READ: GENESIS 16:1-13; PSALM 139; HEBREWS 13:5 If there was a list of all the people in the Bible who had a reason to feel invisible, Hagar would no doubt be near the top. As Sarai’s Egyptian slave, Hagar likely had no choice but to cooperate when she was suddenly thrown into the middle of [...]

READ: MARK 2:13-17; JOHN 6:37 It’s common sense that showers are for the dirty, hospitals are for the sick, and life preservers are for the drowning. So why is it so hard for some of us to accept that we don’t have to fix up our lives before coming to the very One who promises [...]

READ: ISAIAH 64:6; ROMANS 3:10, 23-24; PHILIPPIANS 3:3-11 Arlyn stood in a long line of travelers, each waiting for their turn at the weighing station. She watched the distance between her and the balance scale grow smaller. Her basket of jewels rattled as she tried to control her trembling. When she had gathered them in [...]

READ: PSALM 62; MATTHEW 7:24-29; JOHN 16:31-33 Perhaps you know how it feels to seek shelter from the storms of life. I know I do. We often look for safety and security in anything we can, like sailors trying to cast an anchor. But it soon becomes clear that “everything is futile,” or empty—like vapor [...]

READ: LUKE 2:25-35 Long ago, God promised Simeon that before he died, he would see the Messiah. And so, Simeon waited. I imagine that, as he grew in years and felt his physical strength lessen, Simeon became weary of anticipating and expecting. The Bible tells us that Simeon looked forward to “Israel’s consolation” (Luke 2:25). [...]