Today’s Walk in the Word

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.       —Mark 2:17 Tara Lawton quit going to her health spa because she sensed she didn’t fit in. She was overweight and felt that the svelte were staring at her and judging her. So Tara joined a gym that was exclusively for people […]

In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.              —Philippians 4:6 When the doctor walked into the surgical waiting room, Bob and I met him to hear his report. He said the surgery had gone well. When he left, we retreated to a corner of […]

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.        —Psalm 118:24 Celebrate today by divorcing the past and marrying the present. Celebrate today by divorcing resentment and marrying forgiveness. Celebrate today by divorcing malice and marrying love. Celebrate today by divorcing indifference and marrying compassion. […]

Young man, I say to you, arise.               —Luke 7:14 It is unknown how many Jesus raised from the dead. We have a record of only three: a widow’s only son, a synagogue leader’s only daughter, and a pair of sisters’ only brother. Jesus didn’t raise them to compensate […]

Their own strength is their god.          —Habakkuk 1:11 God showed up out of the blue and commissioned Gideon to save Israel from their seven-year Midianite oppression. Talk about a lopsided fight—the Midianites had 135,000 soldiers; Gideon was able to round up 32,000: four to one odds. God told Gideon he had […]

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.                             —James 4:7 Jesus answered each of Satan’s wilderness temptations with scripture: three temptations; three scriptures. Game over. Old Scratch glanced at the scoreboard and hightailed it for the Exit. Abraham, “the father […]

May you be blessed for your good judgment.                        —1 Samuel 25:33 Abigail was on a mission of damage control. Nabal, her rich, surly husband had hurled insults at David. Justifiably furious, David and 400 of his soldiers strapped on their swords and stormed toward […]

Give ear, O Lord, and hear.        —2 Kings 19:16 Sennacherib, king of Assyria, was on a map-altering campaign, savagely conquering kingdoms. In an arrogant letter to Hezekiah, king of Judah, he demanded unconditional surrender. Hezekiah counterattacked with an unusual move: “He went up to the temple of the Lord and spread [the […]

My times are in your hands.         —Psalm 31:15 In 1895, missionary Andrew Murray (1828–1917), suffering severe pain, wrote: “In time of trouble, say: “First, God brought me here. It is by His will I am in this strait place; in that I will rest. “Next, He will keep me in His […]

Look at the lilies . . . Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.                         —Luke 12:27 I was miffed; someone littered my landscape with a discarded garbage bag. Actually, it polluted no more than one percent of […]