“Look straight ahead and fix your eyes on what lies before you.” (Proverbs 4:25 NLT) The words lit up my phone before I’d even climbed out of bed to face the new year. A proverb passed on from a friend: Solomon’s wisdom still steadying some…
“When Jesus got the news, He slipped away by boat to an out-of-the way place by Himself.” (Matthew 14:13 MSG) When Jesus heard of John’s death He had to get away to grieve. John was more than a cousin, he was His forerunner. He was…
“God’s Kingdom is like a pine nut that a farmer plants. It’s quite small as seeds go, but in the course of years, it grows into a huge pine tree and eagles build nests in it.” (Matthew 13:31-32 MSG) This scripture reminds us that our…
“At the very time Simeon was praying, she showed up, broke into an anthem of praise to God and talked about the child to all who were waiting expectantly for the freeing of Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:38 MSG) We are in that long week between Christmas…
We spent eight hours with dear friends yesterday and the bulk of our discussion gathered around the subject of being hurt at church. Why is God’s house – a place of healing – also often a place of deep wounding? I opened my Bible this…
“Oh my dear children! I feel as if I am going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ develops in your life.” (Galatians 4:19 NLT) Paul writes of the labor of love that is birthing the gospel in flesh and…
“The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen.” (Luke 2:20 MSG) “When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.” (Matthew 2:10 MSG) “Herod, when he realized that the scholars had tricked him, flew into a rage.…
“Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now how more tenderly. “The Father has given me all these things to do and say. This is a unique Father-Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge. No one knows the Son the way…
While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God’s angel spoke in the dream: “Joseph, son of David, don’t hesitate to get married. Mary’s pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God’s Holy Spirit made her pregnant.” (Matthew 1:20-21 MSG) While we will not…
“He lived in alert expectation of the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 23:52 MSG) Expectant. It’s a word that has been following me around for a while now. Almost like a taunt. Life’s been so tough for so long that a word like ‘expectant’ can taste…