jesus

The Table Before the Fire

Scripture Focus: “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself” (Daniel 1:8). Sometimes the deepest battles make almost no sound. No clash of swords, no roar of crowds—just the soft settle of a plate on a table, the quiet ring of a cup, the low murmur of an ordinary meal. It…
When God Wipes Away Every Tear

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain…” (Revelation 21:4). John first heard that promise as an old man on an island prison. He introduces himself as “your brother, and companion in tribulation… in the…
Under the Carpenter’s Measure

Peace does not arrive with fanfare.It comes as a thin thread in the hand—easily broken, easily ignored—yet strong enough to pull a lifeback from the edges. I have learned this:the heart fractures long before the voice does.A quiet judgment here,a hurried assumption there,the beam settling into the eyeone splinter at a timeuntil I cannot seeeven…
Dust Where Mercy Writes

There are dayswhen the heart feels like a househalf-remembered—doors open,windows shuttered,light falling in placesI have not dusted in years. Something moves inside—not loud enough to name,just enough to rearrangethe shadows. I once thought peace was stillness,but stillness can be the quietof broken potteryleft where it fell.Peace is something else—a slow gathering of fragments,a palm cupped…
Fallow Ground

(Inspired by Hosea 10:12) I have let the seasons whisper past,the heart-field settled into itself—hard quiet,thin seams threading the claywhere something once breathed. The plow waits in the rafters,its edge remembering work.I pretend the sky will break first,though rain slides off stoneas if the earth has nothing left to say. So I lift the old…
The Quiet Trouble We Carry

Achan’s story is brief, but it lands like thunder across the pages of Scripture. He lived during Israel’s early days in Canaan, when God was moving openly—walls collapsing at His command, victories unfolding, and His presence dwelling in the midst of His people. But in the glow of triumph, one hidden choice brought the entire…
The Quiet Work of Self-Examination

Pull up a chair for a moment… It’s remarkable how quickly our eyes sharpen when someone else falters. A small misstep, an irritating habit, a careless word—and without even thinking, we slip into the role of critic. Our minds rehearse their faults with surprising clarity, and before long we feel justified in the quiet grumbling…
Behold the Lamb

The whip cracked loud—each savage blowleft rivers where the blood would flow;A robe of purple, rough with hate,clung to His wounds beneath its weight. A crown of thorns, each piercing deep,made Heaven’s hosts in sorrow weep;And on His back the timber lay,its splinters marking mercy’s way. The nails tore through with ringing sound,as flesh and…
He Is Mine and I Am Known

I have walked through rooms of crowded lightand felt unnamed beneath the glow;but One voice spoke my secret night—He is mine, and I am known. I have carried masks that fit my face,polished words like river stone;He read the silence underneath—He is mine, and I am known. When shame became a heavy coatand fear made…
Peter

The Sea of Galilee shimmered beneath early light, a mixture of rose and silver, wind-stirred in places but calm in others—the kind of morning when fishermen measured hope against exhaustion. Nets slapped the water; ropes groaned; the scent of brine mingled with the smell of sweat and damp wood. Among the boats moved a man…