Joe Barnett

Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake.         —Matthew 8:24 When a hurricane makes landfall, an earthquake rearranges the furniture, or a tornado hurls bullet-speed shards of glass, you’re a hostage of Mother Nature. You are equally helpless when personal storms waylay you. The biopsy is positive. Your son […]

It will be done just as you believed it would.                                    —Matthew 8:13 A Roman army officer—as unlikely a believer as you’ll find—asked Jesus to heal his servant. “I will go and heal him,” Jesus said. “Lord,” he responded,

The winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.                                       —Matthew 7:25 Disappointment and despair come at you with hurricane force, packing a devastating punch.

Do to others what you would have them do to you.                                     —Matthew 7:12 This is one of those verses that most everyone knows—and that most everyone turns a deaf ear to in practice. It is one of

Ask and it will be given to you.                —Matthew 7:7 Jack LeVein asked Sir Winston Churchill, “Why did you choose me to be your film biographer?” “No one else asked me,” answered the Prime Minister. Can you imagine? Only one person asked for the privilege of filming the

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?                                       —Matthew 7:3 It doesn’t take the intelligence of a turnip to see

In the same way you judge others, you will be judged.       —Matthew 7:2 Neither Moses nor God could do anything right—every discomfort was their fault and sent the Israelites into grumbling tantrums. And the church barely got its legs before there was grumbling that some of the widows weren’t getting a fair

Do not judge, or you too will be judged.                            —Matthew 7:1 There are two reasons we should take a pass on judging others. First, we don’t know enough to judge. Unless we have all the facts (which we never do), and the

Do not worry about tomorrow.               —Matthew 6:34 “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” Jesus asked (Matt. 6:27). The answer is obvious, right? What does worry accomplish? Nothing. Well, that’s not quite right—there are a few things that worry can do

Do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?”                                   —Matthew 6:31 Jesus said, “You cannot serve both God and Money” (Matt. 6:24). Are we trying to live with one