Rewind

People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy. (Ecclesiastes 9:12) Read: Ecclesiastes 7:1-9:18, 2 Corinthians 7:8-16, Psalm 48:1-14, Proverbs 22:17-19 Relate: There was a show my mom used to watch when I was a kid. I think it was called…

The Arrival

But God, who encourages those who are discouraged, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus. (2 Corinthians 7:6) Read: Ecclesiastes 4:1-6:12, 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:7, Psalm 47:1-9, Proverbs 22:16 Relate: There are a few people I know that everybody just loves being around. Some people just have a gift to always be an encourager. When you get…

Faithful With The Now

Read: Ecclesiastes 1:1-3:22, Corinthians 6:1-13, Psalm 46:1-11, Proverbs 22:15 For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. (Ecclesiastes 3:1) Relate: Five dollars a day. I’m 40(ish) years old. If I were to put away five dollars a day every day into an account like an IRA or 401K, by the time I was…

Ambassadors

All of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are…

His Thunder Roars

Read: Job 37:1-39:30, 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:10, Psalm 44:9-26, Proverbs 22:13 God’s voice is glorious in the thunder. We can’t even imagine the greatness of his power. (Job 37:5) Relate: Part of growing up in a big family was that we tended to have big vans. Some little minivan wouldn’t have fit all of us. No, we had a…

Broken and Patched Up

Read: Job 34:1-36:33, 2 Corinthians 4:1-12, Psalm 44:1-8, Proverbs 22:10-12 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. (2 Corinthians 4:7) Relate: I had a large bowl of pasta in each…

Broken Covenant

I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman. (Job 31:1) Read: Job 31:1 – 33:33, 2 Corinthians 3:1-18, Psalm 43:1-5, Proverbs 22:8-9 Relate: Ashley Madison. Four years ago, if somebody said those two words, I would have asked, “who’s that?” Since the list came at that time, I don’t…

God, Why Don’t You Answer Me?

I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer. I stand before you, but you don’t even look. You have become cruel toward me. You use your power to persecute me. You throw me into the whirlwind and destroy me in the storm. (Job 30:20-22 NLT) Read: Job 28, Job 29, Job 30, 2…