Bitterness always promises power, but it never delivers. It tells us that holding on will protect us, justify us, or somehow balance the scales. Yet the longer we clutch our grudges, the more they clutch us. They drain our joy, cloud our judgment, and quietly shape...
LISTEN TO THE DEVOTIONAL When Larry Alexander learned that he had eighteen months to live, his world came crashing down. The prospect of experimental surgery offered some hope, but the future was pretty bleak. His wife, Anne, then pregnant with their third...
LISTEN TO THE DEVOTIONAL Wanting to give her daughter a beautiful wedding in spite of a limited budget, the mother of the bride gathered blossoms from friends’ magnolia trees, and the night before the wedding, banked the front of the church with the luscious,...
At Christmastime, we often picture the star of Bethlehem shining brightly over a manger. But long before that night in Bethlehem, God gave a sign, a prophecy carved not just in Scripture, but even in stone that pointed to the coming of Christ. In Numbers 24:17,...
God makes no mistakes. God never guesses. He never over-thinks anything. He is never confused, never anxious, and never without a plan. The universe testifies to the order determined by the Creator. The sun comes up every day. The moon in its various versions appears...
LISTEN TO THE DEVOTIONAL A certain woman wanting to join her church group going to Israel wondered if she should really spend the money. “God,” she prayed, “ give me a sign; show me what I should do.” Placing the glossy brochure on her table beside the bed, she...
A clenched fist can’t shake hands. It can’t build bridges, make peace, or welcome friendship. Neither can it applaud—because anger always silences celebration. What feels like strength in the heat of the moment often leaves us weaker, lonelier, and chained to...
Have you ever asked yourself, “Why do people end up marrying jerks?” I’m talking about the situation where a person has married someone who is totally undeserving of the other, someone who treats the other person disrespectfully, or is in no way an equal. It happens....
LISTEN TO THE DEVOTIONAL No one sets out to drift—whether at sea or in a relationship. It happens quietly, almost without noticing. José Salvador Alvarenga set out on a routine 2-day fishing trip. But when his boat’s motor failed, a storm pushed him far from...
I’d like to talk to you about making the choice to be happy. Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island, wrote, “There is no duty we undertake so much as the duty of being happy.” Helen Keller, blind and deaf from childhood, said, “Your success and happiness...