Joe Barnett

I am the light of the world.               —John 8:12 If your hair has gone gray or gone away, you’re old enough to remember Carson Robison’s song, Life Gets Teejus, Don’t It? Sun comes up and the sun goes down. The hands on the clock keep goin’ around. I […]

[Jesus] said to them, “Peace be with you.”                               —Luke 24:36 When Jesus appeared to his disciples three days after his death, he uttered a typical greeting: “Shalom!” [Peace to you]. It wasn’t only an invitation to temporary peace; it pointed

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins.                 —1 John 1:9 I recently came across a phrase I hadn’t seen before: “terminal uniqueness.” The author defined it as “a subtle feeling that we are the only person in God’s

He has appeared once for all . . . to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.                    —Hebrews 9:26 God is mad! “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men” (Rom 1:18). Don’t misunderstand. God

Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.                        —James 1:14 My sister was all the way across the room, minding her own business, when I dropped a platter of spaghetti and meat sauce, dousing the floor, wall, and

One has this gift, another has that.                  —1 Corinthians 7:7 Today, consciously commit your gift to God: Father, you have given me the gift you have chosen for me. I now commit myself and my gift to you to use when you please, where you please, as

Teach us to number our days.               —Psalm 90:12 Are you living in the past? The future? Or the now? “You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (Jas 414). Make this prayer your own: “Teach [me] to number [my] days that [I] may

I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart.                  —Acts 13:22 In his uncontrolled lust, David violated five of the Ten Commandments: murder, adultery, stealing, false witness, and covetousness. Weighed on the scales of such sins, how could he be described as a

The Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.         —Matthew 24:44 Noah was righteous, blameless, and faithful (Gn 6:9). His contemporaries were wicked, evil, and corrupt (Gn 5:5; 6:11). So, “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord” (Gn 6:8), and God determined to

[Satan] is a liar and the father of lies.                           —John 8:44 Satan baited Eve: “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’” Eve replied: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,