Sure-Footed Confidence

Posted on April 5, 2026 by Barbara Harper

The book of Habakkuk might seem an unlikely place to draw inspiration for Easter. But my study from Habakkuk last week gave me food for thought this Easter week.

Habakkuk is my favorite of the Old Testament “minor” prophets. His book is just three chapters long and seems to be a lot more understandable than some of the others.

First, Habakkuk laments the violence, destruction, iniquity, and injustice he sees around him. He asks God how long he’ll cry for help without God answering.

God answers that He is sending the “dreaded and fearsome” Chaldeans.

Habakkuk’s response in our day would sound something like, “Wait–what?!” He wonders how God in His holiness can send a wicked nation against His own people.

God’s answer is the longest part of the book, too long to delineate here. But He begins with “The righteous shall live by his faith” and ends with “But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”

In other words, “I know what I am doing. Trust me.”

In-between those truths, He promises He will deal with the Chaldeans.

His answer satisfied Habakkuk, who praises Him and prays for revival. In what’s probably the most well-known part of the book, next to “The just shall live by His faith,” Habakkuk proclaims that, “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls”–

In other words, through economic collapse, need, everything going wrong–

“Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.”

That passage has rebuked and inspired me many times. But what stood out to me on this reading was the next verse: “God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.”

The ESV Study Bible notes say of this verse, “Habakkuk can have sure-footed confidence in God and can live on the heights even amid extreme circumstances.”

Have you ever seen deer or mountain goats walking and leaping in areas where it looks like they’ll take a tumble at any moment? They are much more sure-footed than I would be in their place.

Our day is not unlike Habakkuk’s. Violence, injustice, and iniquity abound. We know from later books in the Bible that things will get worse before the end.

But because Jesus came, lived a totally righteous life in our place, died for our sins, and rose again:

We can be forgiven.

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Colossians 2:13-15).

We can have everlasting life.

“I am the resurrection and the life.Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25).
“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).
“For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1).

Jesus lives within us.

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
“To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

We have access to God.

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2).
“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4: 14-16).

We don’t have to fear death.

“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (Hebrews 2:14-15).
“When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).

We have comfort in sorrow.

“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

We have meaning in our work.

After 57 verses about the resurrection, Paul writes, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

We have perspective in our suffering.

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17).
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

We have focus for our daily walk.

“We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).
“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).
“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

God has graciously given us more Scripture than Habakkuk had. But the truth remains: “The righteous shall live by his faith” and “The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”

We don’t know how everything will work out before the Lord comes again. But we can have “sure-footed confidence in God” and “live on the heights even amid extreme circumstances.” Our souls can be stable even when our circumstances are not.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Who Is Responsible for Jesus’ Death?

Posted on March 29, 2026 by Barbara Harper

Every now and then, the question comes up: Who killed Jesus? Who is responsible for His death?

Let’s look at the possibilities:

Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. Even though Pilate said he did not find in guilt in Jesus (John 18:38; 19:5), and tried to have Jesus released (John 19:12), he still delivered Him over to be crucified (John 19:16). Even though Pilate washed his hands, proclaiming his innocence of Jesus’ blood (Matthew 27:24), he is still responsible.

The Roman soldiers. One could say they were just following Pilate’s orders, that they didn’t authorize Jesus’ death. Yet they were the ones to actually nail Him to a cross. And they went beyond orders to mock and beat Him (Matthew 27:27-31).

The Jewish officials. The chief priests and elders “plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him” (Matthew 26:3-5). They paid Judas to betray Him. They sent people to seize Jesus (Mathew 26:47). They accused him before Pilate (John 18:28-32; 19:12-16). When Pilate offered to free Jesus as part of his tradition of freeing a prisoner during the Passover week, they urged the people to ask for Barabbas to be freed instead and to call for Jesus to be crucified Matthew 27:15-23).

The Jewish people. When Pilate washed his hands, saying he was innocent of Jesus’ blood, “all the people answered, ‘His blood be on us and on our children!’” (Matthew 27:24-25). This is not a reason for antisemitism, nor is it saying that all Jews of all time are guilty of Jesus’ death. It’s just saying that the people who had rejected Jesus during the time of His ministry called for His death and willingly took responsibility.

Judas. Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver and led those seeking Him straight to Him. I don’t know if he realized his actions would result in Jesus’ death. But whether he intended it or not, he had a hand in Jesus’ crucifixion.

