Joe Barnett

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word.          —Psalm 119:67 “There are no atheists in foxholes,” is a phrase of uncertain origin, but usually attributed to war journalist Ernie Pyle. Many a soldier, who never prayed before, fervently does when bullets fly. Alexander Solzhenitsyn said, “It […]

As Solomon grew old . . . his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord.               —1 Kings 11:4 Solomon, the third and last king of the united kingdom of Israel, launched his administration by asking God for “an understanding heart to discern between good and evil” (1

Do everything without grumbling.                —Philippians 2:14 Julia Hawkins lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she takes daily walks and tends her botanical garden. Julia took up running at age 100; set a record in the 100-yard dash at 101, and just finished the 50- and 100-yard dash races

I have stilled and quieted my soul.                    —Psalm 131:2 Do you Uber? If you suffer the blather of a passenger seat critic; or have kids in the backseat fussing and screaming like banshees, you may want to give Uber a try. Here’s why . . .

[She] put in all she had to live on.                     —Luke 21:4 Jesus spotted her on his last visit to the temple; saw her drop a couple of coppers—the smallest coinage in circulation—into the temple treasury. Comparing her gift with the gifts of the rich, he

Blessed are the merciful.        —Matthew 5:7 Jeremiah was in a pickle. He’d said some things that ruffled the feathers of the powerful. They dumped him into a nasty cistern to die of exposure and starvation. (See Jer. 38.) Ebed-Melech, a palace servant, reported their cruelty to the king, who told him to

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