Tag: JOHN D. BARRY

  • HE’S DEAD, BUT YOU CAN BE ALIVE

    Connect The TestamentsJoshua 1:1-3:17; 2 Corinthians 9:1-5; Psalm 47:1-9 “My servant Moses is dead” (Josh 1:2). Imagine the shock of this moment for Joshua, Moses’ right-hand man. He probably already knew about Moses’ death before God told him (Deut 34:1–8), but it’s in this moment that he really feels the tragedy. If you’ve experienced death,…

  • I’LL TAKE THE ARROW

    Connect The TestamentsDeuteronomy 29:1-29; 2 Corinthians 7:8-16; Psalm 42:1-43:5 “Better is an arrow from a friend than a kiss from an enemy.”When I first heard this saying, I was struck by what a truism it is. It wasn’t until years later, though, that I began surrounding myself with wise friends who would tell me the…

  • FINDING HELP

    Reflections on Numbers I say, “Help comes from God.” I tell people, “You’re not alone.” Both are empty phrases if I don’t live like I believe them. The book of Numbers shows us that as the Israelites traveled through the wilderness, they, too, struggled to live out these words. After 40 years of wandering, they…

  • THE CURIOUS THING ABOUT GOD’S WORK

    Connect The TestamentsDeuteronomy 26:1-27:26; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; Psalm 40:1-17 Doing God’s work is a curious thing. It requires both mad rushes and patiently waiting. Christ followers are meant to think like the psalmist did: “I waited patiently for Yahweh, And he inclined to me and heard my cry for help” (Psa 40:1). Yet Jesus’ followers…

  • CURSES, THE OLD TESTAMENT, AND FREEDOM

    Connect The TestamentsDeuteronomy 21:1-22:30; 2 Corinthians 5:11-21; Psalm 38:1-22 “And if a man commits a sin punishable by death, and so he is put to and you hang him on a tree, his dead body shall not hang on the tree, but certainly you shall bury him on that day, for cursed by God is…

  • THE GLOBAL RESET BUTTON

    Connect The TestamentDeuteronomy 15:1-17:20; 2 Corinthians 4:7-18; Psalm 37:1-22 When I was a kid, I loved playing Super Nintendo—especially Donkey Kong. Despite my love for it, it would just make me angry at times. When I couldn’t handle the way the game was panning out, I would slam down the controller and hit the reset…

  • AN IRRATIONAL LIFE

    Connect The TestamentsDeuteronomy 11:1-12:28; 2 Corinthians 3:9-18; Psalm 35:12-28 Love is irrational. It requires doing things that compromise every survival instinct.Moses tells God’s people to have a memory of what God has done among them and to love Him as a result: “And you shall love Yahweh your God, and you shall keep his obligations…

  • TREATING THE SYMPTOM

    Connect The TestamentsDeuteronomy 7:1-8:20; 2 Corinthians 2:12-17; Psalm 34:1-22 I regularly predict that something will only take me an hour when it actually ends up taking two. I’m beginning to think that this is a sign of a larger issue: the tendency to underestimate the severity of a problem. In medical offices, this is called…

  • YOUR INNER SELF

    Connect The TestamentsDeuteronomy 4:1-49; 2 Corinthians 1:17-24; Psalm 32:1-11 “Did I leave the burner on?” “Did I lock the door?” “I feel like I’m forgetting something.” Forgetfulness is a syndrome we all experience at one time or another. Many of our forgetful moments end up being minor inconveniences. But there is one thing we should never forget:…

  • MOVING ON

    Connect The TestamentsDeuteronomy 1:1-46; 2 Corinthians 1:1-11; Psalm 31:1-9 “You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Turn now and move on” (Deut 1:6–7). We have a terrible tendency to stay in one place or keep doing one activity longer than we should. Our meetings run long, we constantly work overtime, or we overstay a…