John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Gifts. Gifts. Gifts. Gifts come in all sizes and packages, but at Christmas we focus on the one gift that surpasses them all…. The best gift ever given to the world—the Continue Reading…
Isaiah 53:1 “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? There are two types of people in the world: those who love surprises and those who hate them. I definitely fall into the first category…especially around Christmas. My husband likes to tell the story of Continue Reading…
Isaiah 43: 18-19 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” There’s no do-over in life, is there? As C.S. Lewis writes, “encore” is a useless word when it comes to living. Continue Reading…
Psalm 73:25 “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.” Have you ever felt like the Psalmist? He looks at the state of the world around him and sees those far less upright than him prospering. The rich and ruthless seem to be Continue Reading…
Revelation 2:4 “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.” They worked tirelessly without growing weary. They endured hardship after hardship for the sake of Christ. They persevered when others folded. They fearlessly exposed hypocrisy in the church, unswerving in their dedication to Continue Reading…
Matthew 28:20 “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” [ESV] Oblivious: B-e-c-k-y T-o-e-w-s. That’s how I wound up spelling it. When we picked our son Josiah and his girlfriend Lauren up at the airport last Thanksgiving, the first thing I looked for was a Continue Reading…
Matthew 19:27 “Peter answered him, ‘We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?’” I sat in what I call my “little room” having my morning devotions. Surrounded by windows, I looked outside and there a few yards away, I spotted a deer. This was Continue Reading…
Matthew 14:13-14 “Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them….” Jesus had just heard the Continue Reading…
Romans 8:37 “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” The roar of “We Are….Penn State” boomed across the whole commonwealth. Our unranked football team was up against Ohio State, positioned as number 2 in the nation, but that only intensified the electric atmosphere. Continue Reading…
Genesis 47:29-30 “When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him…’Do not bury me in Egypt, but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.’” “I love you the most.” My mom finished Continue Reading…