As Jesus hung on the cross there would be no last second escape. No Greek goddess would swoop in to rescue him. He suffered alone. And yet even in that suffering he declared his victory on the spiritual battlefield to be your victory.
God can handle grief, rage, and cries for justice. God can handle the victim who cannot yet forgive. God can handle the prayer that comes out jagged and wounded. The good news is that God is holy and merciful enough to handle all our prayers.
But while scholars are right to focus on the bond between Martin and Hans, the evidence of Martin’s own words suggests their relationship may not have been as troubled as some suppose. For Hans Luther was not a cartoon villain but a normal human being attempting to make his way in the world and raise his children to the best of his ability.

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God is a judge, but unlike you, God is just!
The wrong god means love remains frail, fickle, or a fiction. The right God means love is the most reliable thing in all the world.
I realized that no matter where I call "home," I won't be able to shake the feeling of homesickness.
There is no one — not now, not ever — who cannot be included in the family of God through the efficacy of Christ’s saving power.
It's a new year, and you are still the same you: a sinner who is simultaneously perfect in every way because Christ declares it to be so.
In Simeon's hands and Anna's gaze, we are reminded of God's promise—not distant, not fading, but alive.
It is impossible to live our lives in a way that would convince God of our value because he already knows our value. He is the one who gave it to us.
The Lord did for Hannah what he loves to do: he shifted everything into reverse, making the bottom the top and the top the bottom.
The world rushes forward, lighting up screens and decking out storefronts in a mad sprint toward the next thing, but Advent pulls us back.
Below is an excerpt from the personal devotional included in this year’s 1517 Advent Resources.
We love hearing about Jesus, but we also love hearing about how much effort we need to exert to truly pull off this whole “Christian life” thing.
This article is part of Stephen Paulson’s series on the Psalms.