Is there a human being alive who doesn’t have a few? “If only I had made that call…paused to think before sharing that opinion…ignored the urge to blow up…” on and on. Regrets can become instruments of torture in the hands of the Enemy. They can wake us in the middle of the night with … Read more
Jesus wept. The shortest verse in the Bible. The psalmist gives a prophetic glimpse of His tears in Psalm 6. Have you ever felt like this? “I am weary with my groaning; all night I soak my pillow with tears, I drench my couch with my weeping.” (Psalm 6:6). We know that Jesus often prayed … Read more
January is fading at last, this long cold winter that confronts us after the joy of Christmas, a hurdle to be conquered. Tomorrow we will delight in a new calendar page, February, bringing us a bit closer to warmth and light, daffodils and daisies. Watching the winter birds flitting at my window reminds me of … Read more
The disciples must have been beyond exhaustion. After helping Jesus feed thousands with a miraculous picnic on the shores of Galilee, they set out in their fishing boat to cross the sea. They had been battling this storm for over nine hours. What had become of Jesus ? He’d insisted that they start across the … Read more
Some 2800 years ago, long before the Pilgrims landed in America, a very nervous King Jehoshaphat found himself in the temple of the Lord, pleading for the life of his nation. The reports were terrifying – pagan armies were approaching, vastly outnumbering the army of Judah. The destiny of God’s people was at stake. So … Read more
Something woke me at 3 AM today, and I struggled to get back to sleep, as I sometimes do. Thoughts and concerns tumbled through my head as I lay prey to a dozen worries. “Quiet down!” I told myself. This is no way for a believer to spend the night. That only made things worse. … Read more
Whatever on earth was God telling Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones? Now here, in chapter 37, is a strange sight – dry lifeless bones scattered randomly across the valley floor. Not skeletons, mind you, but hopelessly desiccated bones. Then God spoke, and Ezekiel prophesied to those bones. And something happened. They came together, … Read more
“I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with … Read more
I just learned something new about horses from a friend who is an avid horsewoman. She told me that these beautiful animals are trained to do something called “spooking in place”. “What is that?” I asked. I’d never heard the term. “Well,” she explained, “when a horse startles, his first instinct is to bolt and … Read more
Maybe you have heard the beautiful old Appalachian carol, “I Wonder as I Wander”, rediscovered by John Jacob Niles in about 1932. It is said that he heard a young girl singing this carol and made her sing it over and over until he captured it. One can feel the passion of the lyricist, lost … Read more