Daily Reading
December 2, 2024
It's better to stay in the safety of the camp than venture forth on a wing and a prayer. Who knows what dangers lie ahead? This was the counsel of the ten faithless spies sent in to have a look at the Promised Land when the Jews came out of Egypt. On...
Daily Reading
December 1, 2024
Some prayers just happen; they are “the Cry of the Heart.” No training is needed when it comes to this kind of prayer. I’ve uttered it thousands of times; I’m confident you have too. Like when the phone rings and the bad news starts to spill and all ...
Daily Reading
November 30, 2024
We were meant to remember together, in community. We need to tell our stories to others and to hear their stories told. We need to help each other with the interpretation of the Larger Story and our own. Our regular times of coming together to worshi...
Daily Reading
November 29, 2024
Of course, small groups have become a part of the programming most churches offer their people. For the most part, they are disappointing and short-lived — by the very admission of those who try them. There are two reasons. One, you can't just throw ...
Daily Reading
November 28, 2024
Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. (Rom. 8:34)Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is ...
Daily Reading
November 27, 2024
“Life,” as a popular saying goes, “is not a dress rehearsal. Live it to the fullest.” What a setup for a loss of heart. No one gets all he desires; no one even comes close. If this is it, we are lost. But what if life is a dress rehearsal? What if th...
Daily Reading
November 26, 2024
When the curtain goes up on the story of humanity, we see God in a flurry of breathtaking, dramatic actions that we rather blandly call “creation.” Remember, we’re looking for the motives of his heart. Why is he doing all this? We know he already had...
Daily Reading
November 25, 2024
I am deep in the jungle of the assault, and the only verse I can even remember to hang on to is, “Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11). I repeat it to myself. Over and over. It gives me strength to fight the di...
Daily Reading
November 24, 2024
God begins our courtship with a surprise. Taking the blindfold off, he turns us around and reveals his handmade wedding present. “Here,” he says. “It’s yours. Enjoy yourselves. Do you like it? Take it for a spin.” A lavish gift indeed. What’s he up t...
Daily Reading
November 23, 2024
The family is … like a little kingdom, and, like most other little kingdoms, is generally in a state of something resembling anarchy.Chesterton could have been talking about a little fellowship (our true family, because it is the Family of God). It i...
Daily Reading
November 22, 2024
We know a time will come for us to look back with our Lord over the story of our lives. Every hidden thing shall be made known, every word spoken in secret shall be uttered. My soul shrinks back; how will this not be an utter horror? The whole idea o...
Daily Reading
November 21, 2024
We exercise because we want to grow stronger; we take vitamins in the hope of being healthy; we attend language classes expecting to learn a new language. We travel for adventure; we work in the hope of prospering; we love partly in the hope of being...
Daily Reading
November 20, 2024
Life is not a list of propositions, it is a series of dramatic scenes. As Eugene Peterson said, “We live in narrative, we live in story. Existence has a story shape to it. We have a beginning and an end, we have a plot, we have characters.” Story is ...
Daily Reading
November 19, 2024
When things get hard, it can feel like the foundations of your life are giving way. It is good to remember that our foundation is firm, based on the finished work of Jesus Christ for us. There are some things that remain true, at all times and for al...
Daily Reading
November 18, 2024
Some years into our spiritual journey, after the waves of anticipation that mark the beginning of any pilgrimage have begun to ebb into life's middle years of service and busyness, a voice speaks to us in the midst of all we are doing. There is somet...
Daily Reading
November 17, 2024
Paul speaks of different glories — the glory of the sun, as compared to the glory of the moon. There are different humilities as well. You have the humility of setting aside an office — the king takes off his crown to become a pauper in the street. B...
Daily Reading
November 16, 2024
When we first think of being in a relationship with God, we probably picture him as somewhat flashy, even as many of us tried to be (at least us guys) when we were dating. He gave Jacob visions of angels descending and ascending to heaven; he parted ...
Daily Reading
November 15, 2024
Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth...
Daily Reading
November 14, 2024
In all of our hearts lies a longing for a Sacred Romance. It will not go away in spite of our efforts over the years to anesthetize or ignore its song, or attach it to a single person or endeavor. It is a Romance couched in mystery and set deeply wit...
Daily Reading
November 13, 2024
We are looking to find the presence of God in our inmost being, to experience him and commune with him there. By tapping into his actual presence within us, we are able to receive the strength that prevails. It begins with simply giving him your atte...
Daily Reading
November 12, 2024
Start with something you love. The laughter of your child. Sunlight on the ocean. Your beloved dog. A favorite song, music itself. Perhaps a photo, like my caribou. A favorite spot — your garden, the cliffs at the sea, the family cabin. Someone dear ...
Daily Reading
November 11, 2024
Today’s Daily Reading is an excerpt from Morgan Snyder's book “Becoming a King”George MacDonald posed this question in his brilliant book Unspoken Sermons: “How have you learned the Father?”If we were to be honest and dive into our own inner world (a...
Daily Reading
November 10, 2024
This is, after all, a love story. Why else would love be the deepest yearning of our hearts? Isn’t love the greatest joy of human existence? And the loss of love our greatest sorrow? Do not the two great commands confirm this? “Love the Lord your God...
Daily Reading
November 9, 2024
A curious warning is given to us in Peter's first epistle. There he tells us to be ready to give the reason for the hope that lies within us to everyone who asks (3:15). Now, what's strange about that passage is this: no one ever asks. When was the l...
Daily Reading
November 8, 2024
The mighty victory is staying true to God. It is maintaining a mature perspective — where God means everything to you — through glorious breakthrough and in the midst of terrible affliction. If you do not hold fast to this, you will be shaken when yo...
Daily Reading
November 7, 2024
The awakening of his heart is essential if a man would truly love a woman. Look at things from her point of view. What does she long for in a man? Every little girl dreams of the day her prince will come. Look at the movies women love — the hero is a...
Daily Reading
November 6, 2024
Every man wants a battle to fight. It's the whole thing with boys and weapons. And look at the movies men love — Braveheart, Gladiator, Top Gun, High Noon, Saving Private Ryan. Men are made for battle. (And ladies, don't you love the heroes of those ...
Daily Reading
November 5, 2024
Life is the offer, friends. Let us not forget that.For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I hav...
Daily Reading
November 4, 2024
You do know what God is after in your own life, don’t you? Maybe that’s why we stay so busy — to avoid knowing, so we can avoid dealing with it.And you do know that the “quick fix” doesn’t ever work. Simply telling myself, “You are too busy, John. Yo...
Daily Reading
November 3, 2024
Eve is given to Adam as his ezer kenegdo — or as many translations have it, his "help meet" or "helper." Doesn't sound like much, does it? It makes me think of Hamburger Helper. But Robert Alter says this is "a notoriously difficult word to translate...