Kingdom Seeking Keeps Perspective
Matthew 6:25-34 We all worry. We worry about jobs, retirement, children, aging parents, and marriage, to name a few. What motivates your worries? God does care about what we care about. This passage...
View ArticleWhat Is Our Hope?
1 Thessalonians 2:13-20 What is it we hope for? Hope is that longing we lean toward, waiting in anticipation of a future-oriented event. People hope for such things like a new job, a raise, a new...
View ArticleGod Is Our Hope
1 Timothy 6:13-21 During the pandemic, life changed in dramatic ways for most of us. Some of us were lucky enough to still have jobs and a steady income. We learned to work from home, attending events...
View ArticleGet Rich Quick
Proverbs 10:1-9 The resounding gong of infomercials proclaiming the possibility of getting rich can be appealing: to partake and finally take a load off and rest. Get-rich-quick ideas provide the...
View ArticleHandle With Care
Proverbs 10:11-16 Words. They’ve started wars, ruined relationships, ended marriages, betrayed trust, destroyed confidence, robbed identity, and caused more catastrophes than Mount Vesuvius’s...
View ArticleLife-Giving Words
Proverbs 10:17-23 Lisa, who was physically and mentally challenged, wrote her mother a valentine. Her handwriting was poor, her spelling atrocious, and her phrasing awkward. However, her words...
View ArticleSurrendered Words
Proverbs 10:27-32 How do you recognize a Spirit-filled Christian? Proverbs reminds us that one way is by the words Christians use and how they use them. Make no mistake, our words either come from God...
View ArticleGentle Speech
Proverbs 15:1-5 In the book, The Help, Abileen cares for five-year-old Mae Mobley in a home that doesn’t have many good words for a five-year-old. Abileen fills that vacuum by repeating three phrases....
View ArticleSpeak Up!
Proverbs 31:1-9 People become voiceless in many ways. Some become silent because speaking is painful. Some fear retribution, even death. Proverbs tells us to be the voice for those who have none....
View ArticleWho Needs To Hear My Story?
Proverbs 31:1-9 David refused to hide God’s love and faithfulness to him. In the years before he became king, he was mistreated, rejected, and hunted. He could have emphasized the stories of his...
View ArticleJust Praise
Psalm 145:1-6 Praise opens our hearts where life’s challenges have taken their hits. Praise releases us from fighting our enemies alone or problem-solving challenges with our best ideas. Since we know...
View ArticleTraining For The Journey
1 Corinthians 9:19-27 I love watching sports and have often been inspired by the athletes who play them. The road to becoming a successful athlete is often long and arduous. First, athletes understand...
View ArticleJoy In Suffering
1 Peter 4:1-6 In the early church, Christians experienced great persecution. There was such an emphasis on suffering to be more like Christ that many believers sought to be martyred. Our mindset is...
View ArticleLove and Serve Other
1 Peter 4:7-11 It is amazing how many of God’s commandments are rooted in two important principles: Loving and serving others. Two verses from 1 Peter 4 catch my attention. First, “Love covers over a...
View ArticleWhere Do You Put Your Faith?
1 Peter 1:1-9 What do you value the most in this life? Often when we are young, we want “things,” tangible expressions of independence, ownership, and power. As we grow older, we begin to focus on the...
View ArticleSpur Each Other On
2 Timothy 2:1-10 There is something that happens when people get into a crowd. People make decisions they may not normally make. Mob justice can be painfully destructive to lives and reputations. On...
View ArticleOur Hope In God
Lamentations 3:19-29 Hope is often misplaced. We are taught early in life to depend on ourselves. Independence is prized along with education, success, and health. Life is funny, though. Any of those...
View ArticleListening and Seeking
Proverbs 1:1-7 King Solomon is said to have been one of the wisest persons to ever live. We don’t know much about Solomon’s educational background. However, we can see what he valued in education....
View ArticleA Cleansed Conscience
Deuteronomy 7:1-6 When the words of the Lord are twisted, people have beat down, enslaved, and committed genocide against fellow humans, contrary to the clear biblical commands to love God and to love...
View ArticleCovenant of Love
Deuteronomy 7:7-11 Too often, Christians define themselves by what they are not rather than who they are. Christians draw boundaries between certain behaviors and lifestyles. Christians have been...
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