“Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me!” (I Samuel 25:32) How would you respond if an army was charging toward your home to destroy everyone you held dear? What...
Faultless
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Courage
Ends of the Earth
“A devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.” (Acts 10:2) Prayer is a mystery, deep and wide and way beyond us all. We...
Hope Surge
“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4) We hear reports...
Right By Our Side
“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Mark 4:38 Do Something Quick We sound just like that boatload of wet, weary disciples whenever self-pity takes up residence, and fear moves in as...
Distinctive Sound Heard
“For what thanksgiving can we return to God, for all the joy we feel for your sake before our God.” (I Thessalonians 3:9) “For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you…” (I...
Fully Convinced
“Then Jesus answered her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.’” (Matthew 15:28) Barging In She set the bar high, this obscure foreigner with the audacity to insist on a...
Magdalene
“There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. When he was in Galilee, they followed him and...
Anticipation
“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’”...
Fully Present
“And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, ‘The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.’” (Judges 6:12) The Lord often asks us to endure difficulties, engage in actions that...
The Beggar’s Gift
“In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” (Acts 3:6) He wasn’t asking for much. The beggar was used to being ignored, stepped over, marginalized. But if, somehow, he could get the...
Extension
“And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, . . . so that you became an example to all the believers.” (1 Thessalonians 1:6–7) Suppose they could actually speak to us, the characters described...
Spill Over
“On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’” (Mark 4:35) Of course, you could sleep. The water filling the boat would not terrify you. From your...