I hope you are warm and snug this cold winter morning (if you’re in the northern hemisphere–if it’s summer where you are, stay cool!) Here are some good reads found this week:

Reading the Bible to Meet God, HT to Challies. “In my book Help My Unbelief: Why Doubt is Not the Enemy of Faith I wrote about how important it is to read the Bible to meet God, to read it relationally and as sustenance for the soul. Often we simply read it for information, to follow a rule, or as an academic pursuit. Reading to meet God sounds like a great idea and the ideal for a Christian, but how do we actually do it”

Life Beyond the Spiritual Shallows. “There is a depth to God’s character that cannot be assessed with quick glances and fleeting thoughts. We will never become the kind of women who face the lion’s den without a deep understanding of God’s character. We will never know that depth if we cannot find ways to circumnavigate our brain’s wiring and study God’s Word for longer than eight second bursts.”

Preparing for the Storm, HT to Challies. “We don’t acknowledge the likelihood of impending trials, so we don’t prepare for them. It’s only after the trial has passed, when we’re left trying to pick up the shards of hope and put our lives back together, that we realize we need to stockpile emergency supplies for the next time Sorrow comes knocking at our door. Having lived through one storm, we realize we’ll need a reservoir for the next one.”

Why Pray for Protection When Suffering Keeps Coming? John Piper answers a difficult question from a listener about praying for protection when it seems pointless, when God let bad things happen in the past.

Are You Your Spouse’s Biggest Cheerleader? HT to Challies. “It works both ways. Wives need their husbands to encourage and affirm and cheer for them as well. In healthy, thriving marriages, husbands and wives are cheerleaders for one another. Smart husbands and smart wives know that the Bible is right on target when it says, ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue’ (Proverbs 18:21). Spoken words can destroy or empower.”

Little People with Big Emotions: 5 Strategies for Emotionally Healthy Kids. This is excellent, something I wish I’d had when mine were young. “I wish I had been better equipped to help my kids when they experienced big emotions. How can we help our children manage their feelings without stuffing them down, prettying them up, or feeling like there’s no room for them?”

Four Reasons Acts 2:38-39 Does Not Imply Infant Baptism. “Though this passage mentions both children and baptism, Acts 2:38–39 leaves no room for infant baptism. Here are four reasons why.”

Sin brings brief pleasures and lasting sorrow.
Repentance brings brief pain and eternal joy.
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth