Hebrews 2:18 To help his staff of young architects understand the needs of those for whom they design housing, David Dillard sends them on “sleepovers.” They put on pajamas and spend 24 hours in a senior living center in the same conditions as […]

Twentieth-Century Fox made a motion picture in 1955 titled A Man Called Peter, about the life of U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall, born MAY 27, 1902. At the age of 25, Peter Marshall emigrated from Scotland, arriving at New York’s Ellis Island in 1927. Members of his Sunday School class paid his way to seminary in Atlanta, where he graduated […]

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.John 14:27 “I’m not surprised you lead retreats,” said an acquaintance in my exercise class. “You have a good aura.” I was jolted but pleased by her comment, because I realized that what she saw as an “aura” in me, I understood to be the peace of Christ. As we follow […]

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way.Isaiah 53:6 One of my daily chores when I lived with my grandfather in northern Ghana was taking care of sheep. Each morning I took them out to pasture and returned by evening. That was when I first noticed how stubborn sheep can be. Whenever […]

If God is in control, it means that you are Muslim, not Christian. In Islamic theology, it is called Inshallah: Nothing happens without the direct, intervening hand of Allah willing it so. Such as child abuse, rape, the Twin Towers, Trump, Serial killers, and no date for the Prom. Is that a loving God (especially on that last point)? Nowhere […]

I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die. John 11:25 Through cold, snowy winters, the hope of spring sustains those of us who live in Michigan. May is the month when that hope is rewarded. The transformation is remarkable. Limbs that look lifeless on May 1 turn into branches that wave […]