Joe Barnett

Don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do anything you want.            —Galatians 5:13 In the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, we come across the familiar words that people are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights: that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of […]

Run the race that is before [you] and never give up.    —Hebrews 12:1 Pluck. Spunk. Grit. Starch. Mettle. The right stuff. These words describe Joshua (Jo 24:15), Daniel (Dn 1:8), Peter and John (Acts 4:19). These guys had spine. The words also describe you. You have what it takes. You avoid company that corrupts

Live in harmony with one another.                    —Romans 12:16 Earth’s population—with only one exception—is comprised of others. There are sixty-nine occurrences of the words “one another” in my New Testament. Here’s a sampling. □ Love one another □ Accept one another □ Serve one another □ Bear

A true friend will keep a secret.            —Proverbs 11:13 “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” Don’t count on it. When confidential information is shared with you, is it safe? Do you leak it—even with the stipulation, “I’m going to tell you something, but you must promise not to tell

The right word at the right time is like precious gold set in silver.               —Proverbs 25:11 Cassandra Warren wrote the wrong address on a wedding invitation. It came back to her with this handwritten note: “I wish I knew you—this is going to be a blast. Congratulations—go have

Let the little children come to me.                   —Mark 10:14 J.C. Rigney was a sweet old man who loved children. He always had a pocketful of gum that he gave to kids who crowded around him after church. Some of them, residents at our Children’s Home, had

There is no other God like you.                —Micah 7:18 Micah gave no ground to complainers who griped that God was hard to understand and impossible to please. “Shall [we] come before him with burnt offerings?” they groused. “Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.    —Ecclesiastes 9:10 My life has purpose and pleasure, partly because of those who dreamed big and had the passion and persistence to make those dreams come true . . . A shaft of light illuminates the page I’m reading. Thanks, Thomas. A

We are God’s workmanship.          —Ephesians 2:10 God has a customized path for your life. First, is his determination to make you like Jesus (Rom 8:29). Second, like Jesus, you take ownership of why you’re here: Jesus was here, not to do his will but to do the will of him who