21 Day Bible Reading Plan

1 Peter 1 There is nothing more exciting than the birth of your child(ren). I had the great privilege of being present at the birth of three of my six kids, although I nearly missed one of those because of an extremely fast delivery! (I was only present for three births because my wife and I adopted three wonderful children in 2014. We are very blessed to have six kids we love dearly!) I cried at every birth. It was…

I love to put things together. This past Christmas,we bought one of my sons a robotics kit. It took every ounce of energy I had not to push him out of the way and put it together myself. But I resisted that urge. He put it together just like the instructions told him to. And in the end, it looked great.  For many of us, directions are for those losers who can’t figure it out or lack the imagination to…

“I can’t believe I ever did that!” “How could I think that was a good idea?” “What was I thinking?” Each of us have done things we regret.  Sometimes we realize our error immediately and sometimes it is years later before we realize how bad of a choice we made.  And those bad choices are the result of our foolishness, selfishness, or sometimes complete naïveté.   We simply displayed a complete lack of wisdom in the situation.  The question we…

I have loved Galatians 6 for years. I have found it to be an encouragement to me. What has been an encouragement is the idea of perseverance. Paul says to us, “Don’t give up!” It is easy to get discouraged. You do good things, the right things, and they go unnoticed. You are working hard and someone criticizes you, or puts you down. Paul reminds us, keep going. Wrapped up in verses about farming, we are reminded, we will reap…

“Why can’t I ever feel happy?” is a common question people ask themselves.  It seems like no matter how much stuff we have or how busy our schedules, we always feel like we are still missing something.  We are always just one gadget away from true happiness (perhaps the iWatch) or one exciting friend away from having a really good time on the weekend. Sometimes this feeling of longing for something missing is referred to as thirst.  We find that…

Colossians 3:2-3 – “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” (NIV) Death. A part of life. But not something most people like to talk about. Yet, when you look at Christianity, we see death talked about and seen all around. But there is something that is strikingly different about the death mentioned in the Bible.  We are so used to life and death. People…

James 1:2-4 We all avoid painful situations. Things that hurt, that make us uncomfortable, that cause us to struggle. We when see a potentially trying situation coming at us, we run, avoid, and do just about anything we can to protect ourselves.  It’s human nature, really.  But what if there’s something significant in those painful situations we avoid and dread? James seems to think so. He tells us in this passage not only to not avoid or protect ourselves from…

Casablanca, The Breakfast Club, Titanic – a famous goodbye scene is what turns a movie into a classic.  The final farewell is where all the emotion of the main characters’ journey together comes to a climax and us, the audience, are left in tears. I imagine many tears were shed during Jesus’s final night with his disciples before his crucifixion on a cross.  In John 14, we read about this climax of emotion between Jesus and his traveling companions of…

Take this weekend to reflect on what God is showing you through the reading of his word.  I know it can be hard to find a time of quiet and solitude, but see if you can find some time to sit and meditate on what God has shown you and wants to tell you. Questions to Consider: Look back at the key verses.  Is there one you should commit to memory? Where do you need to repent of sin and…

Studies show that most people, when asked to evaluate themselves, rate themselves more highly than they really should.  It’s human nature to believe that we are right in our decisions, sure of our actions, and more capable than most people around us.  And the reason it’s human nature is because it’s sin – the deadly disease all of us are afflicted with. The problem with this sin is that if we all feel more important than those around us, then…

Reading Psalm 30, you feel a little bit like you are on a roller coaster. Praise and pit. Healing and hurt. Weeping and joy. Wailing and dancing. We could almost recommend a good counselor or medication for David’s up and downs. That is until we remember we function much the same.  As David remembers the ups and downs of his life, what ties everything together is God. When life has been great, God was there. When he was in despair,…

Early in our marriage, Kerri and I wanted to buy a house. Being the poor newlyweds, the only houses we could afford were “fixer-upers.” They required time, energy, and money to repair and remodel. It wasn’t an easy process, but we always loved the final result. When new flooring was installed. When a new coat of paint went on. When the avocado green appliances were replaced! In Romans 12, Paul talks about a transformation of a different kind. This is…