Joe Barnett

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.        —1 Corinthians 9:25 Striding to the stake in the Stadium of Smyrna, Polycarp prayed, “O God, make me a true athlete of Jesus Christ, to suffer and to conquer.” The New Testament compares the Christian to the athlete some 50 times. One

I will never leave you nor forsake you. —Joshua 1:5 “Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Josh. 1:9). With those three sentences, God commissioned Joshua and gave you a path to follow. The first sentence consists of two positive directives:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart.                        —Proverbs 3:5 Do you recognize these names? Shammua, Shaphat, Igal, Palti, Gaddiel, Gaddi, Ammiel, Sethur, Nahbi, Geuel. (hmm). How about these? Joshua and Caleb. Sure, you know them. The ten in the first paragraph above and

Abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.                           —1 Peter 2:11 Robert Mounce labeled Peter “an ethical realist”—meaning the apostle was aware that committed Christians still find the desires of the old nature seductive. In Romans 7, Paul confesses that

Rid yourselves of all malice.                —1 Peter 2:1 Elimination of malice gives birth to transformation. Peter wrote: “Rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander” (1 Pt 2:1). Malice is a broad term that includes all wicked ways. The four nouns that follow malice

Run in such a way as to get the prize. —1 Corinthians 9:24 Roger Bannister was expected to win the gold in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. He came in fourth. Obsessed with being the first person to run a sub-four-minute mile—a feat track and field experts considered impossible—Roger went into strict training. On May

You will forget the Lord your God.                  —Deuteronomy 8:14 God pummeled Pharaoh with plagues until he released the Israelite slaves. That was just the beginning of God’s blessings to Israel. He orchestrated their Red Sea escape, protected them from fierce enemies, provided water and food, and clothes

Be careful that you do not forget the Lord.                           —Deuteronomy 8:11 Alzheimer’s! Scary word. We all know someone who has it. We have seen its devastation. So, a momentary memory lapse triggers a haunting feeling that we may be headed for the

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.                         —2 Peter 3:18 Jonah didn’t want to do what God told him to do, so he skipped out. That didn’t work out well, and he found himself in a whale

Better is the end of a thing than its beginning.  —Ecclesiastes 7:8 Physical therapy is a beast. An impaired body part must be pushed to reach peak performance, so the therapist pushes her patient to the point of pain. She is appreciated after the fact but loathed during the act. Similarly, development of spiritual strength