Beautiful Scars
Can ugly scars be beautiful? The following story by Lih Yuh Kuo appears in Chicken Soup For the Soul: A little boy invited his mother to attend his elementary school’s first teacher-parent conference. To the little boy’s dismay, she said she would go. This would be the first time that his classmates and teacher met his mother and he was embarrassed by her appearance. Although she was a beautiful woman, there was a severe scar that covered nearly the entire right side of her face. The boy never wanted to talk about why or how she got the scar. At the conference, the people were impressed by the kindness and natural beauty of his mother despite the scar, but the little boy was still embarrassed and hid himself from everyone. He did, however, get within earshot of a conversation between his mother and his teacher, and heard them speaking. “How did you get the scar on your face?” the teacher asked. The mother replied, “When my son was a baby, he was in a room that caught on fire. Everyone was too afraid to go in because the fire was out of control, so I went in. As I was running toward his crib, I saw a beam coming down and I placed myself over him trying to shield him. I was knocked unconscious but fortunately, a fireman came in and saved both of us.” She touched the burned side of her face. “This scar will be permanent, but to this day, I have never regretted doing what I did.” At this point, the little boy came out running towards his mother with tears in his eyes. He hugged her and felt an overwhelming sense of the sacrifice that his mother had made for him. He held her hand tightly for the rest of the day. In a similar manner, Jesus Christ bears a scar – many scars, in fact. There are those who find that somewhat embarrassing – “You mean to tell me you worship a man who was crucified?” However, realizing that his ugly scars are the result of his efforts to save me, they suddenly take on a special beauty. Those scars led Thomas to say, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28) They lead me to say the same thing. I’m so thankful that something so ugly and horrible has taken on such beauty, because of the great love that Jesus Christ had for me. “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) About the author: Alan Smith ministers with the Church of Christ in White House, Tennessee and publishes the email devotional “Thought for the Day.”
Falling on our Face
Did her Olympic disaster remind you of anyone you know? We’ve all done it. We’ve “fallen on our face.” Some of us have done it literally. My nickname through early life was “Trip” and I’ve literally dive-bombed my way into an embarrassing situation or two – while walking to class, on dates, with family, in front of crowds, walking off of the tee box … the list could on and on. Nearly all of us have “fallen on our face” figuratively. We’ve promised God we wouldn’t fall into the same old sinful trap and then turn around and stumble over the same temptation. We’ve torn apart a relationship because of repeated bad judgment, insensitivity, or just plain ol’ sinfulness. We’ve ruined a good business because of continuing greed, arrogance, or success lust. We’ve spawned a feud with a family member and nurtured it with an unwillingness to ask for forgiveness and with an unwillingness to forgive. The list could go on and on. If we are honest, we all know a little bit how Guo Xinxin of China felt when she fell on her face the other night at the Olympics. Guo had led the first round of Women’s Aerials in freestyle skiing. However, when Evelyne Leu of Switzerland connected on her extremely hard triple summersault with three twists, Guo had to try a very hard jump to win. Her jump was beautiful in the air, but on her landing, her skis pulled apart and she missed her landing. Actually, she literally “fell on her face” with her arms and legs spread eagle with her landing. This not only cost her the Olympic gold medal, it also cost her a trip to the podium for any medal. Like the old ski jumper in ABC’s “agony of defeat” segment, that poor guy who missed his jump and bounced down the slope of the hill with his arms flailing, Guo was the “spectacle” in the “spectacle of sport.” She was the morbid fascination of this winner-take-all made for TV drama. She even made the front page of our sports section. She was displayed face down in the snow, sliding down the landing hill with ice and snow splashing all around her. Guo is from a sports culture where winning is so important – and these days it sure seems all cultures are pretty much that way about the Olympics. I have wondered how Guo will be received at home. Will she be lauded for attempting such a hard jump rather than simply settling for a medal? Will she be “scapegoated” for her failure to live up to her predicted victory? How does she feel inside about “falling on her face”? How will her friends and teammates help encourage her? Over the years, I’ve literally seen thousands of posters, plaques, needlepoints, pictures, and banners displaying Isaiah 40:30-31. Nearly all of those have a picture of an eagle. I’ve never seen any with a person lying face down in the snow! While I love the majestic grandeur of these soaring eagles, I’ve come to believe that the real heroes are not those who soar like eagles. It’s pretty easy to enjoy life and keep going when you’re soaring like an eagle! My heart is now more often drawn to those who have stumbled and fallen, even “fallen on their face,” and then they have gotten back up and kept on walking. So here’s to you, Guo XinXin. May you keep on walking. And if you do, I know you will take flight in the aerials once again. And here’s to you – yes, you who have “fallen on your face” once again. Your failure matters more than Guo’s because she failed at a game, no matter how important that game may seem. No, you have failed at your life. You’re not sure you can go on. You’re not sure you even want to try to go on. Even worse, you are not sure you are even worthy to be given another chance to go on. I want to simply remind you that the greatest of heroes are those who get up and keep walking after they have “fallen on their face,” again. God’s promise is for you, if you will summon the courage to believe … and get up … and keep on walking. Even the youths shall faint and be weary,And the young men shall utterly fall,But those who wait on the LORDShall renew their strength;They shall mount up with wings like eagles,They shall run and not be weary,They shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:30-31 NKJV) About the author: Phil Ware has authored 11 years of daily devotionals, including VerseoftheDay.com, read by 500,000 people a day. He works with churches in transition with Interim Ministry Partners and for the past 21+ years, he has been editor and president of HEARTLIGHT Magazine, author of VerseoftheDay.com, God’s Holy Fire (on the Holy Spirit), and aYearwithJesus.com. Phil has also authored four books, daily devotionals on each of the four gospels.
