As a teacher, counselor, and author, I love what I do for a living. But it hasn’t always been so. I spent a lifetime in Washington, D.C., several years ago. They were two of the most miserable years of my life. I don’t like government, and I...
READ MOREWe who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It’s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline. (Hebrews 6:18–19 The Message)
The hope and promise of...
God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart. (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT)
The thing you are made for is the renewal of all things. God has given you a heart for his kingdom—not the...
READ MOREYou hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. (Psalm 139:5)
At the Fall, why did God curse Adam and Eve with an emptiness that nothing would be able to fill? Wasn’t life going to be hard enough out there in...
Long before [God] laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. (Ephesians 1:4 The Message)
We exercise because we want to grow stronger...
Is anything too hard for the Lord? (Genesis 18:14)
January 1. A brand-new year. It’s the time of year we start thinking about making changes. This year, rather than writing a quick list of resolutions that we’ll likely...
He who testifies to all these things says it again: “I’m on my way! I’ll be there soon!” Yes! Come, Master Jesus! (Revelation 22:20 The Message)
There’s nothing like stepping out your door into the beckoning world. This is...
Out of that terrible travail of soul, he’ll see that it’s worth it and be glad he did it. Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant, will make many “righteous ones,” as he himself carries the burden of their sins. (Isaiah...
READ MORE“After a long absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them. ... His master commended him: ‘Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.’ ” (Matthew 25:19–21 The Message)
You...
“Come!” say the Spirit and the Bride. Whoever hears, echo, “Come!” Is anyone thirsty? Come! All who will, come and drink, drink freely of the Water of Life! (Revelation 22:17 The Message)
Two ideas are absolutely basic to a...
What is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Indeed, you are our glory and joy. (1 Thessalonians 2:19–20)
Where is this supposed coming? The current...
And there was the baby, lying in the manger. (Luke 2:16 NLT)
Much of the famous artwork depicting Jesus is beautiful, but the artists also make it difficult to remember that Jesus was human. The incarnation is one of the...
Then I looked, and, oh!—a door open into Heaven. The trumpet-voice, the first voice in my vision, called out, “Ascend and enter. I’ll show you what happens next.” (Revelation 4:1 The Message)
The dreams I have about the...
“Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me.” (Revelation 22:12 NLT)
Reward—it fills the pages of both Testaments. C. S. Lewis writes: “If you consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of...
“Look ahead with joy. Anticipate what I’m creating.” (Isaiah 65:18 The Message)
Certainly storytelling is one of the great pleasures in the kingdom. Would you like to write? Illustrate? Act? Produce? These are not...
They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. (Isaiah 35:10)
What will it be like to be crowned with everlasting joy?...
“God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8 NLT)
According to the Scriptures, the heart can be troubled, wounded, pierced, grieved, even broken. How well you know that. Thankfully, it can also be...
READ MOREDear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)
There’s an expression that is...
The child-heart wants to know, “Will there be animals in heaven?” The calloused heart dismisses this as theologically unworthy. Friend, the whole debate ends when you realize that heaven comes to earth. How could your creative God renew...
READ MORECommit yourself in love, in justice! Wait for your God, and don’t give up on him—ever! (Hosea 12:6 The Message)
Without naming evil for what it is, and without a day of reckoning, there can be no justice. (This is...