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Written by Philip Reinders, a contemporary writer.  This is an excerpt from his book “Seeking God’s Face” and is based on the Westminster Larger Confession, Question 67.

Startling God, you explode our narrow vision by the wideness of your love. Not only do we depend on you to open our hearts to your salvation, but also to see and embrace your grand saving purposes. We pray that you would enlighten our minds, renew our wills, and make us willing and able to freely answer your call to share the gospel with those you are drawing to Jesus. Amen.

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.  [Ephesians 1:18]























The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.  [Psalm 46:7]

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Written by J. Ryan Lister, a contemporary professor of theology and author.

To understand God in full we must recognize that his drawing near to creation stems from his being distinct from creation. In other words, there is no deficiency in God that creation satisfies. The Lord doesn’t relate to this world because he lacks something within himself. No, God draws near out of the abundance of who he is. God’s transcendence distinguishes him from the created order and puts things in their right perspective. God does not come to us needy and wanting, but rather he comes to “revive the spirit of the lowly and the heart of the contrite” (Isa 57:15). It is the holy and righteous One above who restores the broken and needy below.

The Lord is God in the heavens above [transcendent] and on the earth beneath [immanent]  [Joshua 2:11]






















The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.  [Psalm 46:7]

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Written by Nancy Guthrie, a contemporary author, speaker, and teacher.

Prayers for safety are often on our lips and dominate our prayer lists. And there’s nothing wrong with a desire to be safe. But personal safety can become an idol if it is more important to us than advancing the gospel of Jesus. From the very beginning of the story Acts tells about the spread of the gospel, those boldly speaking of Christ face significant threats. But then the threats become beatings, and then stoning. Acts should prepare us as believers to reckon with the reality that the life of a believer cannot be about self-preservation. Following Jesus wherever he leads may prove to be dangerous.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  [Romans 8:35]





















The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.  [Psalm 46:7]

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Written by Augustine of Hippo (354-430), an early Christian theologian and philosopher. He was the bishop of Hippo Regius (modern day Annaba, Algeria) and is viewed as one of the most important church fathers in Western Christianity.

O Lord, to be turned from You is to fall,

to turn to You is to rise,

and to stand in Your presence is to live forever.

Grant us in all our duties Your help,

in all our perplexities Your guidance,

in all our dangers Your protection,

and in all our sorrows Your peace.


The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.  [Psalm 46:7]

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Written by Max Lucado, a contemporary pastor, author, and speaker. This is an excerpt from his work “On the Anvil.”

Today I will make a difference. I will begin by controlling my thoughts. A person is the product of his thoughts. I want to be happy and hopeful. Therefore, I will have thoughts that are happy and hopeful. I refuse to be victimized by my circumstances. Optimism will be my companion, and victory will be my hallmark. Today I will make a difference. I will be grateful for the twenty-four hours that are before me. Time is a precious commodity. I refuse to allow what little time I have to be contaminated by self-pity, anxiety, or boredom. I will face this day with the joy of a child and the courage of a giant. While it is here, I will use it for loving and giving. Today I will make a difference. I will not let past failures haunt me. Even though my life is scarred with mistakes, I refuse to rummage through my trash heap of failures. I will admit them. I will correct them. I will press on. Victoriously. No failure is fatal. It’s okay to stumble. . . . I will get up. It’s okay to fail. . . . I will rise again. Today I will make a difference. I will spend time with those I love. My spouse, my children, my family. Today I will spend at least five minutes with the significant people in my world. Five quality minutes of talking or hugging or thanking or listening. Today I will make a difference.

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. [Ephesians 5:15-16]

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Written by Mark Vroegop, a contemporary pastor and author. This is adapted from his book “Waiting Isn’t a Waste: The Surprising Comfort of Trusting God in the Uncertainties of Life.”

