Today’s Verse: Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. ~Isaiah 52:2 It is amazing how dusty things around the house can get if we do not regularly vacuum, sweep, and dust. Especially books that we have placed on the bookshelf can collect dust. I have had more than one occasion of carrying books that I’ve taken off of the bookshelf that got my clothes very dusty. Well, when you get dus

Today’s Verse: But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium. ~Acts 13:51 Some experiences in life can be very stressful and, even, traumatizing. These events can cause us to become bitter and lose focus, and they can make us think that it is best to withdraw and retreat. This morning, we see two men who exemplify incredible resilience. They are like a rubber band when it is stretched to its maximum: they bounced back into form and continued to

Today’s Verse: For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me. ~Psalm 38:17 The great British statesman, Sir Winston Churchill, in the closing statement of a speech he gave to the students at Harrow College on October 29, 1941, said, “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming mi

Today’s Verse: That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief. ~Nehemiah 6:2 The reality of the Christian life is that we will be challenged with many adversities and adversaries. Each of them tests our character and whether we will stand or wilt when the pressure is on. Nehemiah was being pressured by two men who were his avowed enemies. They did not welcome his pr

Today’s Verse: Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. ~Acts 14:22 It goes without saying that life can be tough. Over the course of time, we will face tough situations, tough people, tough decisions, and tough setbacks. There is an old cliché that says, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” However, I found that many people, including Christians, q

Today’s Verse: And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in. ~Joshua 14:10-11 Growing old in life is inevitable.