On February 11, 2012, at age 61, Mike Stohlmeyer, a good friend of and mission partner with us at Desiring God, entered the joy of his master, Jesus Christ. After a 39-year battle with Crohn’s Disease, Mike’s body…

“Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved. Sitting on the beach after breakfast, Jesus had just asked him for the third time if he loved him. Peter had already wholeheartedly answered yes twice. What else was…

There he sat, the scum of society on the footstep of heaven on earth, begging the condescending mercy of pious passersby going in and out of the temple. Enough mercy today and he could eat. This man was blind. He…

When visiting my mother recently I was leafing through a well-known magazine and came across an article about a well-known actress who is a professing Christian. The article described her vibrant faith and the role of prayer in her life…

Will Jesus provide for you? Are you struggling to believe it, because when you do the math it doesn’t add up? You’re in good company. Philip and Andrew had witnessed astounding miracles by Jesus, but when it came to feeding…

According to folk history, the… …English word sincere comes from two Latin words: sine (without) and cera (wax). In the ancient world, dishonest merchants would use wax to hide defects, such as cracks, in their pottery so that they…

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son” (Galatians 4:4). Jesus, you came in "the fullness of time." But how many of your children living during the ripening years wondered at your tarrying? A thousand…

Mary was “blessed among women” (Luke 1:42). She received the singular holy gift of being the mother of our Lord (Luke 1:43). God the Son dwelled inside of her body in human form. Then he lived in her home and…

(Un)Planned Detours “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps" (Proverbs 16:9). As Jesus’ earthly father discovered, this is just another way of saying that when your plans are detoured and redirected, you find out…

This imaginative story, including character names, was written as a sort of prequel to John Piper’s moving story, The Innkeeper. A Stable of Desperation The first Christmas night was a holy night. But it was not a silent night…

A Painful Decision When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her …

Jesus guides us in many different ways. Sometimes he makes the next step clear as day. Other times, like Peter discovered in John 21:1-14, it feels like we’re left to muddle through, only to find that Jesus was leading through…

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope (Romans 8:20). Are you tired of fighting futility? Evil and disorder relentlessly throw wrenches into the gears of your life. What’s the…

“Lord, what about this man?” (John 21:21) Peter asked Jesus this question when he learned that Jesus had ordained very difficult things for Peter’s future. So Peter wanted to know about John. Was Jesus going to give John a better…

Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair (John 12:3). Judas simply could not fathom Mary’s ridiculous decision. During dinner she had just…

She hobbled into the synagogue to hear the healing rabbi. Hoping against hope. You see, she “had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself” (Luke 13:10-11). Eighteen years. How…

Ask the Apostle Paul to explain love (agápē) and the first thing out of his mouth: “Love is patient” (1 Corinthians 13:4). Forget the rest of his list for a moment; my work is already cut out for…

A reflection on John 8:2-11. “Shame on you, Whore!” She was married, but not to the man in whose arms she had been laying. Suddenly the door had burst open. Oh no! Instantly she was in the grasp of angry…

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:11-12) God is such a…

No one puts it as bluntly as Blaise Pascal in his Pensées: All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and…

“Andrew. Oh! You’re Simon Peter’s brother, aren’t you?” Andrew must have gotten used to that. Even the New Testament introduces him as “Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother” (John 1:40). Peter’s shadow is cast over Andrew from the beginning. Andrew is mentioned…

Most of the decisions you will make today aren’t explicitly addressed in the Bible. Questions like, should I eat out today? What should I wear? Should I respond to this instance of my child’s sin with correction or forbearance? Should…