Today’s Walk in the Word

Joy to the World

By Joe Barnett / December 22, 2023 / Comments Off on Joy to the World

When the right time came, God sent his Son.  —Galatians 4:4 When the Old Testament ended, God turned off the lights, closed and locked the door, and walked away. Or so it seemed. For the next 400 years, God was silent while the Jewish world waited and wondered about the coming of Messiah. Then something […]

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No Room in the Inn

By Joe Barnett / December 21, 2023 / Comments Off on No Room in the Inn

You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.                        —Luke 2:12 In our class-conscious day, the birth story of Jesus would be shocking to a first-time reader. If the Son of God were to enter the world as a baby, […]

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Love That Surpasses Knowledge

By Joe Barnett / December 20, 2023 / Comments Off on Love That Surpasses Knowledge

How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.            —Ephesians 3:18 It’s hard to imagine that Jesus voluntarily went from being worshipped by angels to sleeping in an animal feeding trough—gave up equality with God to become human (Phil 2:6–7). At this season, we think about […]

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The Light Still Shines

By Joe Barnett / December 19, 2023 / Comments Off on The Light Still Shines

The light shines in the darkness.                          —John 1:5 Much of the world pauses at this season to celebrate the birth of Jesus. “The Word [Christ] became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (Jn 1:14). When John spoke of his coming to live […]

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Good News of Great Joy

By Joe Barnett / December 18, 2023 / Comments Off on Good News of Great Joy

A Savior has been born.            —Luke 2:11 “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you” (Lk 2:10–11). The news was good. But that it would cause great joy for all the […]

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Wounded for Me

By Joe Barnett / December 15, 2023 / Comments Off on Wounded for Me

By his wounds we are healed.                  —Isaiah 53:5 The dream was vivid—the whip whistled through the air and split Jesus’ flesh across bloody, gaping wounds already there from previous blows. As the soldier raised the Roman flagrum to strike again, the dreamer moved in to stop him. […]

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Three Bones

By Joe Barnett / December 14, 2023 / Comments Off on Three Bones

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial.                                    —James 1:12 Duffy Daugherty was football coach at Michigan State 1954–1972. In demand as an after-dinner speaker, the colorful coach gave his rubber-chicken speech hundreds of times, proclaiming you only […]

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Light at the End of the Tunnel

By Joe Barnett / December 13, 2023 / Comments Off on Light at the End of the Tunnel

We eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.                 —Galatians 5:5 Paul closed his love eulogy with the triad tribute: “Now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor 13:13). Love gets top billing. But don’t slight faith and […]

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Nullify the Negative

By Joe Barnett / December 12, 2023 / Comments Off on Nullify the Negative

The cheerful heart has a continual feast.                          —Proverbs 15:15 I confess that I have a negative attitude toward Christians with a negative attitude. To be sure, there’s a bunch of rotten stuff going on in our world. But the Christian has reason to […]

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Humility

By Joe Barnett / December 11, 2023 / Comments Off on Humility

Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself.                                              –Philippians 2:3 It was on television for the world to see: our at-the-time president rudely shoving smaller-nation leaders out of the way so he […]

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