Reset with Bonnie Sala

Hannah Whitall Smith is known for writing a little book called, The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life. Since 1875, millions of people have been helped by it. But if you thought that Smith was qualified to write this devotional because her life was perfect, think again.

Jesus spoke about money to his disciples saying, "So don't be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven never get old or develop holes. Your treasure will be safe; no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it (Luke 12:32-33).

When my dad would teach on relationships, he told a joke that was funny, sad and probably true in a lot of relationships.  A woman who was asked, "When did your husband last tell you, 'I love you'?" The wife answered with "years ago!"  Then they brought in her husband, and he gave exactly the same answer: "I told her that I loved her when I married her," he said, "and I also told her that if I eve...

Lisa's circumstances made home-schooling the best option for her children.  But her home was small, her husband worked long hours from home and "school" had to be done at the kitchen table.  It was super messy, and it was stressful to keep her two healthy boys quiet enough for her husband to make business calls.

Mothers used to tell their daughters, "Beauty is, as beauty does," to emphasize that real beauty is an action, rather than a look, or outfit of the day.  The Bible teaches, "Don't be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet s...

It's late at night on the other side of the world when I finally get a text message on my phone.  It's Anya, my friend for whom God answered many prayers, when Anya and her husband welcomed a baby girl into their arms two months ago.

When we look around in this world and want to know just exactly what God intended when he created people, we're not going to find an answer.  What we were, at creation, ended through disobedience, through our desire to be equal to God.  The Bible says that "When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned" (Romans 5:12).

I've developed a habit that helps me keep my friendships alive.  At the conclusion of having coffee with a friend, I make sure we put another date on the calendar to be together--even if it's months and months away! Because we need to be together to have relationship.

There are crossroads in life where the subject of vocation looms large. Maybe you've just finished a degree or finished raising children. "What are you going to do now?" people ask. And you're probably wondering the same thing.

After 70 years of studying, preaching, and teaching the Word of God, my grandfather Duffield was in the hospital, nearing death.  When He asked me to read from his Bible at his side, I thought, "Grandpa, you could recite that passage word for word!"  He wanted to hear the Word He had loved and mastered.  Now, his peaceful, sweet spirit showed that God's Word had mastered him.

The news is bad.  Your bar exam results came back… and you failed again.  Your biopsy was positive, or your pregnancy test was negative.  No one escapes the bad news of life, but the Bible gives us a beautiful example of how to handle the very worst of news.

Bible teacher, Jill Briscoe, gave a talk titled, "Prayer that Works." [1]   Sometimes we think of prayer as either "working," or "not-working," depending on whether we received our desired outcome.  "We know that He hears when we make our requests," the Bible assures us (1John 5:15).  He always hears, He always answers, and sometimes the answer is no.   [1] Briscoe, J. (2019, July 10). Prayer That...

I was looking forward to a weekend of rest after a hectic week. Saturday morning dawned with sunshine and birds outside my window, but I felt strangely anxious. I made a quick list of the things I thought I would do in the next two days as I "rested."  I realized I had a problem when I counted 21 things on my "restful weekend" list!

Jesus said it three times (John 13:34-5).  You'll find it a dozen times in the New Testament of the Bible.  It's a little phrase that describes something people have a hard time doing, but followers of Jesus are supposed to be known for it.

She was crowned Miss USA while getting her law degree and an MBA. The former Division I college athlete then left law to become an Emmy Award nominated television correspondent—and she'd just turned 30.  But when she couldn't answer what she called, "the world's most important question," Cheslie Kryst jumped to her death from a New York high-rise.

I can't, but You can .  That's my prayer each morning, as I think about my responsibilities in the day ahead, hoping that I can remember to think before speaking and fight the urge to put myself before others.  Sometimes, it's enough to make me want to stay in bed.

This world is passing away.  And it's ok. We need to remember this when we hear about terror attacks, child pornography, human trafficking, racial injustice, and the list goes on.  "The world around us is under the control of the evil one," the Bible book of 1 John explained long ago (1 John 5:19). "My Kingdom," Jesus said while here on earth, "is not an earthly kingdom" (John 18:36).  Satan is a...

There's a lot of handwringing going on today. Have you heard people saying things like: "What kinds of world will my children face as adults?" or "I sure wouldn't want to be raising kids today! But you won't hear comments like these from Alex Cravens.  He's a youth pastor and father of two young sons. 

Jesus got into a boat with His disciples to cross the Sea of Galilee, a journey of about six miles.  Tired, Jesus went right to sleep. The Bible says, "A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.  Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.  The disciples woke him and said to him, 'Teacher, don't you care that we're going to drown?'  He got up, re...

When Charles Colson wanted to start a prison ministry, he went to the Chief of the Bureau of U.S. Prisons, requesting permission to go into the jails and do Bible studies with the men.  The prison head didn't agree but said he'd take it under consideration.

Jason's best friend, Matt, moved to Japan to be a missionary. When Matt met his future wife there, they planned a wedding near Christmastime. Jason bought a plane ticket to attend the wedding months in advance for nearly $1000. But as the wedding neared, Jason realized he'd mistakenly bought his ticket for November and his flight had left without him a month ago. Jason was devastated because he co...

I don't know who said it, but I like this saying: "We are all crooked sticks through whom God strikes a straight blow." Perhaps it's a version of what Martin Luther may have said: "God can draw a straight line with a crooked stick." 

Soul weary.  It's the condition expressed well by Bilbo Baggins in Tolkien's, The Fellowship of the Rings . "I am old…I don't look it, but I am beginning to feel it in my heart of hearts…Why, I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over too much bread. That can't be right. I need a change, or something." [1]   [1] Tolkien, J.R.R. The Tolkien q...

An insurance company ran commercials in what they called their "Get You Back Where You Belong" campaign. One began with a red convertible car rising up out of the ocean and flying up onto a cliff, where the car had been parked.  A smiling man had been leaning against the car, posing for a photo, when the car had begun to roll and propelled off the cliff.  The idea was that this brand of insurance...

Jesus was God.  He was also man.  Yet, perhaps like me, you find it hard to imagine Him experiencing human emotions just like we do.  The Bible tells us that He cried (John 11:33), He was angry (Matthew 23:33) and He felt compassion (Matthew 9:20-22).  But are you familiar with the time that Jesus was amazed ?