Read: 1 John 2:3–11 The darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. 1 John 2:8 It was a dark morning. Low, steel-colored clouds filled the sky, and the atmosphere was so dim that I needed to turn on the lights in order to read a book. I...

Read: Nahum 1:7–15 Look, there on the mountains, the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace! Nahum 1:15 World news bombards us from the Internet, television, radio, and mobile devices. The majority seems to describe what’s wrong—crime, terrorism, war, and economic problems. Yet there are times when...

Read: Matthew 6:24–34 You cannot serve both God and money. Matthew 6:24 Early in my career while doing work that I saw as more of a mission than a job, another company offered me a position that would give a significant increase in pay. Our family could surely have benefited...

Read: 1 Kings 18:41–45 The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. James 5:16 nlt God often chooses to move through our prayers to accomplish His work. We see this when God told the prophet Elijah, “I will send rain on the land,” promising...

Read: Proverbs 27:5–10 Wounds from a friend can be trusted. Proverbs 27:6 Charles Lowery complained to his friend about lower back pain. He was seeking a sympathetic ear, but what he got was an honest assessment. His friend told him, “I don’t think your back pain is your problem; it’s...

Read: Acts 4:32–37; 9:26–27 Joseph . . . whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet. Acts 4:36–37 An old Merle Haggard song, “If We Make It Through December,” tells the story...

Read: Nehemiah 12:27–43 The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away. Nehemiah 12:43 Walt Disney Studios was the first to introduce a new concept in listening to movies. It was called “stereophonic sound” or surround sound, and it was developed because producers wanted the movie-going audience to...

Read: Ephesians 4:1–6 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:3 Seeing three large predatory animals cuddle and play together is extremely unusual. Yet this is precisely what happens daily in an animal sanctuary in Georgia. In 2001, after months of...

Read: Psalm 141:1–4 Be kind and compassionate to one another. Ephesians 4:32 When I was a child I was an ardent reader of L. Frank Baum’s Land of Oz books. I recently came across Rinkitink in Oz with all the original artwork. I laughed again at the antics of Baum’s...

Read: John 8:12–20 I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. John 8:12 Each year for several weeks around Christmas, Singapore’s tourist belt, Orchard Road, is transformed into a wonderland of lights and colors. This light-up...

Read: Psalm 119:161–168 I rejoice in your promise like one who finds great spoil. Psalm 119:162 In 1932, Mexican archaeologist Alfonso Caso discovered Tomb 7 at Monte Alban, Oaxaca. He found more than four hundred artifacts, including hundreds of pieces of pre-Hispanic jewelry he called “The Treasure of Monte Alban.”...

Read: James 1:22–27 Look after orphans and widows in their distress. James 1:27 The phone rang in the night for my husband, a minister. One of the prayer warriors in our church, a woman in her seventies who lived alone, was being taken to the hospital. She was so ill...