Daily Challenges Archive

The words inspired utterance sound like a very cool thing to have. I like to think that when I teach or preach, I’m sharing an inspired utterance. Once I learned that the Hebrew for these words carried the meaning “a heavy burden.” And it also has...

There is nothing in this verse, or any other in the Bible dealing with disciplining our children, that says we are to enjoy it. I hated disciplining my kids when they were young. It hurts my heart to watch my grandchildren be disciplined. After de...

Evildoers sounds like a throwback to cartoon or superhero bad guys. The extent of the evil they represent is sometimes hard to imagine. Some other, and perhaps more common, translations for the word evildoers are evil people, evil men, wicked, or ...

My 93-year-old mom is in hospice care. I received a call the other day saying she only had hours—maybe two days—left before she went to meet Jesus. I began making a variety of preparations to get down there and be with her. This was a very sudden ...

As I was reading this Proverb, my 7-year-old grandson overheard me. He stopped me at this verse and said, “That’s kind of interesting.” When I asked him why, he said it made him think of pyramids. As I began to move along—since that didn’t seem to...

In this verse, Solomon is letting us know that power comes from God’s wisdom. This is true power. In the New Testament, God takes it even further when He tells us that the power He places in us as His followers is the same power that raised Jesus ...

I had lunch the other day with a young business leader. After visiting with him, I was impressed by his wisdom and insight for a person his age. Solomon speaks about how our hearts are made glad by our interactions with people like this. Mine cert...

Who doesn’t love a person with a pure heart? I know I’m certainly blessed and encouraged by being in the presence of those people. I wish there were more. I want to be more that way. Speaking with grace may be a far greater challenge. The instruct...

When I read this, I think, great for the king. I mean, it really is great for us when God controls the king’s or our leaders hearts to that degree as well. Obviously, if the King of the universe is in control like that, we will all be better off. ...

It’s painful to recognize that when I was younger, I thought someone who walked away from a fight—or more specifically, from arguing and taking a stand for what they believed was right—was weak. I don’t mean taking a stand for Christ or standing t...

This is a tough verse. Mocking justice and devouring wickedness and evil sound like not only an awful way to live, but also a very sad and dangerous person to deal with. This is not just a casual person who lies about what they saw in a court of l...

I have this person in my life. Almost all of us do. Early in my life, I learned that whenever possible, I should work to no longer have them in my life. Nothing dramatic needs to take place—I simply move away from the times and places where our pa...