What Dad Can Do For Mom
The bumper sticker states, "My wife says I never pay attention to what she says—or something like that." It's funny, I admit, but the more I think about it, the more I don't want to be that kind of a husband.
What Is Truth?
It was the closest Pilate would come to life's greatest discovery. Jesus had just told him that He had come into the world to bear witness to the truth. This prompted Pilate to ask, "What is truth?" (John 18:38). The shrewd Roman politician had asked the right question of the right Person, and his answer was standing before him. But instead of falling to his knees in repentance, confession, and faith, he could only pass off the answer by concluding, "I find no fault in Him."
We Have Work To Do
When you love someone deeply, you long to share in a common purpose. In a similar way, your heavenly Father loves you and yearns for your willing participation in His glorious purposes. Of course, no one is indispensable to God, but His destiny for each of our lives cannot be fulfilled without our active cooperation.
Heartaches
Heartaches—the world is full of them! A boy is mocked at school because he has an underdeveloped arm. A widow painfully remembers the day her husband committed suicide. Parents grieve over a rebellious son. A man tenderly cares for his wife, who has Alzheimer's disease and doesn't even know him. A minister resigns because of vicious lies told about him. A wife anguishes over her husband's unfaithfulness.
New Life
For a long time the old church sat empty and abandoned in a Detroit neighborhood. The decaying building blended naturally into the whole area. Storefronts were boarded up. An old school building was padlocked. Party stores flourished, but little else. Grim, unswept, forgotten—that's how it all looked.
My Life, My Plant
Guests probably wonder why I keep a scraggly fern in my living room. I've gotten so used to its unsightliness that I seldom think to explain. The plant symbolizes a friendship that has become fragile, and I keep it in a prominent place as a reminder to pray for my friend, which I do whenever I water it. Its dried leaves make it obvious that I don't water it often enough, which also means that I don't pray often enough for my friend.
God's Tool Kit
A friend of mine is a gifted handyman, but for years he was unable to develop his gifts. The reason was simple: He lacked the right tools. So for his birthday I gave him a tool kit that opens like a large book, containing the basic tools a handyman needs. As he examined each tool, his eyes shone with anticipation.
Make It Clear
I was teaching a group of prisoners about prayer, using what is commonly called The Lord's Prayer as a model (Matthew 6:9-13). I was explaining the opening words, "Our Father," telling the men that though they are God's "offspring" because He created them (Acts 17:28-29), they can become God's "children" only when they place their trust in His Son, Jesus Christ (Romans 8:14-17). Then God truly becomes their heavenly Father.
A Well-Founded Hope
A man in the community where I live was featured in a newspaper article because he enjoys ridiculing the Christian faith. He boldly declares his conviction that life has no meaning and that we have no basis for hope of life beyond the grave. He defiantly rejects the evidence for the existence of God and the historical record of Christ's resurrection.
