April 15, 2021 | 1 Kings 18:25–39 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Have you ever been in a situation where you felt underqualified? You feel pressured to act, maybe people are watching, but you have no idea what to do. If you are a person of prayer, you may cry out to Him, “God, why did […]
April 14, 2021 | Daniel 2:1–23 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Dreams are not something we talk about much in Christian circles. However, we do see in Scripture that at times the Lord has used dreams to teach people about Himself and to communicate His glory to others. In our text today, the Lord did just […]
April 9, 2021 | 1 Chronicles 29:14–20 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue In his New York Times bestselling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey tells people to imagine what they want said at their funeral. When we think about how we want to be remembered we should begin with the end in […]
April 7, 2021 | 1 Samuel 2:1–10 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Has there ever been a time when you pleaded with the Lord? “God, if you do this, then I promise to . . . ” Sometimes God looks at our life and chooses to answer “Yes.” In our text today, we turn to the […]
March 31, 2021 | Numbers 12:9–16 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Like all parents everywhere, my husband and I have frequent conversations about how to discipline our children. Often we ask ourselves: Does the punishment fit the crime? Will this particular consequence teach the lesson we long for our kids to learn? The answer isn’t always […]
March 30, 2021 | Numbers 12:1–8 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue At times, we all experience envy—resenting the blessing or success of others. But envy can be particularly damaging when we let it divide the people of God. In Numbers 11, the Israelites had been wandering in the wilderness for two years, and they were frustrated. […]
March 29, 2021 | Exodus 15:1–21 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue My high school English teacher was the austere Opal Underbakke. When I was a senior, she encouraged my class to enter a national writing competition and worked with me to hone my essay, which won second place. When the piece was published, I wrote in […]
March 28, 2021 | Exodus 2:1–10 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Our adoption story is full of moments where God coordinated the timing. The most obvious example is that our kids’ adoptions were finalized on the exact same day. One three-year journey through the Chicago foster system and one six-year process through the China Center of […]
March 27, 2021 | Genesis 39 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue When teaching communication skills, I caution my students against the overuse of absolute descriptors. Words such as “never” and “always” should be used sparingly since they rarely reflect the reality of human action. However, Genesis 39 is filled with absolutes. First, we are told that […]
March 26, 2021 | Genesis 38 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue One of my writing professors often said, “Sometimes in order to tell one story well, you need to tell two.” Sometimes two narratives, when placed side by side, deepen the impact of each individual story. At first glance, Genesis 38 feels like an intrusion into […]