Read: Revelation 5:1-12 For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood. —Revelation 5:9 A house listed for sale “As Is” usually means the seller is unable or unwilling to spend any money to repair it or make it attractive. Any necessary repairs or desired improvements...

Read: Revelation 21:1-7 I saw a new heaven and a new earth. —Revelation 21:1 In its “plot,” the story of the Bible ends up very much where it began. The broken relationship between God and human beings has healed over at last, and the curse of Genesis 3 is lifted....

Read: 1 Samuel 16:14-23 God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. —2 Timothy 1:7 Amani, which means “peace” in Swahili, is the name of a Labrador retriever pup that has some special friends. Amani lives with two...

Read: Psalm 150 Praise the Lord! —Psalm 150:1 Psalm 150 is not only a beautiful expression of praise, it’s also a lesson in praising the Lord. It tells us where to praise, why we’re to praise, how we’re to praise, and who should offer praise. Where do we praise? In...

Read: Luke 5:1-10 From now on you will catch men. —Luke 5:10 A number of years ago our sons and I enjoyed some days together drifting and fishing the Madison River in Montana with two fishing guides who also served as our boatmen. The guide I drew was a man...

Read: Romans 4:16-22 He did not waver . . . through unbelief . . . being fully convinced that what [God] had promised He was also able to perform. —Romans 4:20-21 It was our last holiday together as a family before our eldest son went off to college. As we...

Read: 1 Peter 1:3-9 In this [living hope] you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. —1 Peter 1:6 When I opened my Bible to read Jeremiah 1 through 4, the subhead ascribed to the book startled me: “Hope...

Read: Colossians 3:12-17 If anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. —Colossians 3:13. During the Second World War, Corrie ten Boom’s family owned a watchmaking business in the Netherlands, and they actively worked to protect Jewish families. Eventually, the entire ten...

Read: Psalm 6 I am weary with my groaning; all night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears. —Psalm 6:6 On a November day in 1963, the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson and Mike Love wrote a song quite unlike the band’s typically upbeat tunes. It...

Read: Matthew 13:14-22 The cares of this world . . . choke the word. —Matthew 13:22 A restaurant owner in the village of Abu Ghosh, just outside Jerusalem, offered a 50-percent discount for patrons who turned off their cell phones. Jawdat Ibrahim believes that smartphones have shifted the focus of...

Read: James 2:14-20 Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. —James 2:17 The administrators of the high school in Barrow, Alaska, were tired of seeing students get into trouble and drop out at a rate of 50 percent. To keep students interested, they started a football...

Read: Numbers 11:1-10 When the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. —Numbers 11:1 When Max Lucado participated in a half-Ironman triathlon, he experienced the negative power of complaint. He said, “After the 1.2-mile swim and the 56-mile bike ride, I...