God the Father. None of the above could have happened if God did not allow it. But God the Father did not merely allow events to happen that resulted in His Son’s death. He gave His Son to die for our sins. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9).

Jesus Himself. Jesus was not an unwilling pawn in His death. He said, “I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (John 10:17-19). “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. . . Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesian 5:2, 25-27).

Us. How can we be responsible for Jesus’ death when we didn’t live at the time of His crucifixion? He died for the sins of the whole world. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6). We may not have held the hammer that drove the nails or shouted for His crucifixion. But he was on the cross to pay for our sins.

So–who was ultimately responsible?

Well, the disciples said in Acts 4:27-28 (NKJV), “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.” The Roman officials, the Jewish people, and even the Gentiles are mentioned–but so is God’s plan and purpose.

Likewise, Acts 2:23 says, “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” The Father and Son planned this ahead of time, but it was accomplished “by the hands of lawless men” (some translations say wicked men).

Somehow God’s rule and man’s will worked together to accomplish God’s purposes. It’s like what Joseph said of his brothers’ wrongs committed against him: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20).

The good news is that Jesus didn’t die just to heap guilt on us. He died to save us from our sins. He prayed for forgiveness even for the men who killed Him. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). And His desire is that people believe on Him and accept His forgiveness.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Romans 10:9-10).

He died for us. He died for you. Please don’t neglect this wonderful gift of love.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Devotional Books for Lent and Easter

Posted on February 19, 2026 by Barbara Harper

I don’t observe Lent per se, but I do like to spend the weeks leading up to Easter reading devotional-type books on the death and resurrection of Christ. Otherwise, this season goes by too quickly without thinking of its meaning as much as I would like.

I’ve been surprised that there are far fewer books of Lenten and Easter reading than there are for Advent and Christmas. Of course, there are multitudes of books about Jesus’ death and resurrection that are not just for Easter.

Personally, I don’t want Lenten reading from a Catholic or liturgical viewpoint, which narrows down the reading selections even further: I just want to mediate on what Jesus did for us and our response. We do that often, not just this time of year. But it’s good to have a special emphasis on these things at this season.

Here are some of the books I have enjoyed for Lent and Easter, linked to my reviews:

Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter compiled by Nancy Guthrie from writings as far back as Augustine and Luther through to writers as current as John Piper and John MacArthur. I think I have read this at least three times. One favorite quote from the book:

In human religions, it’s the worshipper who placates the offended deity with rituals and sacrifices and bribes. But in the gospel, it is God Himself who provides the offering.—Ray Ortland

The Women of Easter: Encounter the Savior with Mary of Bethany, Mary of Nazareth, and Mary Magdalene by Liz Curtis Higgs. The book does just what the subtitle says. Liz considers Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection through the eyes of these three Marys. Liz has done extensive study in different translations and commentaries. I think I have read this twice. A favorite quote:

Worship isn’t a task. Worship is a response.

Songs of the Morning: Stories and Poems for Easter was compiled by Pat Alexander and includes excerpts from the writings of C. S. Lewis, E. B. White, Dickens and others, some (mostly poems) written by children. I don’t think I realized this book was written for children (about the age of those who would enjoy the Narnia books) when I first got it. But I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I didn’t list any quotes from this one in my review.

Preparing for Easter: Fifty Devotional Reading from C. S. Lewis is a compilation of selections from his writings. I include this one with a bit of caution. As much as I love C. S. Lewis, I differ with him on a few points of theology. I noted in my review that some of the selections used didn’t seem to fit the theme of the book or suffered from being taken out of their context. But there were still some good nuggets here. One such quote:

Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in (p. 212, originally from Mere Christianity).

An Ocean of Grace: A Journey to Easter with Great Voices of the Past, another compilation of quotes from across the centuries, this time by Tim Chester. Chester says he updated some of the archaic language and changed some of the description into prayers or exhortations. I think he overdid the editing. But I did enjoy much from the book. One favorite quote:

May all the charms of sin be overcome by this ravishing love, from Stephen Charnock’s “A Discourse of the Knowledge of Christ Crucified”

I may have read other Easter devotional books, but these are the only ones I can remember or that I made note of here on the blog.

