Sometimes we think we have it all planned out. We have a goal that we have set for ourselves and have established the path needed to reach that goal. Unfortunately, life does not always seem to cooperate with those plans. In these times, we may become confused, frustrated, upset, and seemingly hopeless. We may ask God why He has allowed a hardship or great devastation to take place in our lives. The answer as to why this situation is happening may come in any length of time. For some, the reason may come quickly. For others, the answer may not come for years to follow. Nevertheless, we must remain patient for His answer and continue to press on through each trial. We must do this not only to grow in our own trust in God but also to show others the power of faith and God's miracles. Through each trial that you face, you are given the opportunity to have a stronger relationship with Christ. When you endure through those trials, you become a living testimony for God's grace. You become a source of hope and inspiration to others going through their own trials. Take each battle one day at a time. It is not always easy, and at times you may stray off course, but you will likely discover a greater purpose for your time here on earth while you patiently endure.

Patience, Endurance, and Longsuffering explains that things will not always work out the way we want them to be and at the time we want them to happen. The Word of God tells us that the testing of our faith produces patience, and when patience, endurance, or longsuffering is allowed to do its perfect work, we become perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Patience, perseverance, endurance, and longsuffering will get you establish in your walk with God. He who believes shall not be in haste; and if you always want it now, then you are not matured yet!

"Your word I have treasured in my heart." Psalm 119:11 The book of Psalms applies to every facet of life—positive and negative, busy and quiet, joyful and hurting. The words within are always timely, always freeing, and always God-revealing. Take a fresh look at this beloved book of the Bible with 90 thought-provoking devotions accompanied by questions to ponder. Concise yet deep, each devotion takes just a couple of minutes to read while preparing your heart to engage with eternity and enter into the presence of the Lord. The psalms are raw...real...relevant. Soak in their profound truths and let God use them to lead you ever onward in your faith walk—deeper and closer to His heart.

Could the cry “Come out of her My people” (Rev 18:4) not be needed more today than it was when John penned the Apocalypse? The book of Revelation begins and ends with the affirmation that God is the world’s true Lord, not Caesar. In telling this story, John lays out for us the fact that Christ’s kingdom is not like the kingdoms of the world. The kingdoms of the world rule by force and at the expense of the masses and for the benefit of those in power. Jesus’s kingdom, however, comes through love. In Christ’s kingdom, power is demonstrated by laying down one’s life for one’s enemies. Jesus, of course, demonstrated this kind of love on the cross, and he calls us to do the same. We have nothing to fear. After all, Jesus was dead and now he is alive and he has the keys to Death and Hades. Unfortunately, many interpreters have come to believe that the devastation and destruction depicted in the book of Revelation—in particular, in the accounts of the Seven Seals and the Seven Bowls—are God’s end-times wrath. But have we ever stopped to consider that this portrait of God is fundamentally at odds with the gospel? And with Jesus’s call for us to love one another even as he loved us? The book of Revelation tells a different story.

Faithful Christian living in the everyday might not sound challenging, but, as author and blogger Aimee Byrd shows us, it's actually a real workout! Knowing God takes effort-just like any relationship. Aimee invites us to join her in some theological fitness training as she unpacks our call to perseverance in the book of Hebrews and explores the great metaphor that physical fitness lends to theology. Learn about the "fighting grace" God has given you, discover how you are equipped to live a life of Christ-focused obedience, and get ready to embrace your faith in a fresh, invigorating way. Book jacket.

Martin Luther's writings can be a bit intimidating. Readers can become overwhelmed with the thought of reading his works on their own. Reading Isaiah with Luther for everyday Christians. It offers a non-intimidating way for Christians to study Scripture and learn from Luther while being guided by a contemporary pastor who helps bridge the gaps between Scripture and Luther, and Luther and contemporary life. The devotional format makes Luther's commentary on the Book of Isaiah accessible, relatable, and inviting.

Apart from impressive liturgical expressions every year in Advent and one stirring statement called “The Christian Hope,” which concludes the Prayer Book Catechism, the Episcopal Church is not known for its formation and application of eschatology—the doctrine of last things. A Heart for the Future: Writings on the Christian Hope may change that. The distinguished and diverse contributing authors—including Robert M. Cooper, Robert D. Hughes, Harold T. Lewis, Fredrica Harris Thompsett, Paul F. M. Zahl, and Robert Boak Slocum (who is also the general editor)—differ widely in method, meaning, and approach. They are very much alike, however, in the rigor with which they profess their faith in the Christian future, avoiding the simplistic eschatology that would cleave the Body of Christ in two by creating a false dichotomy between walking with God in this world and walking toward God in the next. The choice Christians must make is not between the now and the external; it is between being forward-looking and being backward-looking. Unless we look with eagerness and longing toward the future, we will stay stranded in the past. To live the Christian life today, we need A Heart for the Future.