Joe Barnett

O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.   —Psalm 139:1 Merriam-Webster defines hypocrisy as “a feigning to be what one is not . . .” The Greek word means “someone acting under a mask.” Hypocrisy runs on two tracks . . . Some wear the “profane” mask, wanting to be regarded as […]

If anyone . . . opens the door, I will come in.                  —Revelation 3:20 Want to see the president? You’re going to have to go through his tough-as-a-marine Chief of Staff. Want an audience with the CEO of General Motors? You’re going to have to go through

[W]hat is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.    —2 Corinthians 4:18 Sarah Young, in her classic Jesus Calling, advises that when things don’t go as we had hoped, we should say, “Oh, well.” “This simple discipline,” she wrote, “can protect you from being burdened with an accumulation of petty cares and

Be still, and know that I am God.                    —Psalm 46:10 Life serves a full plate of nonstop demands: places you must be; things you must do; responsibilities you must fulfill. You’re indispensable, right? Believe it or not, much of your round-the-clock busyness could be put on

[G]ood news gives health to the bones.                —Proverbs 15:30 I know some very good people who have a very bad disposition because they gorge on garbage the media dumps on them. There’s breathtaking good news if you’ll switch to God’s channel. Check it out . . . “Do

[T]hose who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.        —Romans 8:14 There’s a fight for control of your mind: Spirit and flesh in a fierce tug of war; your spiritual impulses pulling on one arm, your fleshly inclinations on the other. According to a 2016 Nielsen report, the

A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.                      —Proverbs 20:4 I’d had it up to here with an associate who had been given an easy, but important, assignment. I’d asked for a progress report several times—always receiving

God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.                 —Philippians 4:19 Mark reports four back-to-back stories of people in critical need . . . First, Jesus rescued a crew of terrified disciples trapped in a furious squall. He “rebuked the wind and

I will not neglect your word.             —Psalm 119:16 A single verse of scripture has captured the attention and transformed the lives of many, including Augustine, Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, and Charles Spurgeon. This verse—“But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the

[T]o each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.                —Ephesians 4:7 “Do you have anything to do that’s more important?” he asked me. As a matter of fact, I did. He was insisting that I drop what I was doing and follow his agenda.