hope

Focus Experience silence in the midst of your busy day. Take some time to relax into a time to be with God. Read Joel 2:23-32 (NRSV) O children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the LORD your God; for he has given the early rain for your vindication, he has poured down for you […]

Focus Experience silence in the midst of your busy day. Take some time to relax into a time to be with God. Read 1 John 5:1-5,13-21 (NRSV) Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we […]

Focus Stop and thank God for being present with you today. Ask for God’s guidance as you hear God’s voice through scripture and the writer. Read Psalm 30 (NRSV) I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me. O LORD my God, I […]

Well, here we are again. As I write this column, our nation—and in fact, much of the world—reels from the news out of Orlando, Florida. Fifty persons dead. More than fifty wounded. Hundreds, if not thousands of friends and family members suddenly left without relationships they had cherished. I suppose one might argue that there […]

Focus Pay attention to the tension in your body. Let go of it and any expectations to do anything other than God’s will today. Prepare yourself to hear God’s word. Read Psalm 146 (NRSV) Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will […]

Focus Are you tired? Take this time to rest. Relax every part of yourself. Breathe slower. Don’t be prideful or stubborn. Be ready for what God has before you today. Read Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-24 (NRSV) I am one who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath; he has driven and brought me into […]

Focus As you quiet yourself for this brief time, be willing to be open to God in whatever way that may take place. Read 2 Corinthians 4:16–5:5 (NRSV) So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary […]

Focus Take a few minutes to push the “pause” button on whatever is going on around you and be still with God. Read Psalm 17 (NRSV) Hear a just cause, O LORD; attend to my cry; give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit. From you let my vindication come; let your eyes […]

Focus Stop and thank God for being present with you today. Ask for God’s guidance as you hear God’s voice through scripture and the writer. Read Exodus 6:1-13 (NRSV) Then the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh: Indeed, by a mighty hand he will let them go; […]

Focus Pay attention to the tension in your body. Let go of it and any expectations to do anything other than God’s will today. Prepare yourself to hear God’s word. Read Isaiah 62:1-5 (NRSV) For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out […]