Read: Mark 14:32-42 Now it came to pass in those days that [Jesus] went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. —Luke 6:12 When the snow flies in Michigan, I like to get my grandkids, grab our plastic sleds, and go slipping and...

Read: Psalm 121 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. —Psalm 121:2 Twenty-year-old Lygon Stevens, an experienced mountaineer, had reached the summits of Mt. McKinley, Mt. Rainier, four Andean peaks in Ecuador, and 39 of Colorado’s highest mountains. “I climb because I love the mountains,” she...

Read: Luke 10:38-42 Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her. —Luke 10:42 Every day I drive the same highway to and from the office, and every day I see an alarming number of distracted drivers. Usually they’re talking on the phone or texting,...

Read: Psalm 63:1-8 My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me. —Psalm 63:8 When NASA began using a new kind of space telescope to capture different spectrums of light, researchers were surprised at one of the photos. It shows what looks like fingers, a thumb, and an...

Read: Nehemiah 6:1-9,15 Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands. —Nehemiah 6:9 Singapore’s first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, is the man credited with making Singapore what it is today. During his leadership, Singapore grew to be rich and prosperous and one of the most developed nations in Asia. Asked...

Read: Mark 6:30-32 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. —Psalm 4:8 Some years ago my son Brian and I agreed to haul some equipment into an isolated Idaho backcountry ranch for a friend. There are no roads...

Read: Isaiah 30:15-22 The Lord] will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry. —Isaiah 30:19 When my grandchildren were young, my son took them to see the stage production of The Lion King. As the young lion, Simba, stood over his father, King Mufasa, who had...

Read: Philippians 3:12-16 Forgetting those things which are behind . . . I press toward the goal. —Philippians 3:13-14 I was having lunch with two men who had opened their lives to Christ while they were in prison. The younger man had been discouraged by the fact that the family...

Read: John 13:31-35 As I have loved you, . . . you also love one another. —John 13:34 In the book Kisses from Katie, Katie Davis recounts the joy of moving to Uganda and adopting several Ugandan girls. One day, one of her daughters asked, “Mommy, if I let Jesus...

Read: Deuteronomy 8:11-18 Remember now your Creator . . . before the difficult days come. —Ecclesiastes 12:1 “God bless our homeland, Ghana” is the first line of Ghana’s national anthem. Other African anthems include: “O Uganda, may God uphold thee,” “Lord, bless our nation” (South Africa), and “O God of...

Read: 1 Kings 19:1-12 As [Elijah] lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” —1 Kings 19:5 I love to take pictures of sunsets at Lake Michigan. Some are subtle shades of pastel. Others are bold strokes of bright...

Read: John 7:37-46 No man ever spoke like this Man! —John 7:46 A US congressman, John Lewis, was 23 years old when he participated in the historic 1963 civil rights “March on Washington” led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Half a century later, journalist Bill Moyers asked Lewis how...