Daily Reading
December 20, 2021
Through his cross he paid for our sin, cleansed us, bought us out of the dungeons of the evil one and brought us back to his Abba. Jesus established a whole new way of relating to God. He often reclined at meals with people; he stopped along the road...
Daily Reading
December 15, 2021
We grow during meaningful conversations with kindred spirits. But that's often hard to find in the midst of our non-stop days filled with never-ending to-do lists. Today, we want to lift up several powerful podcast conversations as a way to encourage...
Daily Reading
December 6, 2021
I don't fully understand the modern church's amnesia-plus-aversion regarding one of the most central qualities of God understood for centuries before us: The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name. (Ex. 15:3 NIV) The LORD will march out like a mig...
Daily Reading
December 1, 2021
Imagine the stories that we'll hear. And all the questions that shall finally have answers. "What were you thinking when you drove the old Ford out on the ice?" "Did you hear that Betty and Dan got back together? But of course you did — you were prob...
Daily Reading
November 24, 2021
Life on the road takes us into our heart, for only when we are present in the deep sentences can God speak to them. That's why the Story is a journey; it has to be lived, it cannot simply be talked about. When we face trials, our most common reaction...
Daily Reading
November 21, 2021
The things that have happened to us often suggest that the real script of the play we're all living in is "God is indifferent" rather than "God is love." Deep down in our hearts, in the place where the story is formed, this experience of God as indif...
Daily Reading
November 11, 2021
Creation sometimes screams a confusing message — fear, pain, grief. Fire burns, rivers flood, winds go hurricane, the earth shudders so hard it levels cities. But you must remember — this was not so in Eden. Mankind fell, surrendering this earth to t...
Daily Reading
January 5, 2019
We 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 the restoration of all things has b...
Daily Reading
January 4, 2019
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 wispy vagaries of a clo...
Daily Reading
January 3, 2019
You 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 the world, banished from...
Daily Reading
January 2, 2019
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; we take vitamins in the...
Daily Reading
January 1, 2019
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 forget before February, maybe ...
Daily Reading
December 31, 2018
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 why people vacation in bea...
Daily Reading
December 30, 2018
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 53:11–12 The...
Daily Reading
December 29, 2018
“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 are created to accomplish...
Daily Reading
December 28, 2018
“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 Christian understanding o...
Daily Reading
December 27, 2018
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 expression of that is often: “But...
Daily Reading
December 21, 2018
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 kingdom only started this yea...
Daily Reading
December 20, 2018
“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 the rewards promised in th...
Daily Reading
December 19, 2018
“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 obliterated when you step into the ...
Daily Reading
December 17, 2018
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? To be “overtaken” with gla...
Daily Reading
December 16, 2018
“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 cheerful, glad, joy...
Daily Reading
December 15, 2018
Dear 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 used to describe someone...
Daily Reading
December 14, 2018
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 his precious ...
Daily Reading
March 27, 2027
Your suffering is neither pointless nor isolated. Somehow, Jesus’ sufferings overflow into our lives; somehow ours are linked to his. This is a great honor. It grants our sorrows an incredible dignity; it invites us to know an intimacy and connection...
Daily Reading
March 26, 2027
Jesus of Nazareth was sentenced to death by a vain puppet of the Roman government acting as district governor of Jerusalem. He was nailed to a cross by a handful of Roman soldiers who happened to be on duty, and left there to die. He died sometime ar...
Daily Reading
December 6, 2026
We, as followers of Christ, are meant to live in community. We need each other. Isolation kills. The Surgeon General’s report Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection an...
Daily Reading
December 5, 2026
Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, but the other five we...
Daily Reading
December 4, 2026
I think even a quick read of the Old Testament would be enough to convince you that war is a central theme of God's activity. There is the Exodus, where God goes to war to set his captive people free. Blood. Hail. Locusts. Darkness. Death. Plague aft...
Daily Reading
December 3, 2026
You will appreciate the mastery of Jesus only to the degree that you understand the minefield he walks. He is advancing against the prince of darkness in a bid for the human heart. The whole situation is booby-trapped. Satan already has the upper han...