I own, but have not yet read, The Case for Easter: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for the Resurrection by Lee Strobel. It’s not a devotional book, but I think it would be valuable reading. I enjoyed The Case for Christ by Strobel.

This year I am planning to read a couple of new-to-me books. I enjoyed The Characters of Christmas: 10 Unlikely People Caught Up in the Story of Jesus by Daniel Darling so much that, when I saw he had a similar book based on Easter, I immediately got it. It’s title is The Characters of Easter: The Villains, Heroes, Cowards, and Crooks Who Witnessed History’s Biggest Miracle. It’s not exactly a devotional, but I am using it in that way.

I’m also going to at least dip into Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter, another compilation from writings across the centuries recommended by Michele. I can tell, from the writers listed, that I am not going to agree with all of them. But there are several others that I am sure I’ll enjoy.

Do you enjoy reading that focuses on Lent and Easter?

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Review: Mercy Mild

Posted on January 15, 2026 by Barbara Harper

Mercy Mild: A 25-Day Christmas Devotional Tracing Christ’s Love from Eden to Eternity by Josh Taylor is a 25-day Advent devotional book leading up to Christmas. Though the author discusses some of the usual Christmas passages and topics, he expands his focus to show that Christ is foretold and pictured in Scripture long before the gospels tell of His birth. And His coming shapes what is taught in the rest of the Bible.

Taylor starts in Genesis, moves to Abraham and the tower of Babel, David, Solomon, the kings, the gospels, the epistles, and Revelation.

Each chapter ends with a prayer, reflection questions, and possible conversation starters from the chapter to spark a spiritual conversation with unbelievers.

I have a multitude of quotes marked in this book. Here are a few:

Your worth isn’t earned. Scripture speaks honestly about our condition—sinners by nature, hostile to God. And yet God’s love reaches across the divide, not because we deserved it, but because love is who He is (p. 3).

How often do we miss God because He shows up differently than we expect? We look for raw power, and He gives us willing sacrifice. We seek a warrior-king, and He sends a servant. We expect a throne, and we get a manger (p. 24).

It’s fascinating how the word “worship” breaks down—“worth-ship.” It’s not about what we get; it’s about declaring what God is worth (p. 49).

God’s writing poetry with geography. The town where David started his search for a place to house God’s presence is exactly where God chose to show up in person (p. 51).

Sometimes the biggest act of courage isn’t doing more; it’s standing still and remembering who God is (p. 56).

This promise didn’t depend on Ahaz’s faith, didn’t need his permission. God was writing a story bigger than one king’s fears or failures (p. 58).

Peace isn’t just about ending wars; it’s about healing what starts them—pride, fear, broken relationships, sin. That’s why surface solutions never last; we need peace that goes soul-deep (p. 67).

He takes our deepest wounds, our darkest chapters, and writes redemption right through them (p. 92).

Sometimes the biggest moments in God’s plan don’t look big at all. Just one person, being faithful, speaking words that heaven whispered first (p. 98).

God didn’t send Jesus because He was lonely or incomplete. He came because that’s what love does—it gives itself away, draws near (p. 104).

A mother’s heart shatters as heaven’s plan unfolds through her Son’s broken body. Being chosen, being blessed—it didn’t spare Mary from this moment. It led her straight to it (p. 131).

The same God who spoke light into existence now arrives as a baby, bringing a different kind of brightness. Not the kind that hurts your eyes, but the kind that helps you see everything more clearly. The kind that shows you the way home (p. 169).

Yet here we are, still acting sometimes like we don’t have a home. Still trying to earn what’s already ours. Still carrying ourselves like orphans when we’re children of the King (p. 168).

I enjoyed this book quite a lot. A couple of passages sparked blog posts. I’m sure I’ll visit this book again in the future.

Review: The Characters of Christmas

Posted on January 13, 2026 by Barbara Harper

In The Characters of Christmas: The Unlikely People Caught Up in the Story of Jesus, Daniel Darling takes a fresh look at Joseph, Zechariah, Elizabeth, Herod, the innkeeper, and others involved in the first Christmas. He writes, “We should become familiar with them not because their lives are the point of the story, but because their lives, like our own, point ultimately to the one character whose birth changed the world: Jesus Christ” (p. 11). “Reading about this supporting cast allows us to get a closer look at the One who is worthy of our worship” (p. 169).

