My sister brother and I flew from our separate states to our uncle rsquo s funeral and stopped to see our ninety-year-old grandmother She rsquo d been paralyzed by a stroke had lost the ability to speak and had only the use of her right hand As we stood around her bed she reached out that hand and took each of our hands placing one atop another over her heart and patted them in place With this wordless gesture my grandmother spoke into what had been our somewhat broken and distant sibling relationship ldquo Family matters rdquo In God rsquo [... more]

A co-worker once told me that her prayer life had improved because of our manager I was impressed thinking that our difficult leader had shared some spiritual nuggets with her and influenced her prayer life I was wrong mdash sort of My co-worker and friend went on to explain ldquo Every time I see him coming I start praying rdquo Her prayer life had improved because she prayed more before each conversation with him She knew she needed God rsquo s help in her challenging work relationship with her manager and she called out to Him more because of it [... more]

And be kind to one another tenderhearted forgiving one another even as God in Christ forgave you Romans Subscribe to Pastor Greg's newest podcast to receive devotions daily https link chtbl com dailydevo --- This podcast is supported by the generosity of our Harvest Partners Support the show https harvest org supportSee omnystudio com listener for privacy information [... more]

Scholar Kenneth E Bailey told of the leader of an African nation who had learned to maintain an unusual posture in the international community He rsquo d established a good relationship with both Israel and the nations surrounding it When someone asked him how his nation maintained this fragile balance he responded ldquo We choose our friends We do not encourage our friends to choose our enemies for us rdquo nbsp nbsp That is wise mdash and genuinely practical What that African country modeled on an international level is what Paul encouraged his readers to do on a personal level [... more]

It's easy to live in peace with the people who agree with you But what about those who always oppose you [... more]

Tell them not to speak evil of anyone but to live in peace with others They should be gentle and polite to everyone Titus [... more]