Paul pushed all his suffering to the background as he focused on his first and primary calling. The challenge for us is to do the same.

Everybody approaches food differently, and sometimes a new approach to Bible reading is good for our spiritual nutrition.

Each of Paul’s pictures offers a challenge to how we’ll choose to cope in the world.

What do you do when what needs to be accomplished turns into a situation that feels impossible?

“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

“We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.”

Jesus said he saw many wealthy people produce some big checks. Then he watched a poor widow put in two pennies. . The widow was still in sight when Jesus said she had contributed more than all of the others.

What was God thinking when he chose to put valuable treasure in clay pots?! The apostle Paul’s words in today’s Bible reading give us pause, because they are frankly shocking. The God of the universe made his decision about where to place his valuable treasure. And he has entrusted it to us. The life and ministry of Jesus has been given to us.

Jesus used the Scriptures to answer the question. He also managed to answer in a way that gave two answers wrapped in one.

Almost instantly when I read the familiar text of Psalm 103, my mind and soul began to calm down. As I read the opening lines I could hear the music in my head, echoing the many times I have sung this text. The very presence of God washed over me as I continued to allow the living and breathing Word of God to do its work on my heart and spirit.

We might work hard to get an education, form a reputation, develop a skill set, and produce a track record, all of it perhaps suggesting that we have earned our place of service. I suspect many may not be bold enough to say this is how they feel, but we likely act like it. But none of that is how Paul presented his approach to his ministry.

It is frightening to consider that we often hold standards more rigid than the ones given to us in the New Covenant and exemplified by the life of Jesus.

Today I read in Scripture about two processions. There could be hundreds, thousands, or even millions more today if we were willing to pray, surrender, and act on where God sends us today.

We will not win the world for Christ by any political platform or through any new way of thinking. Jesus views us all through the same redemptive lens and he calls us to respond to each other on that basis.

What a great joy to know that our labor is not meaningless. When we offer our work to God, he ensures that it will prove meaningful.

The clock ran out on Moses as it will for each of us. Time marches forward whether we use our time wisely or not.

When I read Scripture I constantly find verses that challenge my thinking and, more specifically, my behavior or lack of action. I get uncomfortable at the reminder that the kingdom of God is different from the many kingdoms on earth demanding our attention or allegiance.

I suspect many could confess that we often make the same mistakes we read about the disciples making. I see those mistakes all around me as I read Mark 9.

While the crowd argued, a young boy’s father begged Jesus for help—another illustration that arguing often gets in the way of God’s work.

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”