Most of them were “wonderfully ordinary” (p. 13), encouraging us that God often uses everyday folks.

The author weaves together what the Bible says about these people as well as what is known from the customs of the day and gives us a credible view of the first Christmas from their point of view.

Some of the quotes that stood out to me:

Zechariah was a common name in those days. There are even multiple Zechariahs in the Bible. But it is not a coincidence that the first words from God to His people in four hundred years would come to someone whose name means “the Lord has remembered” (p. 33).

A priest, who often spoke words of blessing on God’s people, would be silenced and would emerge with a renewed faith in the possibility of God’s promise. Sometimes God has to quiet us so we can hear Him. Sometimes we have to be still so we can see Him move. Sometimes our words and our busyness get in the way of our faith (p. 41).

The couple who suddenly showed up at his door was a disruption, an inconvenience, a problem he didn’t plan for. This is, by the way, how God often enters our lives (p. 86).

A temptation for us, this Christmas, is to simply get full of “the feels,” the warm sentimentality of this season, and miss the good news at the heart of the holiday: Christ has come into the world to save you and to save me (p. 100).

If Jesus is the true King, if He is indeed the fulfillment of the covenant promises to Israel, if He is the Light of the world who saves people from their sins, then isn’t He worthy of our whole selves, body and soul? (p. 114).

Each chapter ends with study reflections and a suggested Christmas song.

I appreciated the fact that the book was only eleven chapters rather than being a 25- or 31-day Advent schedule. Fewer chapters made it easier to work in amid Sunday School and Bible study reading throughout the month.

I enjoyed this book a lot. Even though I was familiar with most of what was written, it was done in a way that helped me look at the Christmas story anew. I’m sure I’ll use this book again for future Advent reading.

The Threshold of a New Year

Posted on January 1, 2026 by Barbara Harper

This poem comes to mind as we face a new year:

Thou standest on the threshold
Of days which are unknown;
Thou standest at the gateway
Of paths unmapped, unshown;
But God Himself is with thee-
Thy Saviour, Keeper, Friend;
And He will not forsake thee,
Nor leave thee to life’s end.

Thou standest, and thou askest-
“What have the days in store?”
He answereth thee. “Blessing!
Yea blessing more and more.”
What form the blessing taketh
Thou mayest not yet know,
But blessing upon blessing,
He waiteth to bestow.

Thou waitest – and He waiteth:
He waiteth now to bless;
To link His sovereign greatness
To human helplessness;
To show, through all life’s journey,
His tireless care for thee;
To fill thy incompleteness
With His sufficiency.

Thou pausest on the threshold –
Enfolded lies the year;
But with God’s arms beneath thee,
There is no cause for fear.
Through shadowed days or sunlit –
Whate’er the year may bring –
This fact may be thy comfort;
God reigns in everything.

James Danson Smith

I couldn’t find much information about the author, but his poem speaks to me. Whatever the new year holds, God is with His own and loves them.

May you all be His own and walk with Him closely in the new year and beyond. May you know more and more of His greatness, love, and sufficiency.

“But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, a land that the LORD your God cares for. The eyes of the LORD your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year” (Deuteronomy 11:11-12).

The Wonder of God with Us

Posted on December 21, 2025 by Barbara Harper

One of the verses shared most often during the Christmas season is Isaiah 7:14: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

700 years after this was written, an angel quotes it to Joseph when he reassures him that Mary has not been unfaithful; the baby she is carrying is the Son of God (Matthew 1:18-25). Matthew then goes on to explain that “Immanuel” means “God with us.”

We’re so familiar with that passage and that truth, it’s easy for us to just breeze past them. But if we trace God’s interaction with His people through the Bible, we see what a wonder it is that God went to such great lengths to be with people that neglected and rejected Him.

God was with His people in full fellowship and harmony in the garden of Eden. But then they sinned and were sent out of the garden. Sin separates from God. He is always omnipresent, everywhere at all times. But that personal, harmonious fellowship was broken.

When God freed Israel from Egypt, He gave Moses plans for the tabernacle so that God could dwell among His people. But they had to come God’s way, through the sacrifices He commanded. The veil of the tabernacle, and later the temple, separated everyone from the Holy of Holies. Only the high priest could enter there once a year on the day of atonement.

Then, thousands of years later, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among” His people (John 1:14). The Lord of glory came to a poor family in a humble dwelling. “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4).

