AN ACCOUNTINGSCRIPTUREWhat will I do when God confronts me?What will I answer when called to account?-Job 31:14Few people look forward to annual reviews, regardless of whether the evaluation is medical or professional. We're afraid we may not pass some sort of test. When someone else holds the power to change our lives with a review, it can be scary. Lent is a good time for a spiritual review. We ...  Read More

A BURNING NEEDWORSHIP FOCUSYearningSCRIPTUREMy soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.- Psalm 84:2God is generous in ways we will never understand. He has promised to meet our needs, and he also blesses us with surprises. Too often we elevate our wants to needs. We fear we won't get what we want otherwise. It is a useless game because...  Read More

DON'T FORGETSCRIPTUREYou forget the LORD your Maker, who stretches out the heavens and who lays the foundations of the earth.-Isaiah 51:13aHow often does someone remind us: Don't forget the milk, your lunch, to pick up the kids, or some other task? Do reminders sear the instruction in special memory cells of our brains? Not unless we do something like write a note, set an alarm, or take care of th...  Read More

HUNGER AND THIRSTSCRIPTUREBlessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.—Matthew 5:6Many of us live in a culture that doesn't understand thirst. So many of us have known only the kind of periodic hunger that can be immediately sated, rather than the kind of gnawing, painful hunger that persists because there is literally no food. Many of us carry bottled water ...  Read More

TEMPTEDSCRIPTUREThen Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.-Matthew 4:1 NIVWhen Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, he used his experience to settle the trajectory of his life and confirm his mission to be the bridge to bring people to his Father. False accusations didn't distract him. Debate didn't unnerve him. Misunderstanding and betrayal from his followers...  Read More

INTO THE WILDERNESSSCRIPTUREJesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.-Luke 4:1Some translations of this scripture say "desert" instead of "wilderness." My personal deserts aren't hot, sandy expanses where a merciless sun threatens and thirst could kill me. My deserts are places where I feel alone in all the wrong ways. Illness that drags on or a...  Read More

COME FASTINGSCRIPTURECome fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!Change your life, not just your clothes.-Joel 2:12b-13a (MSG)We don't like to do without things. We live in a culture that pushes getting more in every category we can think of.But the call to the cross is to set something aside that our heart does not need, in order that we may grow. God invites us to get rid of whatever makes it ...  Read More

RETURN TO MESCRIPTURE"Even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning."-Joel 2:12No voice should ever take priority over God's voice. However, we often prefer our own thoughts and perspectives, even as we long to hear what God has to say. God's invitation to return to him is crucial because God invites us to return to who he knows we can be in...  Read More

A BURNING INVITATIONWORSHIP FOCUSJust Come!SCRIPTURECome, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.-Psalm 95:6What increases our desire for everything God wants to give us?What makes us recognize how God delights in rescuing us from a self-reliance that will never save us?What understanding, gratitude, or obedience will this realization birth?This week, listen for God's v...  Read More

JUST COMESCRIPTURECome to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.-Matthew 11:28Rest is the biggest unmet need in our get-it-done culture. We push and exhaust ourselves with the useless goal of finishing what we think we need to get done.Jesus isn't inviting us to a nap--at least not most of the time. He is inviting us to hear his heart. He whispers this invitation. Maybe ...  Read More

No More HidingSCRIPTUREFor I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. -Psalm 51:3David is confessing his sin against Bathsheba and God. David tried to ignore that he had done something against God. He wouldn't admit his wrong motives and actions. He was hiding I imagine him during those days as a worried, troubled man who was sick of himself and more afraid than he admitted. He knew...  Read More

Have MercySCRIPTUREHave mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. —Psalm 51:1We are not quick mercy givers in the United States. Our courts aren't known for giving mercy, and our corporate and political systems distribute even less. Instead, power rules. The more power, the better, and mercy is locked out.I have learned tha...  Read More