READ: PSALM 139:14-18; MATTHEW 6:26; 10:29-31; EPHESIANS 2:10 I love snow. I love the way the delicate little snowflakes dance and spin as they fall from the sky. I love it when they all pile up into fluffy, white, satisfyingly smooth mounds. I love the way they look, with each little ice crystal so small, [...]

READ: 1 SAMUEL 20:32-42; LUKE 1:26-45; HEBREWS 2:18 Do you know Mary’s story well? It begins when the angel Gabriel appeared to her and told her that she would be carrying the Messiah, the Son of God. Mary was a virgin and probably a teenager at the time. How did she explain this to her [...]

READ: PSALMS 106:1-2; 146:6-10; 1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18 When I look at my hands, each finger formed by You,When I feel the wind, each breath coming because of You,When I hear the noise of a crowd or the quiet of a peaceful place,All of this points to You. How can I not thank You?When I move [...]

READ: GENESIS 12:1-3; JOHN 1:1-13; GALATIANS 4:4-6 For many people, the word family evokes ideas like safety, love, acceptance, and happiness. But for others, family evokes ideas like anxiety, strife, fear, and rejection. God established the family as the first human social structure, starting with the first marriage between the first man and woman as [...]

READ: ISAIAH 53:1-6; LUKE 15:1-10 Shivers snaked through my body. I blinked. The sun lit the surrounding snow with gleaming white light. I pushed my curls out of my eyes and away from the wound on my head. I touched the bruising and winced; the memory flooded back. After we lost the fugitive, a fight [...]

READ: ROMANS 12:13; HEBREWS 13:2; 1 PETER 4:7-10 Did you know that all Christians are called to some sort of ministry? You don’t have to be a pastor or missionary to have a ministry—the fact is, God commands all Christians to minister to others. The word ministry basically means service. And in Galatians 5:13, all [...]

READ: MATTHEW 6:25-34 Since I was young, I’ve often had to remind myself to just consider the next moment instead of trying to figure out everything that’s going to happen in the future. The truth is, it’s all in God’s hands, so I don’t have to worry about tomorrow. I don’t have to get stressed [...]

READ: MATTHEW 23:27-28; EPHESIANS 2:4-10; PHILIPPIANS 3:7-9 Have you ever cut into a shiny red tomato, only to find it was all rotten in the middle? It may have looked perfect on the outside—not even a bruise. But inside, it’s mushy and not fit to be eaten. Sometimes we are like that rotten tomato. Many [...]

READ: PSALMS 46:1-3; 61:1-3; MATTHEW 14:22-33; HEBREWS 13:8 You are my refuge and strength,My strong tower in the storm.So I do not shudder asThe clouds darken.You promised peaceIn the midst of turmoil,Peace that does not falter,So I stand firm as the thunder rolls.And as the rain pours downI remind myself of the oneWho walked upon [...]

READ: PSALM 73:11-28; 2 CORINTHIANS 4:16-18 We can ask God hard questions. In Psalm 73, Asaph’s question to God is basically, Why are the wicked so successful, while people like me who follow God experience so many hardships? Asaph finds his answer as he goes into God’s sanctuary, and God opens his eyes to three [...]