“But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see — I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:10-12) The third candle of Advent is pink, the liturgical color for joy. I don’t always associate the fall and winter seasons with joy. While I do think of having a fun

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” -John 14:27 On the second Sunday of Advent, we light the second purple candle, also known as the Bethlehem Candle. It represents Peace. This candle builds upon the Prophecy Candle by signifying Christ is coming to bring the lasting peace so desperately sought by the people in the Old Testament after they endured the continual

“one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again." ~Isaiah 2:4 We are in the first week of Advent, an exciting time when we anticipate the birth of Christ. The first candle of the Advent wreath is the purple candle sometimes called the "Prophecy Candle" to represent Isaiah's prophecy of Christ along with all of the Old Testament promises fulfilled. This candle represents Hope. The hope of the Jewish people was fulfilled in the birth

“We’ve got another holiday to worry about. It seems Thanksgiving Day is upon us.” ~Charlie Brown Well, it seems Thanksgiving Day is upon us. It's tomorrow, in fact! Do you have everything ready? Is the food cooking? Is the house picture-perfect? Are you pulling a Charlie Brown and worrying? The night before Jesus started his journey to the cross he had a lot to be worried about. When he was at dinner with his disciples "he took bread, gave thanks and broke it" (Luke 22:19).

"For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?" ~Hebrews 2:2-3 There's a funny, cautionary anecdote about discarding God's helping hand. I'm sure most of you have heard some variation of it. It goes like this: A man is sitting on his roof due to the rising flood waters that have struck his home. He's waiting patiently for God to sa

In this age, when fear of the unknown has overtaken our lives, the Enemy delights in our crumbling faith not only in God but in our leaders God has appointed (Romans 13). “At that time, the sons of Israel walked away from that place, every man to his tribe and his family. And they went out from there, every man to his inheritance. In those days there was no king in Israel. A man did what was right according to his own vision.” –Judges 21:24-25 (NKJV) For me, one of the most m

I think we may be more self-centered than we realize; this is a blanket statement which I cannot attribute to everyone but I can give you food for thought at least. Lately I've been waking up, thinking, what if today I just exceed who I've been and be the person God wants me to be. Yes, I desire to live for God everyday, but there are areas where I am severely lacking. The areas where I fall short may be different than the areas where you fall short. But I'm afraid the trap w

"He upholds the universe by the word of His power" ~Hebrews 1:3 Yesterday was Election Day. Some people may be happy this morning; others may be sad. Some may feel fearful; others may feel hopeful. Regardless of your feelings about the results, the fact is that Jesus upholds the universe. He is sitting "at the right hand of the Majesty on high" (4). That fact should always be at the forefront of our minds. While we pray for the leaders of our state and country, we first and

"Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces" ~Luke 11:43 When you go see a movie or a play doesn't it bug you when someone taller sits in front of you? It hampers my experience because I can't see what's going on, not to mention I paid good money for admission. But what about at church? When your "experience" isn't optimal do you wish you could get your time back? In Luke, Jesus is reproaching the Pharisees for seek

"Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness" ~Philippians 2:29 How does it make you feel when someone smiles when they see you? It makes you feel good, doesn't it? You realize that your company is appreciated, and you are respected. It sounds simple enough, but the act of greeting someone with a warm smile can go further than we realize. Why do you think Paul instructed the followers in Phillippi to greet their old friend Epaphroditus with all gladness? Don't you t

"the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel" ~Philippians 1:12 It's a natural reaction for us to complain when things don't go our way. Maybe we sulk and say to ourselves, "Why me?" or we ensure others know about our suffering. If anyone had reason to complain, it was the Apostle Paul. He experienced numerous beatings, starvation, shipwreck, and nearly constant danger, yet he still told people all of this happened to him to adv

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." ~Matthew 11:28 t strikes me as ironic in the very next verse Jesus says, "Take my yoke upon you" right after He says that He will give us rest. In fact, Jesus finishes his statement by saying the only way we can have rest for our souls is only if we take His yoke upon ourselves (29). But don't worry, He assures us that His "yoke is easy, and [His] burden light" (30). Taken at face value the first pa

"according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord" ~Ephesians 3:11 In the Academy Award-winning film, Hugo , the titular character discusses with his newfound friend Isabelle the deep meaning of life without necessarily realizing it. His father keeps the clocks running at a train station in France. Those clocks serve the important purpose of keeping the trains running on time and ensuring people don't miss their train. He realizes that surely if

"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." ~Galatians 6:9 A few years back, my wife had a necklace that had become terribly tangled. She hadn't even gotten to wear the necklace. I told her I would untangle it for her...famous last words. A few days later, my fingers were numb from picking the necklace apart with toothpicks. While I had made progress, I didn't accomplish my mission of untangling the necklace. I lost h

"he departed from Him until an opportune time." ~Luke 4:13 In the Scripture for today, Jesus goes into the desert where he eats and drinks nothing for 40 days; during his fast and isolation, he is tempted by the Devil multiple times. First, the Devil hits Jesus where it hurts, his stomach. After failing to appeal to his hunger, he gives Jesus the path of world domination--a far greater reward than simply turning a stone into bread. Now, his ultimate temptation is a game of tr

"If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand" ~Mark 3:24 These words that Jesus spoke are so simple yet so true. They have been used by famous leaders throughout history. Abraham Lincoln quoted the following scripture, "And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand" (25) when speaking about the divided nation during the Civil War. It was obvious Lincoln wanted a free, united country for all people but so many accused him of being a t

"For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” ~2 Corinthians 6:16 Many Christians make one big mistake. They think being a Christian simply means being a good person...not a perfect person, mind you, but a decent individual who gets along fairly well with his fellow man. Well, I'm going to burst your bubble; I have to tell you that's wrong. Being a Christian is not just

"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God” ~2 Corinthians 3:5 When I was a child, I loved going to the Rainforest Cafe with my family. Eating among the animatronic animals and hearing the jungle noises felt like traveling to a different part of the world, especially for my childhood imagination. In one section of the restaurant, there was a giant statue of Atlas holding up the world. Sometimes, as Ch

"For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” ~1 Corinthians 16:9 In this section of the first letter to the Corinthians, Paul speaks about how he "will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost" because he sees a great opportunity to share the gospel despite many enemies trying to stop him. The fact that so many are opposed to the gospel shows how great their need is for it. To understand Paul's mindset of seeing an opportunity among adversaries

"his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him.” ~1 Kings 17:17b This week, we conclude our look at 1 Kings 17. It is still the time of drought across the land. So far, Elijah has been fed by the mouth of ravens and through the power of God, he has miraculously provided a single mother and her son with enough food to last them until the drought ends. Even though these are hard times everything seems like it's going to turn out all right. That is until towar