READ: PSALM 119:25-40; EPHESIANS 1:18-23; HEBREWS 12:1-3 Hebrews 12:1-2 holds some of my favorite words in the Bible: “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” I’ve always loved this idea of fixing our eyes on Jesus. But in our everyday lives, [...]

READ: PSALM 34:1-8; MATTHEW 6:25-34; JOHN 14:1-7; PHILIPPIANS 4:4-9 Why do we worry when we know that God loves us? Why do we let our hearts become troubled when we know that Jesus warns us against that very thing? I wish I could say I never have a troubled heart. I wish I could say [...]

READ: 1 JOHN 4:7-12 Maybe you know someone who claimed to love God but hurt you or someone you care about. Maybe you watched in the news as a pastor got arrested for hurting someone or pulling off some big scheme. Maybe you know people who make Christians look really bad. Humans are fallen and [...]

READ: PHILIPPIANS 3:12-14 I just keep sinning even though I know Jesus—I’ll never get it! Have you ever been frustrated with yourself for sinning? Have you felt like you should be able to get it right, but you just can’t? Lots of us feel this way. Here’s the good news: as Christians, we don’t have to [...]

READ: PSALM 103:11-12; ISAIAH 43:25; MALACHI 3:16-17 Do you ever wonder what you were like when you were a baby? In addition to photos stored on computers, phones, and in albums, some families keep a remembrance book where they keep special details about their children, along with mementos from their growing-up years. A footprint from [...]

READ: LUKE 18:31-34; 23:26-49; MARK 16:1-8 If I were thereWould I just stareAs they bound my Savior?If I lived during that timeWould I denyThat I ever knew Him?If I witnessed all they did to Him Would I have offered to take it on me The carrying of the cross?If I watched Him dieWould I have criedAnd been [...]

READ: PSALM 107:1; ROMANS 8:31-39; 2 CORINTHIANS 5:7 I was out of ideas for where to look. Finally, I pulled out my journal, grabbed a pen, and wrote, “Lord, please help me find my grammar textbook.” About a week before, I’d misplaced a schoolbook. I had already been reprimanded about not having the textbook for English [...]

READ: GENESIS 1:6-10, 14-19; PSALM 19:1-2 Have you ever been overwhelmed by the beauty of the sky? Whether it’s the rolling clouds on a summer day, a golden sunset, or the twinkling stars at night, the skies above our heads are beautiful. Artists and painters try to imitate the beauty of the sky, but even [...]

READ: ISAIAH 53:4-11; ROMANS 5:6-11; 2 CORINTHIANS 5:21 Second Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” This verse is beautiful and important, but what does it mean? How was Jesus made to “be sin for [...]

READ: PSALMS 36:5; 148:7; EPHESIANS 3:14-21 The ocean makes me nervous. I really don’t like movies where people are lost at sea—especially if they’re stuck on some sort of tiny raft and no one knows how to find them. How awful would that be? The sky, huge above you, could release a storm at any moment. The [...]