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Written by Roslyn Hernandez, a contemporary editor, project manager, and podcast producer.  This is an excerpt from “A Beautiful Year in the Bible.”

In the fast-paced culture of the United States, waiting can feel challenging. It can feel like the only way to get the life we want is to go out and take it. Jeremiah warns against the temptation to rush through life. False prophets, eager for quick outcomes, try to barrel ahead of God’s schedule. Their actions reveal a deeper issue—a lack of trust in God’s process. They want to force results, not understanding that God’s plans unfold with great precision. Faith involves trusting in the deliberate work of God and believing that the divine is on the move in our lives before we see results.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  [Proverbs 3:5]

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Written by Clarence Haynes, Jr., a contemporary speaker, writer, and teacher.

Spiritual maturity is about learning and continuing to learn. Growing and continuing to grow. In other words, there is more maturity ahead of you. If the ultimate goal is to be conformed into the image of Christ, we all have a long way to go. That’s why in this life we are always striving but never arriving. Maturity recognizes the progress you have made, holds onto it, and at the same time strives to continue forward.

Only let us live up to what we have already attained. [Philippians 3:16]

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Written by Jennifer Woodruff Tait, a contemporary Episcopal priest, historian, and editor.

Originally, the early Christians celebrated the Ascension together with Pentecost. On the same day they remembered both Christ’s ascending to be with his Father and the Holy Spirit descending on the gathered believers as reported in Acts 2. After all, Jesus’s last speech to the disciples before he ascended clearly connected the two events; he was going to leave his friends, but it would not be long before they received power from on high, and that power would change their lives. Eventually, as the church became legalized and its worship more public and systematic, believers gave Ascension a day all its own. But this strange and beautiful story doesn’t occur in a vacuum. It comes as the culmination of Jesus’ many post-resurrection appearances to his friends and followers throughout Eastertide, and it sets the stage for the powerful change that is coming next.

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” [Acts 1:1-5]

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Written by Ken Boa, a contemporary author and founder of Reflections Ministry.

Human nature is a web of contradictions: we are at once the grandeur and degradation of the created order; we bear the image of God, but we are ensnared in trespasses and sins; we are capable of harnessing the forces of nature, but unable to rule our tongue; we are the most wonderful and creative beings on this planet, but the most violent, cruel, and contemptible of earth’s inhabitants.. The God who created the stars and calls them all by name is unimaginably awesome; His wisdom, beauty, power, and dominion are beyond human comprehension. And yet He has deigned to seek intimacy with the people on this puny planet and has given them great dignity and destiny… In the words of C. S. Lewis (in his essay The Weight of Glory), “glory” means “good report with God, acceptance by God, response, acknowledgment, and welcome into the heart of things. The door on which we have been knocking all our lives will open at last.” Let us exult in hope of the glory of God!

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?  [Psalm 8:3-4]

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Written by Max Lucado, a contemporary pastor and author. This is an excerpt from his book “Trade Your Cares for Calm.”

Fear may fill our world, but it doesn’t have to fill our hearts. It will always knock on the door. Just don’t invite it in for dinner, and for Heaven’s sake, don’t offer it a bed for the night. The promise of Christ is simple: we can fear less tomorrow than we do today…Imagine your whole life untouched by worry. What if faith, not fear, were your default reactions to threats? Envision a day, just one, absent the dread of failure, rejection, and calamity.  This is the possibility behind Jesus’ question, “Why are you afraid?” in Matthew 8:26.

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the Kingdom. [Luke 12:32]

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Written by Mark D. Roberts, a contemporary author.

Our culture is obsessed with appearance. We experience this all the time. This obsession can easily dominate our lives. So much concern about outward appearance can distract us from what matters most: the state of our heart. When we realize that God knows our hearts, we are motivated to pay more attention to what’s on the inside than what’s on the outside.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” [1 Samuel 16:7]

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Written by the Lead Like Jesus team, an organization founded by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges that promotes a transformational leadership model based on following Jesus

In contrast to Jesus’ purposeful movement through life, many of us live like jugglers who are trying to keep too many balls in the air. Being busy defines our days. We move between family, work, church, and community activities with scarcely time to breathe. In the mix, Sabbath and solitude often get lost. “Later,” we think, only to find that we have worn ourselves out with all our coming and going. What about you? Is your relationship with God the top priority in your life, or just one part of your life?

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. [John 15:5]

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Today’s prayer is from the “Book of Common Prayer.” It dates from at least the early 8^th century and is associated with Archbishop Thomas Cranmer

Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. [James 1:17]

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Written by Richard Foster, a contemporary theologian and author.

Douglas Steere said, ​“To pray is to change.” Frankly, none of us will keep up the work of prayer for long unless we are willing to change. We will either give it up, or we will turn it into a little system that keeps the form of godliness but denies the power of it — which is the same thing as giving it up. In prayer, if we are not into the life and the power of the Spirit we are not into prayer. When we begin to walk with God he is gracious, and marvelously answers our feeble, egocentric, greed-motivated prayers. We think, ​“Hallelujah, this is great! God is real after all.” Then, after a time, we try to push that button again and God says, ​“Wait a minute! I would like to be your teacher and to lead you into a more excellent way. I want to set you free of your greed and avarice, your fear and hostility.” We may chafe under that and struggle against it for a while, but in time we learn the goodness of God’s grace. We begin to be set free of our bondage to ourselves. We begin to live in obedience.

Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free.  [Psalm 118:5]

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 Written by Tamar Tyler, a contemporary editor.  This is an excerpt from the book “A Beautiful Year in the Bible.”

Being generous with each other is a natural outgrowth of God’s generosity with us…God, as ultimate creator, made all things and set the world into motion. We are but a small part of the vastness of creation, and every resource or possession we have is a blessing from the Lord. Therefore, as an act of gratitude for God’s faithfulness, we give because God first gives to us…When we choose to give without reservation or expectation, we deepen our connections to community. We remember our shared purpose…We might think of generosity as a river flowing through a community; it nourishes everything it touches. Through acts of giving, we cultivate a richer world…Each act of generosity, no matter how small, is a step towards a more supportive and connected community. We are not merely giving away resources, but giving thanks for these blessings and bringing forth a more beautiful world.

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.  [2 Corinthians 9:10]

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