Every Christian is waiting. Most of us consider this reality from a personal vantage point. We individualize it. Perhaps there’s something in your life that you desire, but it’s been delayed. Or maybe there are painful circumstances that you long to see resolved, but you’re living in tension. Gaining personal perspective by embracing a different attitude about waiting is a good starting point. It’s where my journey began. I sensed a deep longing to grow in my understanding of waiting on God. …  waiting on God is essential for my spiritual growth.  Eventually, I realized that I wasn’t thinking broadly enough: Christians wait on God together. There’s something collective about waiting. Whether we realize it or not, we’re all waiting on God…While there may be different circumstances, intensities, or challenges, every Christian is presently living in some “gap land.” Waiting on God is the biblical and transformative baseline for the entire church. As a result, there’s an opportunity to help each other as we wait. Andrew Murray stokes the fire of this vision when he writes: “Oh! what will not the Church be able to do when her individual members learn to live their lives waiting on God, and when together, with all of self and the world sacrificed in the fire of love, they unite in waiting with one accord for the promise of the Father, once so gloriously fulfilled, but still unexhausted.^” One way we waste our waiting is by not realizing that God invites us to pursue it with other people, to integrate waiting into the normal life of the body of Christ. We need to wait on God together.

So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. [Hebrews 9:28]

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Written by Kelly Balarie, a contemporary author and speaker.

Discipling a young student, I tried to make truth as plain as possible. I said, “Judgment is like a boomerang. When you launch it at someone, you can expect it to hit them and then to immediately return and hit you.” Judgment always boomerangs back to the one who launched it…A wife speaks mean words to her husband.  Before long, the husband is saying mean words to her. A critic speaks loudly on social media, condemning a church. Before long, comments appear on his post — accusing him. A judgmental comment is made about a lady at church. Next week, after leaving church, the person that judged — now feels judged. Without realizing it, they figure, people must be judging them the same way they judged…. Now, the reality of the situation is — that judgment may not even be happening, but it is expected. Why? Because we expect people to treat us the same way we treat them. We assume judgment is happening because we, ourselves, are judgmental. The feeling of judgment is just as bad as the reality of it. Judgment and condemnation are boomerangs that only serve to hit us in the face.

For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. [Matthew 7:2]

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Written by Mark Robers, a contemporary writer.

In Philippians 2 we encounter a stunning story. Jesus Christ descends to the lowest point of all, dying on a Roman cross. Yet from there God lifts him up to the highest place where he is worshipped as LORD, as the one true God. As followers of Jesus, we are called to worship him, not just with our words and not just in church, but in all that we do and in all places in which we live.

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

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Written by Max Lucado, a contemporary pastor and author. This is an excerpt from his book “God Is With
You Every Day.”

The meaning of life. The wasted years of life. The poor choices of life. God answers the mess of life with one word: grace. We talk as though we understand the term. The bank gives us a grace period. The seedy politician falls from grace. Musicians speak of a grace note. At church grace graces the songs we sing and the Bible verses we read. Grace shares the church parsonage with its cousins:  forgiveness, faith, and fellowship. Preachers explain it. Hymns proclaim it. Seminaries teach it. But do we really understand it? Here’s my hunch: we’ve settled for wimpy grace. It politely occupies a phrase in a hymn, fits nicely on a church sign. Never causes trouble or demands a response. When asked, “Do you believe in grace?” who could say no? Have you been changed by grace? Shaped by grace? Strengthened by grace? Softened by grace? God’s grace has a drenching about it. A wildness about it. A white-water, riptide, turn-you-upside-downness about it. Grace comes after you. It rewires you. From insecure to God secure. From regret-riddled to better-because-of-it. From afraid-to-die to ready-to-fly. Grace is the voice that calls us to change and then gives us the power to pull it off.

For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ. [Romans 5:17]

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Written by Uli Chi, a contemporary professor and author on leadership.

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are grateful for and astonished by your deep love and compassion for us and for your creation. Forgive us for neglecting that which you have entrusted to our care. Help us to learn to love and to have compassion on all that you have made. Help us particularly to pay attention to those on the margins of our leadership. Grant us open hearts, open minds and open hands. We ask in Jesus’ name, Amen.

The Lord is good to all. [Psalm 145:9a]

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