“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace as you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13 NLT) I was taken aback a bit when…
“Pay close attention now: I’m creating a new heavens and a new earth. All the earlier troubles, chaos and pain are things fo the past, to be forgotten. Look ahead with joy.” (Isaiah 65:17-18 MSG) What a verse to read on the fifth anniversary of…
Unless you accept God’s Kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.” (Luke 18:17 MSG) This scripture leads us to think about how children receive things. It’s easy to picture this at Christmas-time when every child is counting down to Christmas morning…
“And those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with sing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” (Isaiah 35:10 NIV) There is a rescue underway and we’ll know it’s…
“God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8 NLT) John Eldredge lists the biblically-documented potential conditions of our heart: wounded, pierced, grieved, broken, cheerful, glad, joyful, rejoicing, deceived, divided, whole, wise, foolish, steadfast, true, valiant, frightened, cowardly, wandering, dull,…
“The next time you put on a dinner, don’t just invite your friends and family and rich neighbors, the kind of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks. You’ll…
“He went on teaching form town to village, village to town, but keeping a steady course toward Jerusalem.” (Luke 13:22 MSG) Day by day, Jesus yielded to the agenda of the Holy Spirit, yet at the same time, He stayed the course toward Jerusalem. Luke…
“You can’t whisper one thing in private and preach the opposite in public; the days are coming when whispers will be repeated all over town.” (Luke 11:3 MSG) Jesus is calling for congruity of character. He’s asking that our private life would hold true to…
“Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to You I entrust my life. Rescue me from my enemies, Lord. I hide myself in You. (Psalm 143:8-9…
“He continued according to plan…” (Luke 8:1 MSG) Jesus’ life and ministry went according to plan. Let that sink in for a minute. The divine plan included a teen pregnancy, an incredibly inconvenient census, a midnight flight to Egypt on foot, a childhood spent in…