When Jesus died for our sin, the veil of the temple was supernaturally ripped in two. The writer of Hebrews tells us, “We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.”

He made a way for people to be reconciled to Him through Christ. “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand” (Romans 5:1-2). What an amazing gift–that we have access to God directly through Jesus by faith.

He dwells with the humble: “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite'” (Isaiah 57:15).

He is with us in life’s challenges: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).

He is with us in anxiety: “The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:5b-7).

He is with us in trouble: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you” (Isaiah 43:2).

He is with us in joy: “I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. . . You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:8,11).

He is with us to provide for us: “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5).

He is with us at the end, if we know Him: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me”( Psalm 23:4). Then we’ll be “absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” once again in full fellowship unhindered by a sin nature (2 Corinthians 5:8).

An old song said God is watching us from a distance. No, He is very close. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13). Because Jesus was God’s Son, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross for our sins, and rose again, we can be forgiven, redeemed, close to Him. In overcoming and need, in anxiety and danger, in everyday life and our walk with God, and finally in death, we can rest and rejoice in the fact that God is with us.

C. H. Spurgeon wrote a wonderful poem titled “Immanuel” at the age of 18:

When once I mourned a load of sin;
When conscience felt a wound within;
When all my works were thrown away;
When on my knees I knelt to pray,
Then, blissful hour, remembered well,
I learned Thy love, Immanuel.

When storms of sorrow toss my soul;
When waves of care around me roll;
When comforts sink, when joys shall flee;
When hopeless griefs shall gape for me,
One word the tempest’s rage shall quell–
That word, Thy name, Immanuel.

When for the truth I suffer shame;
When foes pour scandal on my name;
When cruel taunts and jeers abound;
When “Bulls of Bashan” gird me round,
Secure within Thy tower I’ll dwell–
That tower, Thy grace, Immanuel.

When hell enraged lifts up her roar;
When Satan stops my path before;
When fiends rejoice and wait my end;
When legioned hosts their arrows send,
Fear not, my soul, but hurl at hell
Thy battle-cry, Immanuel.

When down the hill of life I go;
When o’er my feet death’s waters flow;
When in the deep’ning flood I sink;
When friends stand weeping on the brink,
I’ll mingle with my last farewell
Thy lovely name, Immanuel.

When tears are banished from mine eye;
When fairer worlds than these are nigh;
When heaven shall fill my ravished sight;
When I shall bathe in sweet delight,
One joy all joys shall far excel,
To see Thy face, Immanuel.

Immanuel–God with us. I pray you know Him today and rejoice that He is not a God far off, but One who dwells right here with us.

(Revised from the archives)

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Thanksgiving Is Not a Feeling

Posted on November 23, 2025 by Barbara Harper

I often feel a little awkward when a group leader wants participants to share something we’re thankful for right off the bat. I hope she won’t call on me first so I have a little time to think.

In the midst of a heavy trial is another time it is hard to be thankful. The weight of what we’re going through overshadows thankful feelings.

Then other times, nothing bad is going on, but life just seems mundane, unexciting. If someone asks us what we’re thankful for at those times, we’d likely draw a blank.

These are all occasions when we might not feel thankful. But thanksgiving isn’t a feeling. It’s an action. And, ironically, giving thanks even when we don’t feel thankful often leads to feeling thankful.

It doesn’t usually take a lot of thought to find reasons to be thankful. And if you’re like me, once you get started, it’s hard to stop!

When going through a trial, I can be thankful that:

God is with me.
He promised to give me grace and help me.
He knows just how much to allow.
He loves me.
He is interested in my growth even if I am not.
He has a purpose in all He allows and works it for my good.

When life is mundane, I can be thankful that:

A respite is provided from busyness.
God is with me, even in the small moments.
When I do things as unto the Lord, they are important even if they are not big.
Quiet days provide time to listen to others.

When life is busy, I am thankful that:

God gives strength.
God quiets my racing heart.
God gives peace.
Rest is coming.

Any day, I can be thankful that:

God saved me.”Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:12-14).
God comforts me. “For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody” (Isaiah 51: 3).
God helps me. “The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him” (Psalm 28:7).
God loves me. “Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!” (Psalm 107:8).
God forgives me. “I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me” (Isaiah 12:1).

