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Decades ago I was part of a college Christian group that got together for Bible study, prayer and outreach. My friend Judy was part of that group. At one point she started arriving at meetings with her Bible and knitting needles and a bag of bright blue woolen yarn. She joined in praying, in talking…

As you begin the year 2018, encourage yourself with the wonderful contrast found in Psalm 147! The psalmist wrote in verse 3 that the LORD “heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds” (or literally, “their sorrows”), and then immediately added that God also “counts the number of stars; He gives names to all of them” (verse 4). Tenderness and…

Across the lofty unbridged void, At God’s great Throne above, A host of angels were convened To hear God’s plan of love. They heard how He would save the world By sending His own Son. They’d been called to speak of it, And they must leave at once! These mighty angels felt great joy To…

Do you ever wonder if you could do a better job of running this tumultuous world than God is doing? Or if that seems too vast, perhaps simply your own life? I definitely have moments when I struggle to believe that God is as concerned as I am about some of the more difficult details…

How to Care for Parents of Prodigals A very helpful article by Dave Harvey from Desiring God Prodigal kids: the gaping wound for many Christian parents. A child, whether adolescent or adult, is living out their worst nightmare by charting a course away from God. They may be a people-pleasing prodigal, whose good appearance masks a…

…Hope For Imperfect Prayers (This post first appeared as an article at desiringGod.org) Does God really listen to our prayers? Does he really hear us when we cry out to him? Sometimes we pray for a long time about big things, like a health issue or a prodigal child or a difficult work situation, and things don’t get better.…

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes struggle to trust God – especially when things aren’t going very well. That’s why I was so encouraged when I found in Psalm 9 a beautiful summary of the secret to trusting God. In this psalm of praise to God, King David wrote that “those who know your name put…

Today as I read Psalm 99, I felt like God gently put me in my place. Verse five says, “Exalt the LORD our God and worship at His footstool; Holy is He.” Sometimes I come to God like I know better than Him. Sometimes I come to God like I know exactly what He ought to…

I’m pretty excited. I just got a reminder that God doesn’t want us brooding over our failings. C’mon. How many of us find our failures distracting, playing them over and over in our minds like some kind of masochistic looping video? But it’s totally clear that God doesn’t want sinners who follow Jesus to worry…

Some words are simply fun to say. A good example is the word, inconceivable. Give that one a try, putting particular weight on the third syllable. InconCEIVable! Another word I like is, immutability. Try saying that one a few times. You’ll find it kind of just rolls off your tongue… Immutability. It means unchangeable. It’s the…