Joe Barnett

Rejoice in the Lord always.        —Philippians 4:4 Judah was in chaos. Their economy was in the tank, and a battle with Babylon that they couldn’t win was headed their way. The prophet Habakkuk was terrified. His heart was pounding, his lips were quivering, and his legs were trembling (Hb 3:16). But even […]

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!                        —2 Corinthians 9:15 My desk is illuminated by bright lights. Thanks, Mr. Edison. Perched on my nose are eyeglasses that make things clear. Thanks, Mr. Franklin. In my garage is a car ready to take me

We are his workmanship.     —Ephesians 2:10 “My lifelong dream was to find this great ship, and during the past thirteen years the quest for her had dominated my life. Now, finally, the quest was over.” So wrote Robert Ballard after discovering the Titanic more than two miles deep in the North Atlantic. Do

Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.                 —Proverbs 4:23 Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill, Clement Stone, and Norman Vincent Peale didn’t originate the genre of Thought Control. Predating those notables by centuries, Solomon personified Wisdom as saying, “Be careful what you think, because your

Be strong in the Lord.    —Ephesians 6:10 From the day Martin Luther nailed those ninety-five theses to the door of the Wittenberg church to the day he appeared at Worms before the most threatening body of church prelates and political moguls of his day, he stood as the embodiment of courage. Reading his Latin

He cares for those who trust in him.                        —Nahum 1:7 Have you ever put your life in the hands of a stranger? Boarded a plane without knowing the pilot? Climbed into a taxi without knowing the driver? Made a medical appointment without knowing the

I will come back and take you to be with me.           —John 14:3 I haven’t personally made the count, but someone who has wrote that Christ’s second coming is mentioned more than 300 times in the New Testament. “Okay, but what do I do in the meantime?” you may ask.

[Jesus] gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age.                  —Galatians 1:4 He flirted with alcohol, and alcohol won. To his credit, he admitted he’d been bested—he was an alcoholic. Thanks to God and AA, he was rescued and has been lifetime grateful.

They reported everything God had done through them.                  —Acts 15:4 Can you imagine scissors growing smug after a handsome haircut, a scalpel being pompous after a successful surgery, or a pen boasting about an impressive essay? Of course not—they are only tools. So are we. At the

This son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.                     —Luke 15:24 To Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the one story that most powerfully revealed the heart of God was The Parable of the Prodigal Son. He read it often,