Jesus told His followers to be ready for His return because no one knows when it will occur. I think of watching Braves infielders, Orlando Arcia or Ozzie Albies, get ready to field their position before Chris Sale makes his pitch. They communicate with each other as to who will cover the base if a…

There seem to be so many reasons to fear right now, aren’t there? One of the primary reasons is a loss of perspective. We think of ourselves as the center of the universe, even despite knowing otherwise, which can make the problems we face seem insurmountable. They aren’t. The very next verse that God spoke…

Psalm 51:10 comes as a prayer from King David! “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” This came after the Bathsheba debacle and David was praying for God’s mercy and forgiveness. He knew that the Lord is a holy cardiologist, but instead of praying for a healed heart…

Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV) | Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. How well do you do with the command to not be anxious? Goodness, it…

Let’s look at Luke 16:10 in its entirety: “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities” (NLT). Jesus is speaking more about character than circumstance. Faithfulness and honesty point to integrity and how we…

The Bible depicts God as a refuge, as in a place we can flee when we need to feel protected. This strikes me anew as we help Brighton learn to navigate her new life and family. She had some serious fear responses the first couple weeks home from Taiwan, and usually turned to me for…

Today’s verse references “the horn of salvation.” That’s kind of an unusual term, isn’t it? The Bible discusses four basic kinds of horns. The first is the protrusion on the head of an animal, like a ram or a goat. The second also comes from an animal used like a musical instrument that plays a…

We don’t like waiting, do we? I think about how guilty I am of turning to my phone to play a game, check my Facebook notifications, or doom scroll on X whenever I have to pass even a minute. The Bible gives us a glimpse into how we can take those in-between moments as opportunities…

Is prayer your first step or last resort? All too often we face crises with the approach, “I have nothing left to do but pray.” What if prayer was the first, last, and every step in between? Then, we can find hope and happiness no matter what we encounter. The idea of happiness can be…

We see in today’s verse that love is the central component to the communal life with Christ and the people God gives us to do life with. Paul prayed that love would abound, meaning it would spread exponentially, growing, and making greater impacts with each and every encounter. But that wasn’t the only concern Paul…