Joe Barnett

Put your hope in God.      —Psalm 42:5 Simeon, a devout old man, had seen his world descend into depressing disaster: his homeland had fallen to foreign rule; political corruption, immorality, and religious decay had decimated decency. But he held on to hope. “It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that […]

On earth peace, goodwill toward men.                       —Luke 2:14 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s wife had recently died; his soldier son had been severely wounded; and he was grieving over Civil War deaths. On December 25, 1804, seeking to distance himself from depression, he wrote the words

Today . . . a Savior has been born . . . he is Christ the Lord.                —Luke 2:11 Angel Gabriel showed up at Mary’s door: “Greetings, you who are highly favored! . . . You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you

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 promise of a Messiah. Then

There was no room for them in the inn.                          —Luke 2:7 The Bethlehem innkeeper has caught a lot of flak for his callous cruelty in not making room for Joseph and Mary, forcing Mary to give birth to Jesus in a barn and

Make the best possible use of your time.                —Colossians 4:5 Author Frederick Buechner says it takes one-sixth as long to write Xmas as it does to write Christmas. “If you do your cards by hand,” Buechner claims, “it is possible to save as much as seventy-five or eighty

It is to a man’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel.        —Proverbs 20:3 He stormed into the convenience store and started dressing me down because my front left tire was on the stripe next to a handicapped parking space. I responded in kind: told him he was

Keep your eyes on Jesus.     —Hebrews 12:2 On July 4, 1952, Florence Chadwick stepped into frigid, shark-infested water to attempt a twenty-six-mile swim from Catalina Island to the California coast. Sixteen hours later, thick fog rolled in, and she called it quits. Unknowingly, she had thrown in the towel less than a mile

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.       —Mark 2:17 Tara Lawton quit going to her health spa because she sensed she didn’t fit in. She was overweight and felt that the svelte were staring at her and judging her. So Tara joined a gym that was exclusively for people

In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.              —Philippians 4:6 When the doctor walked into the surgical waiting room, Bob and I met him to hear his report. He said the surgery had gone well. When he left, we retreated to a corner of