[God] comforts us in all our troubles. —2 Corinthians 1:4 “We did not get favorable news today,” the note began. The dear lady was informing me of the doctor’s verdict concerning her husband’s health. The prognosis is grim; her faith is strong. “I know God has a …
The cheerful heart has a continual feast. —Proverbs 15:15 Thinking you could use a smile, I opted for a small bouquet of grins today. Richard Lederer collected a bunch of answers to test questions by students from eighth grade through college. Here’s a sampling. In the …
My help comes from the Lord. —Psalm 121:2 I’m a mechanical moron. A wrench in my hand is a catastrophe in the making. This apple fell far from the tree; my father could fix anything. I miss being able to ask him for help. That reminds me of Bill …
They did not know what to say to him. —Mark 14:40 In Gethsemane, Jesus asked Peter, James, and John to stay awake and pray. Within minutes, they were sawing logs. When Jesus woke them, “they did not know what to say to him.” Before the …
Dear friends, let us love one another. —1 John 4:7 “Back in my legalistic days,” he began.” He spent the next several minutes branding his present position as “progressive”—labeling his past as legalistic, narrow, sectarian, and mean; then several more minutes taking …
I give half of my possessions to the poor. —Luke 19:8 Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett established the Giving Pledge, a commitment to give more than half of their wealth away. Commendable largesse. They weren’t the first to that party. …
Do not worry about tomorrow. —Matthew 6:34 In Abraham Lincoln’s lawyering days, he often had to negotiate dangerous rivers en route to court appointments. One evening, he overnighted at a tavern where he met a circuit-riding evangelist. When Lincoln anxiously asked him about the treacherous Fox River—which he would …
[We] are justified freely by his grace. —Romans 3:24 Marion Anderson, arguably history’s most accomplished contralto, sang on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before a crowd of more than 75,000; was the first African American to perform with the New York Metropolitan Opera; was …
Give me this mountain. —Joshua 14:12 John W. Gardner, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in President Lyndon Johnson’s administration, once said that by their mid-thirties most people have stopped acquiring new skills and new attitudes. That should give us grayheads pause. Are we still learning, still growing, still stepping up to new …
As he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. —1 Peter 1:15 In 1882, William Longstaff heard a sermon on 1 Peter 1:15-16: “As he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” …