We often look to our circumstances for reasons to be thankful. But we can be thankful for God Himself and His wonderful attributes:

“Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” (I Chronicles 16:34; Ezra 3:11; Psalm 106:1; 107:1; 118:1, 29; 136).
“Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness” (Psalm 30:4).
“Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods” (Psalm 95:2-3).
“I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds” (Psalm 9:1).

Among the many admonitions and encouragements to be thankful in the Bible is this, from 1 Thessalonians 5:18: “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (NKJV). In everything–all circumstances, the ESV says–there is something for which we can be thankful.

Thanksgiving often spontaneously overflows when news is good or something happy occurs. But when we’re going through something hard, thanksgiving isn’t easy. The Bible says sometimes praise is a sacrifice. When we remind ourselves who our God is, what He has promised us, and how He loves us, we can find abundant reasons to thank Him.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Joys and Sorrows of Mother’s Day

Posted on May 11, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Mother’s Day is fraught with mixed emotions.

It’s good to honor mothers. The Bible does. One of the ten commandments tells us to honor our parents. Motherhood has taken a beating by society over the last several years. Moms carry a heavy load, often unseen and unappreciated. They need all the encouragement and support they can get.

But Mother’s Day is profoundly sad for others.

Some grieve the death of their children, or their estranged children or wayward children.

Some have mothers who are still here physically but far away mentally or emotionally, mothers who rarely, if ever, showed love, mothers who abandoned them, mothers who have died. For those who feel abandoned or unloved by parents, may you truly know “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up” (Psalm 27:10).

Some would love to be mothers, yet God has not granted that request. Mother’s Day only adds to their pain. I appreciate Wendy Alsup’s thought that “God uses both the presence and the absence of children in the lives of His daughters as a primary tool of conforming us to Christ.”

Some moms grieve that their families don’t acknowledge this day at all, and they feel more taken for granted than ever. Erin has some good advice for managing expectations.

Some downplay the day. They would rather have their family appreciate them year-round, not just on a certain designated day. And, true, it doesn’t make sense to disrespect someone every other day and then buy them flowers and a card on Mother’s Day. But I always look at special days in the same vein as Thanksgiving. Yes, we’re supposed to be thankful every day, but Thanksgiving reminds us of all we have to be thankful for. Jesus’ resurrection impacts our lives every day, but it receives special focus at Easter. So Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, or someone’s birthday are just opportunities to tell someone you love that you appreciate them.

For many, all the talk of ideal mothers on Mother’s Day makes them feel their failures all the more. They feel like “perfect mother,” or even “good mother,” are titles they can never aspire to. God took our faults and foibles into account when He made us mothers. He knows we’re made of dust. We confess our sins to Him and lean on Him moment by moment for grace and help and strength to mother as He wants us to. “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

My mother and all of my older mother figures are gone now. I try to honor their memories. I am thankful for so many women who were examples to me and made me a better woman, wife, and mother. I hope I can encourage others as these ladies did me.

For those whose families show their love this day, and for those who have a mother to celebrate today, I wish you joy.

For those who sorrow, I pray for the peace that passes understanding. May His merciful kindness be for your comfort, according to His word unto you (Psalm 119:76).

(Revised from the archives.)

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Review: An Ocean of Grace

Posted on April 24, 2025 by Barbara Harper

Tim Chester collected collected thoughtful writings about Christ’s death and resurrection and edited them into An Ocean of Grace: A Journey to Easter with Great Voices of the Past.

Some of the selections are from familiar pens: Augustine, Martin Luther, and Charles Spurgeon. Others are more obscure: Cyril of Alexander from the fifth century, Gregory of Myssa from the fourth, Cyprian of the third, and many others. I was delighted to see a piece by Anne Steele, an eighteenth-century female hymn writer. And I was surprised to see a selection from Catherine Parr, Henry VIII’s last wife, leading me to read a little more about her online. I think Spurgeon is the most recent of the authors included.

These selections are divided into daily readings from Ash Wednesday to Easter. They are grouped into themes for each week: The Light of Love, The Welcome of Grace, The Exchange of Places; The Assurance of Faith, The Gift of Christ, and The Victory of God.

