The greatest obstacle to friendship in middle age isn't that nobody wants friends. It's that everyone is waiting for someone else to go first. But here's the good news: Christ has already gone first for you. And because He has, you are free to go first for someone else.
Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a time for everything under heaven. But God has also placed eternity in our hearts, and that makes us strange creatures: able to rejoice in this life yet always aching for a life that only Christ can give.
What does it take to draw near to God? It takes a perfect priest, a finished work, and a broken body to open the way. In short, it takes everything, which is exactly what Christ has given for you.

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Jesus longs to prove to us that death has lost its separating power over the Christian. He longs that we experience the faithfulness of God in the unifying power of the gospel here on earth as well as in heaven.
We step into the voting booth with one foot on the outside. We are Americans, to be sure, but we are much more. We are citizens of the kingdom of God, over which the King of kings reigns supreme. Our time here is temporary. We are resident aliens in a land destined for a fiery destruction. Our allegiance is to Christ.
Understanding that I am completely free in Christ allows me to read the injunction to “love my neighbor as myself” as a promise instead of a threat.
The quality of our walk with Jesus is not predicated on anything we do, for the only thing we bring to our salvation is the sin that makes it necessary.
The only reason we're aware of our old self is in baptism, God created a new self for us.
The Lord who stood before her seemed reckless in His love. Her sin didn't deter Him. Rather, it was the reason He came.
Sin is driven by disordered love, and it is love in this sense that leads to all the pain and suffering in the world.
This is an excerpt from “The Freedom of the Christian” written by Martin Luther and translated and edited by Adam Francisco (1517 Publishing, 2020).
After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again.
We don’t deserve Jesus' friendship, but he nonetheless embraces us with it, along with his promise that he will never leave us nor forsake us.
The best synonym I can think of for Biblical meditation is "wonder." To meditate upon God's word is to wonder, as a child wonders at the stars.
This is an excerpt from “Unveiling Mercy: 365 Daily Devotions Based on Insights from Old Testament Hebrew” written by Chad Bird (1517 Publishing, 2020). Used with permission.