Joe Barnett

Ah, Sovereign Lord … Nothing is too hard for you.      —Jeremiah 32:17 Abraham and Sarah would soon have a hundred candles on their cake. They had no children, so when God told them their descendants would be as numberless as the stars they cracked up. “Is anything too hard for the Lord? . […]

I am the Lord . . . Is anything too hard for me?      —Jeremiah 32:27 Matthew 19:26 says that “with God all things are possible.” There are people in your circle who don’t doubt his power, but question his concern. His concern was clear at the Cross. But the Cross of the first

Everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life.                   —John 6:40 Etymologist Fredd Culbertson compiled a list of 537 phobias, from A to Z—ablutophobia to zoophobia. Just for grins try wrapping your tongue around this one: hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia. Fear of long words.

Let the little children come to me.                 —Luke 18:16 A fictional story pictures an architect gazing with pride at his magnificent new cathedral. Then his eye is drawn to a scrawny waif at his elbow. Abused? Abandoned? Homeless? If he had to make a choice to save

Their deeds will follow them.        —Revelation 14:13 Fifteen years ago both of my parents, my wife, and both of her parents, were alive. Today none of them are. You have a similar story to tell, or know someone who does. Our journey here is brief. But our influence isn’t. Our possessions don’t

Let us come before him with thanksgiving.                                       —Psalm 95:2 On September 6, 1620, the Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, England, with 102 passengers. “God sifted out a hundred and two seeds from the civilization of Europe

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.                          —Psalm 107:1 I enjoy the holiday season. Thanksgiving is a reminder of how blessed we are; a reminder that God is the great giver. And Christmas inspires us to be givers too. The season

I AM has sent me to you.       —Exodus 3:14 When Moses asked God his name, he said it was “I AM”: “This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation” (Exo. 3:15). Here is the way poet Helen Mallicoat saw it … I

The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.      —Matthew 20:28 In a Peanuts comic strip, Linus says to Lucy, “I think there’s something you should know.” “What’s that?” “The world does not revolve around you!” Lucy, face frozen in disbelief, says, “You’re kidding!” Know anyone like that? Self-centered

Through Christ our comfort overflows.                   —2 Corinthians 1:5 You didn’t sign up for single parenting, nursing a terminally ill spouse, or caring for a parent with Alzheimer’s. But here you are, dealing with something you weren’t prepared for. You’ve had to master the course on the