If you can't bear the thought of going to work one day longer, it may be time to re-examine the unique factors...
Text: John 15:1-17 1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He...
If we rely only on our feelings, circumstances, or other people as our source of communication from God, we’re left vulnerable to...
With election platforms taking shape and presidential candidates taking aim, it’s sometimes easy to confuse our politics...
I had more energy, I was sleeping better, and I felt happier. The physical exercise affected every dimension of my life.
You can wrestle with God, you can struggle with God, but you will not have power over God to define who God is.
This week we are highlighting some favorite posts from our faithful community of writers.
God challenges us to move toward those whom we consider to be so very far off the mark.
“What they are missing, really, is a living relationship with God.”
Barb Knuckles reminds us that our God-crafted identity, flowing through our skills, becomes a kind of holy artistry, whether we're making art, planting a garden, or stocking shelves.
Our churches are always communicating to its daughters. Their value. Their worth. Their possibilities.
We don’t easily understand God’s purposes for our lives, so we often try to keep him out.
Bob was a route salesman for Dr Pepper. He shared a story about my dad’s early days as head of a growing grocery chain. Bob set up special displays in those stores.
During each of Steve Resch's heart events, he needed a place to stand. God gave it to Steve in His Word.
Resurrection moments sometimes come from the simplest things, like a peony bush.
Rev. Susan Pendleton Jones and Dr. George Cladis offer three sermons outlines about faith and work. This issue focuses on rest, kindness...
God is present and active, drawing me to Himself, even as I draw the broom across the floor.
An old Jewish story says that when the Israelites fled Egypt, they followed each other so closely, so diligently that they never noticed the miracle happening around them.
1 Timothy 2:2 is one of the most regularly disobeyed verses in the Bible, and maybe that isn't too bad. Now, before...
If you've been receiving these Daily Reflections for a while, you know that I sometimes offer special prayers on holidays.
Sometimes you run out of words. ...
When stress pops up (and it will), our initial reaction is to find a quick fix. But God prefers to cultivate maturity.
As we read this passage from Psalm 72, we stand within earshot of King David, who is praying intimately for his son...
Susan Wunderink of Christianity Today reflects on the lessons learned from an extended time of unemployment in “The Sabbath Swimming Lesson: When...
In this story from Mark, a man with leprosy comes to Jesus for healing. Jesus was his only hope of getting free...
Our minivan served us faithfully for over a decade, but we came to the point where we knew, as the Little River...
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The more we allow God's Word to shape our relationship with him, the more we reflect upon the wonder of the cross...
Psalm 147 begins with a reminder of how delightful it is for us to praise the Lord. Then, after celebrating God's saving grace and awesome power, this psalm speaks of how we might...
Ephesians 1:5 reveals that God "predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ." Why? Why did our Heavenly Father choose to make us his children? ...
In last Friday's reflection, we considered what it means that God has predestined us. Today, I want to add a little more to this conversation. ...
Mention the word "predestination" among Christians and you're likely to get strong, diverse responses. For some in the Calvinist/Reformed tradition, you'll get a cheer, because predestination is...
I thought about my son, Nathan, before he was born. I also prayed for him well before I knew that "he" was...
The bulk of Psalm 144 deals with David's role as king. He praises God for the help God has given him and he asks for more of it.
In more than a thousand reflections, I have never before printed such a large portion of the biblical text. Usually, as you know, I focus on one or perhaps two verses. But, today...
In Psalm 141, David wrestles with his own temptation to do what's wrong.
Listening to radio cohosts, recently, I chuckled when one exclaimed to the other, "Just because you say it louder than me and more forceful, that doesn't mean you're right." It was funny because it...
At 3:42 p.m. on December 22, 2003, I put up my first blog post ever. It was...
Psalm 139 begins with David’s acknowledgement that God has “examined” his heart.
In common English, if someone asks you, "Do you believe in God?" you would rightly assume that they're asking "Do you believe that God exists?" Similarly, if someone were to ask, "Do you...
The Daily Reflections are based on a commitment to the Bible as the truthful Word of God...
As a pastor, I have often had people come to talk with me about finding God's will for their lives. Usually, they...
As we begin our leisurely devotional trek through Ephesians, I thought I might whet your appetite a bit. I believe that this...
At first glance, Psalm 136 is a psalm of thanksgiving.
During last summer's trip to the Holy Land, my family and I visited the Dead Sea.
I've been in plenty of church meetings that seem to pit the "spiritual" people against the "practical."
Christians believe that one day God will establish a new heaven and a new earth. In this age to come, God will...
I am constitutionally wired for worry. I fully expect my DNA contains a dedicated worry gene. I can worry about everything, the things I can control and the things I can't. Thus, I...
I've been a Christian for almost half a century. I've sat through hundreds of sermons and delivered hundreds of my own. I've...
In Ezekiel 42, the angelic being in Ezekiel's vision measures various dimensions of the temple in Jerusalem, ending with the large area outside of the temple, which was surrounded by a wall. This...
The fact that we can perceive things as beautiful, I believe, points to the existence of a God who loves beauty and...
In the past several days, I have been considering whether it's appropriate to display art in spaces set aside for worship.
My friend Nick grew up in a church that was very eager to keep him from sinning.
I want to live the best kind of life. I want to make my life count. I don't want to waste my...
Do you ever wish you had a new heart? I'm not asking about a physical heart, but a new way of being...
Psalm 126 begins with a joyful remembrance of a time when God "brought back his exiles to Jerusalem" (126:1).
You are my flock, the flock of my pasture. You are human, and I am your God. This is what the LORD God says. Ezekiel 34:31 The final verse of Ezekiel 34 adds...
I have had many friends who struggled with faith because they saw their parents put on a show of Christianity but fail...
Psalm 124 offers a stirring word of encouragement.
Perhaps you really can't answer the question I asked in the title of this reflection: Where do...
"For many years my heart wasn't connected to the work that I did."
Ever notice that problems tend to bother those people least who prepare the most?
In a documentary I recently saw, an Inuit child was happily romping around inside her family’s igloo. The interior temperature was just a tad above 32 degrees. She was naked. Human beings can...
Transcript The word Scrooge, to us, means a miser. Of course, it's from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. You remember: Bob Cratchit's mean and miserly boss is Ebenezer Scrooge. His bah, humbug! drains...
