Borrowed Blessings
As we bowed our heads over lunch, my friend Jeff prayed: “Father, thank you for letting us breathe your air and eat your food.” Jeff had just been through a difficult job loss, so his heartfelt trust in God and recognition that everything belongs to the Lord profoundly moved me. I found myself asking: Do I honestly understand that even the most basic, everyday things in my life are really God’s, and He’s just letting me use them?
When King David received offerings from the people of Israel for building the temple in Jerusalem, he prayed, “But who am I, and who…
The Greatest Gift
Over the years, my friend Barbara has given me countless encouraging cards and thoughtful presents. After I told her I’d accepted Jesus as my Savior, she handed me the greatest gift she’d ever given me‒my first Bible. She said, “You can grow closer to God and mature spiritually by meeting with Him daily, reading Scripture, praying, and trusting and obeying Him.” My life changed when Barbara invited me to get to know God better.
Barbara reminds me of the apostle Philip. After Jesus invited Philip to follow Him (John 1:43), the apostle immediately told his friend Nathanael that Jesus was “the…
Creator and Sustainer
Working with a magnifying glass and tweezers, Swiss watchmaker Phillipe meticulously explained to me how he takes apart, cleans, and reassembles the tiny parts of specialty mechanical watches. Looking at all the intricate pieces, Phillipe showed me the essential component of the timepiece, the mainspring. The mainspring is the component that moves all the gears to allow the watch to keep time. Without it, even the most expertly designed watch will not function.
In a beautiful New Testament passage found in the book of Hebrews, the writer eloquently praises Jesus for being the one through whom God created the heavens and…
I Learned the Secret to Time Management
It was late afternoon. I was still at my computer, supposedly editing an article our website needed soon. My son was noisily racing his toy cars across the living room floor—an audible reminder that I hadn’t had time to play with him that afternoon. I also still needed to plan and cook dinner at some point before my husband and sister came home from work.
God Promises To Stay By Our Side If We Submit Our Ways To Him
God never said that life would be easy. But He does promise to stay by our side every step of the way. Today on Discover the Word, the team, and author Liz Curtis Higgs discuss what Proverbs 3:6 means when it says “In all your ways, submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” […]
Bright Lights
In the summer of 2015, a group from our church was sobered by what we saw in Mathare, one of the slums in Nairobi, Kenya. We visited a school with dirt floors, rusting metal walls, and wooden benches. But against the backdrop of extremely humble surroundings, one person stood out.
Her name was Brilliant and the name couldn’t have fit her better. She was an elementary school teacher who possessed joy and determination that matched her mission. Colorfully dressed, her appearance and the joy with which she instructed and encouraged the children were stunning.
The bright light Brilliant brought to her surroundings…
A Basis of Assurance
With that powerful scene in mind, how forcefully vivid does our assurance in the final resurrection become! When an event that has actually occurred is understood to be representative, its symbolism becomes more than just a verbal expression of ideas but an acting out of them as well.
One of the most beautiful things Jesus ever said was “I am…
Resurrection
Furthermore there is 1 Corinthians 15, where a resurrection body of an entirely different kind is promised to us who have placed our hope in the day of the Lord’s coming. “It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised…
Revivals to Life in the Calvary Graveyard
. . . the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. —Matthew 27:52–53
The sixth miracle of Calvary was the revivals to life that accompanied the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The text…
Christ Destroyed the Power of Death
Christ’s death opened the graves. His death destroyed the power of death. The power of death is sin. Death entered into the world by sin and is the penalty of sin. Therefore, the death of Christ, who was sinless, enabled Him to bear the penalty of sin for His people.
But death mainly consists in the separation of the soul…
Symbol of the Resurrection
The opening of the graves symbolized the removal of all obstructions to the final glorious resurrection because it removed the obstacles to raising the revived dead bodies of the saints. But sealed tombs, even when sealed with rock, are only flimsy obstacles compared with the difficulty involved in the final, glorious resurrection.
Consequently, it signified that the better resurrection was…
Whose Graves Were They?
Significantly, it was only the graves of saints, God’s children, who were opened. Not one person’s grave was opened whose soul did not have a saving interest in the death of Christ, to which the opening of the graves was the marvelous answer.
It is such a beautiful picture. All those graves of God’s children, each and every one of them individually and lovingly…
The Miracle of the Opened Graves
The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open.—Matthew 27:51–52
The midday darkness is the first of the six miracles that happened during Jesus’s crucifixion (Matthew 27:45). It is the beginning of the divine procession of signs that heralded the death of Jesus Christ. Second came the supernatural tearing from top to bottom of the curtain of the temple.…
Do Not Boast About Tomorrow, Rather Invite God Into Your Daily Plans
No one knows for sure what tomorrow will bring. But at times, we sure act as if we do! Today on Discover the Word, the team, and author Liz Curtis Higgs consider Proverbs 27:1: “Do not boast about tomorrow.” We’re learning to invite God into our plans and ambitions as we study the Proverbs together, today on Discover […]
Surrounded by God
In a busy airport, a young mother struggled alone. Her toddler was in full tantrum mode—screaming, kicking, and refusing to board their plane. Overwhelmed and heavily pregnant, the burdened young mother finally gave up, sinking to the floor in frustration, covering her face, and starting to sob.
Suddenly six or seven women travelers, all strangers, formed a circle around the young mother and her child—sharing snacks, water, gentle hugs, and even a nursery song. Their loving circle calmed the mother and child, who then boarded their plane. The other women then returned to their seats, not needing to discuss what they…
