READ: PSALM 139:1-18; 2 CORINTHIANS 5:16-17 Who am I? What is my purpose? Do I matter? If you’ve asked these questions, you’re not alone. When describing ourselves, we often list physical attributes such as age, height, hair color, and ethnicity. Or we may list hobbies, accomplishments, or skills that we are proud of. Perhaps we [...]

READ: PSALMS 1:1-3; 92:12-15; ROMANS 4 Arbor Day has come around again, prompting us to take notice of an important part of God’s creation—trees! It’s good to appreciate all the good things trees provide us with, like clean air, food, wood, beauty, and shade. On a trip I took to southern California, I noticed that [...]

READ: PSALM 19:1-6; MATTHEW 27:45-54 The sky is one of the most varied and beautiful parts of God’s creation. In the morning you can see soft pinks and yellows amid golden sunlight as the sun rises up. In the afternoon you can see fluffy white clouds sailing. In the first part of the evening there [...]

READ: LUKE 23:50–24:12, 36-48; JOHN 20 The resurrection is vital to the Christian faith. It proves that Jesus is both fully God and fully human. But did Jesus really come back from the dead? Or did someone steal His body? Let’s look at some facts. The Roman soldiers guarded the tomb day and night. Nobody [...]

READ: MATTHEW 20:17-19, 28; 27:27-54; JOHN 19:16-37 One of the questions people often ask about Jesus is, “Did He really die? Or did He just pass out and revive later on? Did He fake it so He could get everyone’s attention…and then pretend to rise from the dead?” All good questions. What evidence is there [...]

READ: 1 PETER 2:22-25 It seems so unfair, how Jesus was taken to the cross. He is perfect. He never did anything wrong, much less anything deserving of death. It seems so confusing that He would allow it to happen. Jesus had all the power. He is God the Son—He could have gotten away at [...]

READ: ISAIAH 53:3-5; 1 PETER 2:24; REVELATION 21:4 Throughout human history, a wide variety of cultures have had rites of passage where individuals had to endure something painful to be seen as an adult. Having a high pain tolerance has often brought respect. For instance, a while ago someone close to me had surgery to [...]

READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 15:20-28, 54-57; REVELATION 1:17-18 Today, we’re going to revisit yesterday’s poem. Not only does Jesus’s death and resurrection give us victory over sin, but it also gives us victory over death! In 1 Corinthians 15, we see how our personal hope of resurrection is tied directly to Christ’s own resurrection—and His coming [...]

READ: EPHESIANS 6:10-18; 1 PETER 5:6-10; REVELATION 12:10-11 One year in college, I struggled with an onslaught of repeated failures in my walk with Jesus. Although I confessed these failures, I was plagued with relentless guilt. Most mornings I woke with a foreboding sense of dread. Life just seemed to keep coming at me too [...]

READ: JOHN 10:1-18; 14:26; 1 JOHN 4:1-21 Have you ever heard someone talk about what God is “telling them” and felt frustrated, wondering, “Why isn’t God talking to me?” I remember feeling that way. But let me encourage you! It takes time to learn someone’s voice. If I met you for twenty minutes today, and [...]