Daily Reading
January 4, 2024
And then, alas, there is the church. Christianity, as it currently exists, has done some terrible things to men. When all is said and done, I think most men in the church believe that God put them on the earth to be a good boy. The problem with men, ...
Daily Reading
January 3, 2024
“All mankind will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer.” (Isaiah 49:26) Once upon a time the earth was whole and beautiful, shimmering like an emerald, filled with glory, bursting with anticipation. Such wonders waiting to be unveile...
Daily Reading
January 2, 2024
Hopefully you will find a few folks who walk with God to also walk with you through the seasons of your life. But honesty — and Scripture — forces me to admit they are a rare breed. Few there are who find it. All the more reason for you to make the n...
Daily Reading
January 1, 2024
By the grace of God, we cannot quite pull it off. In the quiet moments of the day we sense a nagging within, a discontentment, a hunger for something else. But because we have not solved the riddle of our existence, we assume that something is wrong—...
Daily Reading
December 31, 2023
If you woke each morning and your heart leapt with hope, knowing that the renewal of all things was just around the corner — might even come today — you would be one happy person. If you knew in every fiber of your being that nothing is lost, that ev...
Daily Reading
December 30, 2023
And so Screwtape reveals the Enemy's ploy — first make humans flabby, with small passions and desires, then offer a sop to those diminished passions so that their experience is one of contentment. They know nothing of great joy or great sorrow. They ...
Daily Reading
December 29, 2023
Entering into the Sacred Romance begins with eyes to see and ears to hear. Where would we be today if Eve had looked at the serpent with different eyes, if she had seen at once that the beautiful creature with the charming voice and the reasonable pr...
Daily Reading
December 28, 2023
Adam was given the earth to rule, but when the test came — he folded. He didn’t speak, didn’t act on Eve’s behalf. Satan was there, attacking his wife, threatening the whole kingdom, and Adam didn’t do jack squat. He fell through his acquiescence, th...
Daily Reading
December 27, 2023
This is not to say the heart is only swirling emotion, mixed motives, and dark desire, without thought or reason. Far from it. According to Scripture, the heart is also where we do our deepest thinking. "Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in thei...
Daily Reading
December 26, 2023
Forgive God? This idea is going to cause some readers to freak out. Just listen for a moment. If you are holding something in your heart against Jesus — the loss of someone you love, a painful memory from your past, simply the way your life has turne...
Daily Reading
December 25, 2023
Her child was snatched away from the dragon. ... Then there was war in heaven. (Revelation 12:5, 7 NLT) I would pay good money to have a nativity scene with Revelation 12 included. Not only would it capture the imagination, but it would also bette...
Daily Reading
December 24, 2023
The incarnation is one of the greatest treasures of our faith. The world keeps pushing God away, feeling more comfortable with him up in the heavens somewhere. But in the coming of Jesus he draws near. Incredibly near. He takes on our humanity. How c...
Daily Reading
December 23, 2023
The best thing you can do at this point is simply begin to love Jesus. Just love him. It will open up your heart and soul to experiencing him, and to receiving his life. Just begin to make a practice of loving Jesus. As I’m driving in my car, I wil...
Daily Reading
December 22, 2023
A slave feels reluctant to pray; they feel they have no right to ask, and so their prayers are modest and respectful. They spend more time asking forgiveness than they do praying for abundance. An orphan is not reluctant to pray; they feel desperat...
Daily Reading
December 21, 2023
Everyone is trying to find their way to joy, and if not joy, at least happiness. That’s a good desire, by the way: It fuels our search. It keeps us moving forward. Folks who give up even wanting to be happy are deep into what might be called depressi...
Daily Reading
December 20, 2023
The angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” (Luke 2:13–14 NLT) As I reflect upon the mystery of the incarnation,...
Daily Reading
December 19, 2023
Walk into any large mall, museum, amusement park, university, or hospital, and you will typically meet at once a very large map with the famous red star and the encouraging words "You are here". These maps are offered to visitors as ways to orient th...
Daily Reading
December 18, 2023
When I consider all that is at stake in this journey I am on, how vulnerable are my heart and the hearts of those I love, I am moved to fall on my face and cry out to God for the grace to remember. George MacDonald says it better in poetry: Were the...
Daily Reading
December 17, 2023
As we love him, experience him, allow his life to fill ours, the personality of Jesus transforms our personalities. The timid become bold and the bold become patient and the patient become fierce and the uptight become free and the religious become s...
Daily Reading
December 16, 2023
Every age has a certain spirit or mood or climate to it. Ours is busyness. We’re all running like lemmings from sunup to way past sundown. What’s with all the energy drinks? There must be dozens now. RocketFuel. CrankYouUp. Not to mention the coffeeh...
Daily Reading
December 15, 2023
Parents will often wonder where their toddlers learned to lie or how they came into the world so self-centered. It doesn’t need to be taught to them; it is inherent to human nature. Paul makes clear in Romans, “Sin entered the world through one man ....
Daily Reading
December 14, 2023
The armies of Israel have drawn up against the armies of the Philistines, but not a single shot has been fired from any bow. The reason, of course, is Goliath, a mercenary of tremendous size and strength, renowned for his skill in combat. He's killed...
Daily Reading
December 13, 2023
They will call him Immanuel, which means “God is with us.” (Matthew 1:23 NLT) I was listening to a few refrains from “O Holy Night”: “A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices” and something deep in my spirit said, O yes, dear Jesus, we need hope....
Daily Reading
December 12, 2023
He enables us to love. He gives us the greatest treasure in all creation: a heart. For he intends that we should be his intimate allies, to borrow Dan Allender's phrase, who join in the Sacred Circle of intimacy that is the core of the universe, to s...
Daily Reading
December 11, 2023
Fear causes us to make agreements like, “I cannot trust you will stay, so I will do everything in my power to make you stay.” Or “I cannot trust that I will not be hurt, so I will keep my distance from everyone.” Or “I cannot trust that you will not ...
Daily Reading
December 10, 2023
In the gospel of John, Jesus extends the offer to anyone who realizes that his life just isn't touching his deep desire: "If you are thirsty, come to me! If you believe in me, come and drink! For the Scriptures declare that rivers of living water wil...
Daily Reading
December 9, 2023
God speaks to Israel through the prophet Isaiah when she is surrounded by enemies and making every effort to appease them through diplomacy, gifts, treaties, and bribes, and says this to her: "You went to Molech with olive oil and increased your pe...
Daily Reading
December 8, 2023
Believing God is good in the midst of waiting is incredibly hard. Believing God is good in the midst of immense sorrow, loss, or pain is even more difficult. Those are the times that our faith, the treasure of our hearts, is tested by fire and become...
Daily Reading
December 7, 2023
“A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’ “But his subjects hated him and sent ...
Daily Reading
December 6, 2023
The Lord will march out like a champion, like a warrior he will stir up his zeal; with a shout he will raise the battle cry and will triumph over his enemies. ... Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give nat...