When England rsquo s Queen Elizabeth passed away in September thousands of soldiers were deployed to march in the funeral procession Their individual roles must have been almost unnoticeable in the large crowd but many saw it as the greatest honor One soldier said it was ldquo an opportunity to do our last duty for Her Majesty rdquo For him it was not what he did but whom he was doing it for that made it an important job The Levites assigned to take care of the tabernacle furnishings had a similar aim Unlike the priests the Gershonites Kohathites and [... more]

On a run in the forest I tried to find a shortcut and went down an unfamiliar path Wondering if I was lost I asked a runner coming the other way if I was on the right track ldquo Yup rdquo he replied confidently Seeing my doubtful look he quickly added ldquo Don rsquo t worry I rsquo ve tried all the wrong routes But that rsquo s okay it rsquo s all part of the run rdquo What an apt description of my spiritual journey How many times have I strayed from God given in to temptation and been [... more]

Raj had trusted Jesus as Savior in his youth but soon afterward he drifted from the faith and led a life apart from God Then one day he made the decision to renew his faith in Jesus and go back to church mdash only to be scolded by a woman who berated him for being absent for all these years The scolding added to Raj rsquo s sense of shame and guilt for his years of drifting Am I beyond hope he wondered Then he recalled how Jesus had restored Simon Peter even though he had denied Him Luke ndash [... more]

The offer looked good and was exactly what Peter needed After being laid off this sole breadwinner of a young family had prayed desperately for a job ldquo Surely this is God rsquo s answer to your prayers rdquo his friends suggested Reading about the prospective employer however Peter felt uneasy The company invested in suspicious businesses and had been flagged for corruption In the end Peter rejected the offer though it was painful to do so ldquo I believe God wants me to do the right thing rdquo he shared with me ldquo I just have to trust He [... more]

The scene in the parking lot might have been funny if it wasn rsquo t so tragic Two drivers were arguing loudly over one of their cars that was blocking the passage of the other and harsh words were being exchanged What made it especially painful to watch was that this quarrel was taking place in the parking lot of a church The two men had possibly just heard a sermon about love patience or forgiveness but it was all forgotten in the heat of the moment Passing by I shook my head mdash then quickly realized I was no [... more]

As his peers were promoted one by one Benjamin couldn rsquo t help but feel a little envious ldquo How come you rsquo re not a manager yet You deserve it rdquo friends told him But Ben decided to leave his career to God ldquo If this is God rsquo s plan for me I rsquo ll just do my job well rdquo he replied nbsp Several years later Ben was finally promoted By then his added experience enabled him to do his job confidently and won him the respect of subordinates Some of his peers meanwhile were still struggling [... more]

What a waste of time thought Harley Her insurance agent was insisting they meet again Harley knew it would be yet another boring sales pitch but she decided to make the most of it by looking for an opportunity to talk about her faith Noticing that the agent rsquo s eyebrows were tattooed she hesitantly asked why and discovered that the woman did it because she felt it would bring her luck Harley rsquo s question was a risky detour from a routine chat about finances but it opened the door to a conversation about luck and faith which gave [... more]