In his introduction, Chester says he removed archaic language except for poetry and hymns while trying to retain the “voice” of the original authors. He also says many “descriptions have been turned into a prayer addressed to God or an exhortation addressed to our own souls.” He doesn’t say why, but he also turned what I think were prose selections into a free-verse style of poetry. I wish he had kept the selections closer to the originals–but then maybe I wouldn’t think so if I read the originals.

I began reading this book late in the season due to finishing a previous study. Because of that, and because the selections were fairly short, I read two or three a day. I think that may have lessened the impact of them. If I read this book again, I’ll plan to read one a day as the author intended.

Nevertheless, I did receive much food for thought and warmth for heart by reading this book. I have many places marked, but I will try not to overwhelm you with quotes.

In an excerpt from Catherine Parr’s The Lamentations of a Sinner, she spends several lines listing her sins and Christ’s merits. She concludes:

Shall I fall in desperation?
No, I will call upon Christ,
the Light of the world,
the Fountain of life,
   the relief of all careful consciences,
    the Peacemaker between God and man,
     and the only health and comfort of all true repentant sinners.

By his almighty power he can save me
and deliver me out of this miserable state.
For this is the life everlasting, O Lord,
to believe you to be the true God,
and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
By this faith I am assured,
and by this assurance I feel the forgiveness of my sins:
this is what gives me confidence,
this is what comforts me,
this is what quenches all despair (p. 10).

This line of Puritan Stephen Charnock’s “A Discourse of the Knowledge of Christ Crucified” stood out to me: “May all the charms of sin be overcome by this ravishing love” (p. 27). He goes on to say:

How can we, with thoughts of the cross alive in our hearts, sin against so much tenderness, compassion and grace, and all the other perfections of you, our God, which sound so loud in our ears from the cross of Jesus? Shall we consider him hanging there to deliver us from hell and stain, and retain any desire to walk in the way which led him there? Can we take any pleasure in that which caused so much pain for our best friend? Can we love that which brought a curse better than him who bore the curse for us?” (pp. 26-27. I put this in paragraph form just to save time formatting).

This from Isaac Ambrose also stood out to me: “Surely his death is more satisfactory to God than all your sins can possibly be displeasing to God” (p. 94).

This was from Thomas Watson: “We cannot lift up Christ higher in heaven, but we may lift up him in our hearts. So let us believe him, adore him and love him, and exalt him in our lives, for all the doxologies and prayers in the world do not exalt Christ as much as a holy life” (p. 132).

I loved this closing poem from Henry Vaughan titled “Easter Hymn”:

Death, and darkness get you packing,
Nothing now to man is lacking,
All your triumphs now are ended,
And what Adam marred, is mended;
Graves are beds now for the weary,
Death a nap, to wake more merry;
Youth now, full of pious duty,
Seeks in thee for perfect beauty;
The weak and aged tired, with length
Of days, from thee look for new strength;
And infants with thy pangs contest
As pleasant, as if with the breast.
Then, unto him, who thus hath thrown
Even to contempt thy kingdom down,
And by his blood did us advance
Unto his own inheritance,
To him be glory, power, praise,
From this, unto the last of days! (p. 154).

I had a couple of formatting complaints in the book. Chester writes verse references as, for example, Isaiah 61 v 10 rather than Isaiah 61:10. The latter has been used for centuries. I have never seen the former except in Chester’s books. I wondered if perhaps it’s done that way in the UK, but I have read several books from authors from various countries without having seen this way of writing Bible references. I Googled “how to write Bible verse references” just to see if this is a new style, and I didn’t see it mentioned in any source I looked at. It’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. It’s more a commentary on my heart to say it irritated me. But I tried to overlook it

The other complaint is not unique to Mr. Chester, but is to all the books I have from The Good Book Company. They put the table of contents in the back of the book rather than in the front after the title page. That doesn’t make sense to me. I use the Table of Contents to look at where a book is going, not where it has been. When I am considering a new book, I look at the front cover, the back cover, the description, the table of contents, and the first few paragraphs or pages. If I look at a sample on Amazon, they usually only include the first several pages. If the Table of Contents is in the back, I am not able to see it in the sample.

I also wish Chester had listed the titles of all the readings in the Table of Contents rather than just the main section headings.

Again, these are minor issues compared to the content of the book.

There were just two or three places where I put a question mark or didn’t quite agree with how something was worded. But overall, I enjoyed this book and plan to use it again for Lenten reading in the future.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)