Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present ... Continue reading
Finding joy
“It is hard to talk about joy. … When my leg hurts I can talk about it. I have a lot of words to describe how much it hurts. When it doesn’t hurt I don’t think about it. When I am well I don’t talk about it. My language is limited. My language is much more elaborate for anxiety than for joy.” – ... Continue reading
Training for endurance
“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing ... Continue reading
The sun will come out tomorrow
“I've got a theory that if you give 100% all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end.” — Larry Bird“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” — Romans 8:28 (NLT)“Don't ... Continue reading
Why?
"I don't know why I wandered out to this part of Texas drunk, and you took me in and pitied me and helped me to straighten out, married me. Why? Why did that happen? Is there a reason that happened? And Sonny's Daddy died in the war, my daughter killed in an automobile accident. Why? See, I don't ... Continue reading
In search of peace
It was a brisk, cloudless, January morning, a perfect day to be out and about. I was working in the yard and considering a trip to the Home Depot. At a shopping center a few miles to the south, several dozen people were queuing up outside of a grocery store to speak with their congressional ... Continue reading
Winter and the presence of God
A gray ooze has devoured the horizon and wrapped the sky in a damp, claustrophobic dreariness. The sun has been swallowed up; beneath a tinplate damp life shivers, slapping arms and stamping feet to stay warm. A monochromatic twilight robs the desert of its color, while an icy wind rips the last few ... Continue reading
The demands of the cross
If anyone wants to follow in my footsteps, he must give up all right to himself, carry his cross every day and keep close behind me. — Luke 9:23, JB Phillips To endure the cross is not a tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ. When it comes, it is ... Continue reading