Joe Barnett

While it was still dark, Jesus got up . . . and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.                                 —Mark 1:35 Moses was alone when God spoke to him (Ex 3:1–5). Joshua was alone when God commissioned […]

Live a life worthy of the calling you have received.        —Ephesians 4:1 Meandering the seashore, the youngster noticed a woman sitting under a beach umbrella. Walking over to her, he asked, “Are you a Christian?” She said she was. “Do you read your Bible every day?” “Yes.” “Do you pray every day?”

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.                                —Ephesians 4:32 Here’s a scary scripture: “If you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Mt 6:15).

Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven.            —Romans 4:7 There’s something in your past that you’re ashamed of, isn’t there? Does it disqualify you for kingdom service? David committed adultery and murder, but God chose him to be Israel’s king and said he was a man after his own heart.

Humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.                  —Proverbs 16:9 “You can do anything you want to do and be anything you want to be.” If you were fed that line and swallowed it when you were young, you’ve probably suffered bouts of severe indigestion

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ.                            —Jude 1 “Blood is thicker than water,” goes the German proverb. It doesn’t get much better than being part of a family that finds great joy in being together. It didn’t work out that way for

You are [God’s] child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.                  —Galatians 4:7 Do you sometimes get down in the dumps? Feel helpless to meet life’s challenges? “Remember who you are.” That’s what my friend’s father said to him every morning

When [the Samaritan] saw him, he took pity on him.     —Luke 10:33 A drunken bum with a slashed throat was picked up in the Bowery and dropped off at Bellevue Hospital—last stop before the morgue. He was thirty-eight. No one knew who he was. In the pocket of his ragged coat they found

Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.            —Isaiah 40:31 An unknown author has written: “A person can endure almost anything as long as they have hope, as long as they can believe there may come a change for the better. They can put up with privation; they

Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.      —Psalm 27:14 She was in her 90s and gave me advice on how to deal with problems by telling me how she dealt with hers. “Wait three days,” she said, “and somehow everything gets all right.” I doubt if that’s always true. But