Joy ⁽⁸⁰⁾

Luke 19:1–10, 1 John 4:10, Romans 8:22–28 (read online ⧉) You may or may not have heard that a famous person has publicly proclaimed that he has “found” Jesus Christ. Many Christians have not accepted this person’s conversion. It’s not as if this is a…

Habakkuk 3:16–19, Zephaniah 2:1–3 Imagine how Habakkuk is feeling. He understands the impending doom. He knows that Israel can no longer avoid the consequences of generations of bad behavior. Habakkuk uses the imagery of rottenness in his bones. It’s a weird statement. Yet, most of…

Philippians 2:19–30, Romans 15:1–7 empathy: the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner…

2 Kings 4:18–37, 2 Kings 5:1–14, Mark 10:46–52, James 5:13–18 We are embodied creatures. In other words, our bodies are part of our being, well-being, and attitudes. When it isn’t well, it is harder for our perspectives to be positive or good. We have to…

Genesis 37:16–27, Deuteronomy 30:15–20, Matthew 12:46–50 One of the most heartbreaking things taught by certain Christian traditions is that God wills bad things to happen to people. One of the reasons they draw that conclusion is that we are able to look back at stories…