"I am going to rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion; thus will I test them, to see whether they follow my instructions or not." ~ Matthew 11:25 Have you ever felt like the Israelites in this passage? Have you ever complained to God about your situation or wished things were different? Have you ever doubted God's provision or plan for your life? Of course, you have; we all have! The Israelites were God's chosen p

"for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned, you have revealed them to the childlike" ~ Matthew 11:25 God's wisdom is not something we can figure out by our own intelligence or education. It is a gift that He gives to those who are humble and trust Him like children. Children are curious, open, and eager to learn. They don't rely on their own understanding, but they ask questions and listen to their parents. That's how God wants us to approach Him

"Indeed, the whole world came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, for famine had gripped the whole world." ~Genesis 41:57 We've all heard the phrase 'ready or not.' Typically it accompanies the game hide and seek. The seeker, the one who will be looking for the hiders, is the one that says this phrase to give them a heads up that he has finished counting and hopefully will find them soon. God always gives his people a heads-up in both the Old and New Testaments and beyond. In th

"Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so," he added, "shall your descendants be." ~Genesis 15:5 Roughly 3,800 years after Abram (who was later renamed Abraham), was given a tremendous promise by God, another Abraham, our 16th President of the United States, kept his promise to end slavery in all Confederate-held territory. On the new year of January 1, 1863, Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all enslaved people in the Confederacy. It's

“I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith” ~2 Timothy 4:7 My mind wandered more and more each day as the time ticked away to the end of the school year and the beginning of summer. While I was a straight-A student, there was a tempting freedom that summer held to distract me from giving my best effort. When the end of the semester drew near, my dad always encouraged me to "Finish strong." As a young student, I had little else to worry about aside

“your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.” ~Matthew 6:18 As Christians, we're not supposed to have a secret life. We're supposed to live morally in all we do, no matter who we're dealing with or who is looking. But what if Jesus told us to do certain things in secret? In Matthew 6:6, Jesus instructs his followers to "pray to your Father in secret." Why would he do so when in Luke 12:3, he says, "Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the li

“Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” ~2 Corinthians 3:5 When was the last time you took credit for an accomplishment, whether it be great or small? A few days ago, my wife was listening to a medley of Disney songs, and I could call out the movies they were from as soon as I heard them. She was impressed I knew which movies they were from without looking them up or even thinking about it. I gladly took t

“the hope that is in you” ~1 Peter 3:15 Yesterday, Arnold Schwarzenegger told PEOPLE magazine that “When people talk about, ‘I will see them again in heaven,’ it sounds so good, but the reality is that we won’t see each other again after we’re gone. That’s the sad part.” He went on to call Heaven a fantasy. “I will miss everything,” he concluded. The sad part isn’t that Heaven isn’t real in his mind…the sad part is that he has no hope. If he has no hope, then what is he livi

"Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you" ~James 4:8 As I was praying this morning, an image of myself as a child holding the Father's hand came to my mind. I realized God was never going to let me go. When a parent and child walk through a busy crowd, the parent holds the child's hand to guide them and keep them safe. The connection is severed only when the child breaks away to run off after something that catches his eye. Like a child in the crowd, He always holds my

"Taste and see that the LORD is good" ~Psalm 34:8 "The written word of God describes itself less as something to be studied objectively; than as something to be experienced subjectively. Tasted. Savored. Absorbed into our very beings." -Pete Greig In Pete Greig's third lesson from The Lectio, he teaches about meditating on the word of God. If we are to truly absorb the word of God into our lives, we have to go beyond simply reading it. He offers three keys to Biblical medit

"The LORD has made everything for its own purpose" ~Proverbs 16:4 When architects design a structure, whether a house or building, they use diazo paper coated with a light-sensitive solution that reacts to ammonia gas. When the blueprint is exposed to light, the solution turns blue and creates the lines and text on the paper. The architect creates multiple phases of the structure and overlays them over one another to create a complete design that can only be seen once the s

"unless it remains on the vine..." ~John 15:4 In John 15:1-8, Jesus says He is the true vine, and we are the branches. This powerful and encouraging passage shows us how much God loves us and wants us to grow in Him. Jesus tells us that He is our life's source and fruitfulness. He says that if we remain in Him and He in us, we will bear much fruit. But if we don't, we will wither and be useless. He also says that if we remain in Him and His words remain in us, we can ask what

"I am reminding you..." ~1 Corinthians 15:1 My "trash day" is every Thursday morning, but I have the bin down to the curb every Wednesday afternoon. The neighbors might think I need to learn how to read a calendar; regardless, my awareness of what day it is (the day before trash day) enables me to never be stuck with excess garbage. I have a reminder on my phone that I must check off before I can turn in for the evening. Without this reminder, life's daily toils would likely

"whoever comes to me will never hunger." ~John 6:35 In John 6:35-40 Jesus declares that He is the bread of life and that whoever comes to Him will never be hungry or thirsty. He also promises to raise up those who believe in Him on the last day. What does this mean for us? It means that Jesus is our ultimate source of satisfaction and security. He is the one who can fill our deepest needs and desires. He is the one who can give us eternal life and hope. He is the one who can

"the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison." ~Acts 5:19 In Acts 5:17-26, we see how God miraculously delivered the apostles from prison and sent them back to preach the gospel. It is an incredible passage I encourage you to read. No earthly or spiritual power could prevent them from preaching the truth! There are three main takeaways we should think about: -God is sovereign over all situations. He can open any door and set free any captive. He can protect His serv

"one of you will betray me." ~Matthew 26:21 During Holy Week, we experience a mix of emotions. We're excited about Easter, but we try to be mindful of Jesus's horrible crucifixion to come before. After all, there's no Easter without the cross. We're also sad about what Jesus must endure for our sins. We're angry at Judas for being the catalyst leading to Jesus's arrest. In George Orwell's seminal novel, 1984 , each day, everyone takes a break to express two minutes of hate fo

"If you remain in my word" ~John 8:31 As we draw close to the end of Lent, it's natural to feel the struggle. As with anything challenging, we're tempted to persevere, not to the end but right before the end when we think our strength has run out and we have done good enough. You could be feeling the desire to enjoy your favorite food or return to social media despite your commitment to wait until Easter, which is less than two weeks away. At the root of our "good enough" min

"I will never forget you." ~Isaiah 49:15 In Disney's classic 1967 animated film, The Jungle Book , the chief of the elephants, Colonel Hathti, turns to his wife Winifred while on patrol and tells her, "An elephant never forgets." They lead the elephant patrol, securing the jungle from any threat. Their exceptionally sharp memory enables them to remember all the goings on, thereby better protecting the other animals. Contrary to cartoon depictions of elephants with peanut-si

"This great nation is truly a wise and discerning people." ~Deuteronomy 4:6 Recently, I've been captivated by Chef Gordon Ramsey's hit reality TV show, Kitchen Nightmares . He goes into failing restaurants and (hopefully) turns them into successful businesses. At first, he meets staunch resistance from the chefs and owners (no one likes to hear they've messed up). Still, little by little, he breaks down their hard exterior, opens their eyes, and typically they change for the

"let us destroy him by his own tongue; let us carefully note his every word." ~Jeremiah 18:18 When Jesus was in the desert for 40 days, he told Satan man lives "by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). Since we are supposed to live on the word of God, shouldn't His words be our words? The adversaries of the prophet Jeremiah realized he was proclaiming what God had told him. Still, they chose to harden their hearts to it. Much like Jesus, hundreds of yea