I often think of the Lord as the ultimate recycler. He wastes nothing—not our heartache, our choices or our years of wandering. He transforms broken people, relationships and situations into something new. And He takes what was meant for evil and uses it for good.
Joanna’s story is proof.
It begins with her being under enemy influence while living large on enemy support. (more…)
For years, a little girl lived and thrived in the care of her Israeli parents, who taught her the word of God. But then the Arameans came. They abducted her, ripping her away from her family and the only home she had ever known.
She became a slave in a foreign land. Her master: an Aramean army commander.
Had she seen her parents (more…)
Imagine you’re a woman of ill repute living among a people you know in your heart are doomed. It’s likely your story will end right there.
But for Rahab, a resident of Jericho, that’s not the end of her story. It’s just the beginning. Hers is a story of faith and redemption.
With Moses gone, God had given Joshua the job (more…)
Imagine seeming to have it all—a powerful husband and huge family, wealth, respect, celebrity. People move out of your way as you walk by. Everyone is out to please you. You get the best tables at restaurants while others are turned away. You sport the latest fashions. Your name is on everyone’s lips.
But somehow it’s not enough. It’s never enough. You (more…)
Many times, when people are confronted with their need for repentance, they hesitate to leave behind the lives they’ve known. They may live amid wickedness, tolerating or even practicing it.
They might have acclimated to their environments to the point that they became products of it.
Let’s face it: Sin entices. It satisfies—if only our flesh, if only for a moment.
Such was the (more…)