READ: HEBREWS 4:12; 2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17 Have you ever been following along in your Bible at church and realized none of the words on the page matched what your pastor was reading aloud? Why is that? It’s likely because you and your pastor were reading different Bible translations. A Bible translation is created when a [...]

READ: COLOSSIANS 1:9-11; 1 THESSALONIANS 1:2-3; 1 PETER 1:3-9 The final line of yesterday’s poem says the winter trees wait, “Certain of the coming spring.” Can we be certain spring is really coming? I mean, will our hard times truly end—and not just in death? As I wrote that line, I had in mind the [...]

READ: ACTS 18; ROMANS 16:3-5; 1 CORINTHIANS 16:19 Who are Priscilla and Aquila? This was a question I asked as I was reading through Romans 16. They’re mentioned in verse 3, and for some reason it caught my eye. So, I looked up their names in my Bible app, and I was surprised to learn [...]

READ: PSALM 119:9-16, 105; JOHN 14:5-6, 16-18 Have you ever heard the advice, “Be true to yourself,” and wondered, But what does that mean? How can you be true to yourself if you’re not one-hundred-percent sure who you are yet? After all, you’re still learning and growing—not just in your teen years but throughout your [...]

READ: MATTHEW 1:18-25; JOHN 1:1-18; 3:16-17 One of the greatest mysteries for the church to comprehend is the nature of Jesus. In the incarnation—that is, the event in which God became human— something happened that theologians call the hypostatic union. This refers to the union of two natures in one person: Jesus is one-hundred-percent human [...]

READ: MATTHEW 5:43-48; EPHESIANS 4:26, 31-32 Have you ever worn a full backpack for more than a few minutes? When you first put it on, it doesn’t seem too bad. But after walking across campus or standing in line for a while, it can feel like that backpack is getting heavier and heavier. Of course, [...]

READ: PSALM 63; JEREMIAH 33:3; COLOSSIANS 2:2-8 I don’t have time for devotions. Not today. Have you ever had this thought before? I know I certainly have. I mean, who has time for devotions? We’re busy, growing young adults. We have family, friends, school, sports, hobbies, jobs…the list goes on and on. In all the [...]

READ: ECCLESIASTES 3:1-14; MATTHEW 28:20; ROMANS 8:35-39 Have you ever seen a plant that’s been repotted? If a potted plant gets too big, it needs to be moved to a bigger pot so it can grow and flourish. But, when you first put it in its new home, it may look droopy. That’s because it’s [...]

READ: JOHN 1:29; ROMANS 6:8-11; HEBREWS 10:1-25 I sat against my bunk bed. I had just realized that after being a believer for sixteen years, I didn’t understand Jesus. I know this sounds strange—and trust me, it was. I was devastated and confused. I had put my trust in Jesus at five years old and [...]

READ: JOHN 15:13-15; ROMANS 3:21-24; 15:7; 1 JOHN 1:8–2:2 Are you good enough? I’m not. Not nearly good enough to please all those voices that tell me to do better, try harder, be perfect. How I’ve tried! Many of us are side-lined perfectionists, watching from the benches while other brighter, bolder, better perfectionists are in [...]