***Editor's note: Today's reading discusses abuse*** During our teenage years, many of us start dating. This is a big step, and while dating can be fun and wholesome, it can also be confusing and damaging. After I experienced several rejections as a teen, I was thrilled when a high school romance came my way. God [...]

Sin can be a scary thing. You don't have to read the Bible for very long to come across passages where God condemns sin. Even as Christians, we fall into sin again and again, and this can make us feel isolated from God. Is God's wrath upon us when we have sinned? As our loving [...]

When we exercise regularly, our muscles grow stronger and our whole body becomes healthier. On the other hand, lack of exercise leads to muscle weakness and poor health. It's like the old saying goes: “use it or lose it.” In 1 Timothy 4, Paul says that bodily exercise is beneficial, but training in godliness is [...]

She was tormented by demons. Mary, a woman of Magdalene or so she had once been called. Now she knew herself by a different name: possessed, enslaved, hopeless. She tried to fight the darkness. Countless times she ran from its grip, but the demons were always faster. "Weak," they cackled at her efforts. You're ours [...]

Golden sunsets, late-night campfires, cozy flannel blankets, apple picking, pumpkin spice an excited thrill rushes through my veins when that first gust of autumn sweeps over the prairie, leaving gold and crimson in its wake. I always wonder if artists like me observe creation differently than most. Rather than simply marveling at a job well [...]

Change happens rapidly, in the blink of an eye. Spring, summer, fall, and winter all seem to go so quickly, as time flies by. Nothing seems to stay the same in this world consumed with sin and woe. And life can grow weary to the one who has had to let dreams, plans, and loved [...]

When I am afraid, the truths of Scripture demonstrate again and again that I can put my trust in God. In the Bible, God gives us many reassurances of His love and faithfulness. When we are stressed and uncertain about where life is going, we can find peace in God. Even when we don't feel [...]

Reading today's verses, I wonder how I would respond if I were arrested and put on trial for my faith. I hope I would respond like Polycarp—a believer from the second century church. According to church historians, Polycarp was a “second generation” Christian who heard the gospel from the apostle John. He became a leader [...]

I could feel it. The lethal virus that threatened humanity coursed through my veins. My chest tightened, making it difficult to breathe. It would only be a matter of time before the virus wormed its way into my heart and successfully shut down my body for good. I knew my days were numbered. I sensed [...]

After searching for hours, he finally found her sitting on the hill, squinting to see in the distance, past the fields and vast emptiness to the old place. “Do you think we'll ever get back there?” she asked. “To the tree?” He had tried. Many times. He shook his head and said, “They will never [...]