James 1:6 “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. My mother suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The airways traveling to her lungs had been damaged, making it Continue Reading…
Mark 9:23 “…Everything is possible for one who believes.” It was early Saturday morning in Boulder, Colorado. I went to the gas station to fill up my little Renault. The overcast skies looked threatening, but when the station attendant commented that it looked like we were in for a shower, Continue Reading…
Luke 7:9 “…I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” So what does faith have to do with humility? A story from Luke 7 sheds some light… A Roman soldier’s servant, whom he evidently cared deeply about, was deathly sick. When the soldier heard Continue Reading…
Acts 12:14-15 “When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, ‘Peter is at the door!’ ‘You’re out of your mind,’ they told her.” Whether praising, repenting or petitioning, I love communing with God. But a recent study of Acts 12 prompted me Continue Reading…
John 20:29 “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Seeing is believing. Seems like a harmless expression. An idiom that describes the necessity of physical, concrete evidence in order to accept something as real. It’s how most people live the Continue Reading…
Numbers 14:3 “Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” Oh my, I’m 30 years-old and not married. God must want me to be a Continue Reading…
2 Corinthians 4:16 “Therefore we do not lose heart….” Stress so heavy it feels as if life itself is being squeezed out. Thoughts swimming in a sea of uncertainty. Feelings of rejection, ridicule and defeat threatening on every side. Ever feel like this? Paul certainly did. Yet he sends Continue Reading…
Luke 8:25 “ ‘Where is your faith?’ he asked his disciples….” I’m sure you’ve experienced it. You’re reading the scripture when suddenly regular print transforms into italics. Something transpires that causes you to move from simple reading to listening. The Word of God is speaking to you, muting every Continue Reading…
I Corinthians 15:3 “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day….” First importance. At the risk of sounding redundant, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the Continue Reading…
Mark 10:49 “…Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Bartimaeus—a blind beggar on the side of the road. His affliction had stripped him of all dignity, leaving him, according to Jewish society, only a few steps above a leper. His self-sufficiency had been replaced with total dependency on human Continue Reading…