Posts from March 2026

ReaD Hebrews 2:13 Throughout Hebrews, God reminds us of His works from Genesis and Deuteronomy all the way through the Kings and the Prophets, while applying numerous Psalms as well. All of this is pointing to Himself: Jesus the Messiah. Isaiah testified “I will wait for the LORD… I will hope in Him. Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me…” (8:17-18). This is what Hebrews 2:13 quotes here. Jesus placed His trust in the Father when…

ReaD Hebrews 12 A few years ago, I decided to train for a triathlon after a long season of chronic pain and fatigue. Training came with blood, sweat, and a lot of tears, but as I neared the end of the race, I was overwhelmed remembering everything I had overcome to get there. I felt God’s presence with me—strengthening me and cheering me on. I drew courage from the determination and encouragement of my fellow triathletes and had the joy…

ReaD John 11:42 Jesus prays these words right before He raises Lazarus from the dead, while He is weeping with the mourners. We recently studied this passage in women’s Bible study, and John 11:5-6 stuck out to me, “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was for two more days.” Wait. What? Jesus heard Lazarus was sick, so He waited to go to him? At first it…

ReAD Hebrews 5:7 and Luke 22:39-46 Imagine the scene with me. Jesus and His disciples have just left the gathering in the city of Jerusalem, the upper room where He taught them deep things about the life with God and the impending suffering He would face. He washed their feet. He shared a meal. The betrayer departed. Then they left the city and walked across the Kidron Valley to the Mount of Olives, and eventually to the Garden of Gethsemane…

Each Saturday during Lent, we will take some time as a church family to practice a different spiritual exercise together. Today, we are practicing Fasting. About Fasting A fast is the self-denial of normal necessities in order to intentionally attend to God in prayer. Bringing attachments and cravings to the surface opens a place for prayer. You may abstain from food, drink, shopping, media, habits, comforts, and so on to intentionally be with God. The physical awareness of emptiness or…

ReaD Isaiah 53:1-5 Read the verses in today’s passage from Isaiah carefully, and lose yourself in their depth. Words such as “despised’, ‘rejected’, ‘sorrows’, ‘suffering’ make their stark appearance, and are amplified by what they resulted in: Jesus being stricken, smitten, afflicted, pierced, crushed, and punished by God. Jesus (as fully God) would give the last, full measure of devotion for the salvation of that which had been lost.  Jesus (as fully man) would own our tears, and He would…

ReaD Matthew 26:36-39 Jesus has just finished His last supper with His disciples—the men He has loved and poured His life into over the past three years. He knows Judas is about to betray Him and hand Him over to soldiers. He knows these disciples who love Him, will deny Him. In Matthew 26:31 Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me.” Jesus takes His disciples away to Gethsemane to pray. He needs…

ReaD Psalm 116:1-4 “Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath! How kind the Lord is! How good he is! So merciful, this God of ours!” (Psalm 116:2, 5 NLT)  After spending five years as a missionary in a large communist country in East Asia, I felt God telling me it was time to head to Bible school. I enrolled in a year of study at a Christian college in Vancouver, Canada. On…

ReaD Psalm 55:1-7 I enjoy fried clams—the taste, smell, look, crunch. This plate of hot, crispy clams, however, grated my throat as I sat with my dad in a suburban Chicago restaurant. Haltingly and with low-tones, he conveyed the news that my mom and he had separated and were moving towards termination of their 24-year marriage. Stinging eyes and indirect glances followed  for me as I tried to grapple with the seismic bad news. “But how?  But why? But when?…

ReaD Psalm 22:1-21 God acknowledges the anguish of the human experience.  In Psalm 22 we encounter David during a time of despair. He hid from those who wanted to kill him. David felt rejected by God because his situation was not as expected from God’s promise. In verse 1 he cries out to the Lord,  “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” David felt as if God had rejected him. Through his anguish, David continued to trust God.…

ReAD Hebrews 5:7 and Luke 22:39-46 My husband Nick and I buy a lot of olive oil. I love it for cooking, putting on salads, even slathering on my cauliflower crust pizza. Think of how olive oil is made. To harvest olives, the olive trees have to be shaken so that olives, leaves and twigs all fall to the ground on a catcher. The olives have to be separated from leaves and twigs, go through a major cleaning, get crushed…

Each Saturday during Lent, we will take some time as a church family to practice a different spiritual exercise together. Today, we are practicing Prayer Walking. About Prayer Walking Put simply, prayer walking is talking with God while you walk and walking while you talk with God. Let’s Walk! For this Lenten prayer walk, here are three areas of your spiritual life to consider, framed by three journey stories.