James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. —James 1:1 An ossuary was a twenty-inches-long and eleven-inches-wide limestone box that was commonly used in New Testament times to store the bones of the deceased. Perhaps you heard about the one that created such a …
If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that. —James 4:15 “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money” (James 4:13). My friend Allen Isbell has noted six …
You do not have, because you do not ask God. —James 4:2 When we don’t pray, the door remains closed: “You do not have, because you do not ask.” And when we do pray, the door still remains closed to wrongly-motivated prayer: “You do not receive, because …
Do not slander one another. —James 4:11 Do you ever bad-mouth a sister or brother? If so, I have it on good authority that you need to cut it out. “Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or …
In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice. —Psalm 5:3 Paul got into a terrible mess in Ephesus: “We were really crushed and overwhelmed, and feared we would never live through it. We felt we were doomed to die and saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, …
You are the God who sees me. —Genesis 16:13 License plate recognition cameras are perched on toll booth canopies in Houston. Thinking they could game the system, six non-paying scofflaws amassed debts of more than $30,000; the most egregious violator racked up $46,000. Some people, edgy about judgment, think …
If you do these things, you will never fall. —2 Peter 1:10 Here are two baskets of sevens that you should keep well-stocked in your spiritual pantry. The wisdom that comes from heaven (James 3:17): Pure Peace-loving Considerate Submissive …
I hear a mighty rainstorm coming. —1 Kings 18:41 There hadn’t been a drop of rain in three years, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. But Elijah said, “I hear a mighty rainstorm coming.” God said he would send rain and Elijah …
Jesus told his disciples . . . they should always pray and not give up. —Luke 18:1 POW Sgt Carl Peek was incarcerated in a prison camp where the food was wretched, the stench nauseating, and the heat torturous. One day while agonizing over his seemingly …
When they pass out medals for bravery, Sherry Basu deserves one. This four-feet-one-inch twenty-four-year-old was sixty-five pounds of raw courage. I met Sherry a few years ago when she was managing a one-day dry cleaner and laundry in my neighborhood that adjoined the convenience store where I bought my morning paper and coffee. I began …
