How We Communicate

“The face is the organ of expression,” concludes an expert in body language. In his advice to celebrities, politicians, and business leaders, he teaches that “there are many things we do with our faces that we aren’t even aware of.” He explains how much can be learned by studying expressions. Emotions can be detected by just the movement of the forehead or eyebrows. Much can also be concluded…

Finding Your Role

To the Jews, Nehemiah became a hero. He was the man God used to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. However, his actions would have been impossible without his brother Hanani. While Nehemiah had been in Susa, the winter residence of Persian kings, Hanani had been in Jerusalem. Coming to Susa, he provided Nehemiah with a firsthand account. His report carried an unusual impact. In fact, it helped…

Surrendering All

Judson Van DeVenter could not find direction in his life. Van DeVenter, born on this day in 1855, taught art after attending college. Failing to find satisfaction, he wondered if God wanted him to go into full-time evangelistic work. Yet he continued to struggle. While conducting a meeting in East Palestine, Ohio, he decided that the only way he could have peace and know God’s will was to…

Trust

Artaxerxes was the leader of mighty Persia. He must have wondered constantly about the people around him. What were their real motives? Did some primarily desire to amass personal power and advance their own careers? Did others engage in deception and manipulation? But about Ezra there was no doubt: He was a man who merited complete trust. So when Artaxerxes sent Ezra to govern Judah, he gave…

Overcoming Discouragement

We can imagine the excitement. How hopeful these Jews must have felt! After years in exile, they were returning to their homeland. They had received the blessing of Cyrus, the Persian leader. “What could go wrong?” some must have wondered. Yet, after their arrival, they experienced waves of problems. Those living in the land made life difficult for the returning exiles. They charged them with…

The Power of God’s Word

Nothing seemed spiritual. Temperatures were hot, and mosquitoes swarmed throughout the air. The chairs were uncomfortable. This was “BIG Sunday” in the middle of Zaire, and more than a thousand people packed the room. Believers from several villages had joined together to celebrate, worship, and baptize new converts. That day, Brad Hill, a missionary from Evangelical Covenant Church, found…

Small Beginnings

Myra Hess easily could have given up or been discouraged. It was January 1922, and she was preparing to make her American debut. She had received critical and popular acclaim for her extraordinary performances as a pianist in her native England. Audiences across Europe had acclaimed her as an amazing talent. But, in spite of this success across the Atlantic, her debut concert in America had the…

Refreshed or Turned Away

Job had suffered in many ways. He desperately needed friends who were kind and who cared about him. But his friends had “dealt deceitfully” with him. He compared their reaction to a brook that flows with abundant water in the spring but, in hot weather, the water becomes scarce and hard to find. He compared his situation to a caravan moving through the desert, searching for this water. Although…

Touching Jesus With Hope

This woman had run out of options. Nothing had worked. She’d suffered with persistent pain for twelve years. Desperate for a solution, she’d visited physicians, spending “all that she had.” But, instead of getting better, she “had grown worse” (v. 26). Then she heard about Jesus, and she felt hope. When she found Him, He was surrounded by a crowd. But nothing would stop her. She worked her way…

Hope Springs Eternal

“Hope springs eternal in the human breast.” This is one of the most famous sentences in all of literature—a line written by the English poet, Alexander Pope. He may have written about hope, but hope often seemed largely absent from his life. Born in 1688, he was abnormally short and spent most of his life deformed as the result of a childhood disease. These physical characteristics made him a…