Then they led him away to crucify him. Matthew 27:31 There was nothing bright or beautiful about the day the sun hid and the earth shook hard — that terrifyingly dark day you gave your life. There was nothing sanitized about the weight of wood you carried or the dust you fell into under its crush. There was nothing theologically comprehensible about the horrors of this criminal’s … [Read more...] about Nothing Bright or Beautiful

Early in the morning, all the chief priests and elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor. Matthew 27:1-2 Naked flesh yielded in love is passion. Protest speeches red-raging against injustice are passion. Harmonies rising from the soul to make music are passion. But a cold, dreary … [Read more...] about Your Passion

They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law came together. Mark 14:53 I stood with you at your trial today, from the safety of my home, removed by centuries of time. How often I have read this scene. How rarely I have stayed long enough to feel the stunning terror of its truth. This was not the court of a crazed tyrant, or of … [Read more...] about Your Trial

I am the Bread of life. John 6:48 “I am the bread of life.” You tell us this, offering the gift of your body, your life, your all, broken open, held out for us to receive. Or reject. You wait. Here, standing before us, love broken open, you wait. With unending patience, you wait. Is there a love more vulnerable? A gift more intimate? I catch my breath, and … [Read more...] about Broken Open

In returning to Me and resting you shall be saved; in quietness and confident trust is your strength. But you were not willing. You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses… A thousand of you will flee at the threat of one… Therefore the Lord waits and longs to be gracious to you, He waits on high to have compassion on you. Isaiah 30:15-18 (AMP) “Return,” You call. You invite. You … [Read more...] about Return

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14 Have you ever rested for a moment on some couch or bed and thought about the universe of solar systems moving and singing and carrying on beyond your knowing? Not the universe outside of you. I mean the one you carry around with you— the one that carries you. The suns and moons and stars that exist inside … [Read more...] about The Wonder

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life…look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matthew 6:25-26 I stood at the kitchen counter, grinding coffee to brew a fresh pot for my family— my mind spinning with the grinder. But my whirling thoughts produced nothing … [Read more...] about Whirling