Daily Prayer for February 28
For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth. Psalm 57:10-11, NIV Dear Father in heaven, we thank you that you have always been gracious to us, revealing your great goodness and power in ages past and in the present. In this revelation we live, O Lord our God. You are the almighty One, who works wonders on earth and who rules the heavens so that we can be blest and helped on our earthly paths. Let your goodness and your justice be revealed throughout all the world. Arise, O Lord our God. Let your light shine in us who believe in you. Let your light shine into the whole world. Let your name be glorified. You are indeed our Father, both in heaven and on earth. You give our lives security now and in eternity. Amen. Recent articles on Plough Light Your Lamp and Read Saint Columban An ancient Irish saint exhorts us to sell our vices and buy life. Read now Painting the Neighborhood John Whitehead Allan Rohan Crite, a contemporary of the Harlem Renaissance, forged his own artistic path in Boston. He has left us a celebration of community. Read now The Masculine Virtues We Need More Of Rubin McClain Jesus shows us what it means to be manly. Read now Christian Fellowship Isn’t Just Being Nice Clarence Jordan In our hunger for fellowship, we have settled for cheap substitutes. Nowhere in the New Testament does “fellowship” imply pleasant social contacts. Read now Walls Make a Room Ersun Augustinus Kayra When offering hospitality to people in crisis, you need to know your limits and boundaries. Read now
27 Feb 2026
One sure way to avoid sin is do deal with evil desires. Seek God’s help before they become temptations which then conceive sin. Share abd pray with brethren who can hold you accountable before that conception happens. Trust God’s help in each circumstance and give glory to Him especially when you experience victory. James 1:13-15; James 5:16.
Just Don’t Hurt My Kid!
What is every parent’s instinct? God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (1 John 4:9-10 NLT) Nearly every parent has either said it or thought it: “You do something to hurt me, it’s forgivable, just don’t hurt my kid!” I will never forget when our first child was born. I was not prepared for the incredible and new type of love that flooded my soul. Here was a human being that I did not yet really know and who would not be able to respond back to me emotionally for several weeks, yet I loved him with an overwhelming and protective love. It was a different kind of love than I had ever known. The power of this love, its pervasive pull across all of my life, was astounding. My love for our son deepened and widened as he began to respond to my efforts to speak with him, to comfort him, to giggle with him, and to reassure him. Several years later, when our daughter came along, I had as much love to share with her as I had to share with our firstborn. That protective love for my kids wasn’t diminished because there was another one to love. Instead, that protective love was strengthened. I would give them anything within my ability. I would do anything I could that was for their good. I would do everything I could to make their lives better for them. Most of all, I would do anything, or take on anyone, to protect them. I believe this God-created, protective love for our children is part of what makes the story of Golgotha so powerful. Yes, on one level, a story of the crucifixion of a Jewish carpenter doesn’t have much to stir us. (1 Corinthians 1:21-2:4) On another level, however, when that Jewish Carpenter is God’s Son, something reaches out and appeals to us that is beyond intellect or emotion. Something overwhelming happens to those who understand the protective power of parental love. It is the primal parental tug on our heart: “Do to me what you must, just don’t hurt my kid!” Something in the Father’s agony at the Cross speaks to us. His ability to withhold his protective fury from his Son’s accusers, mockers, attackers, and butchers reaches us at a soul level that is deeper than words. The distance between our ability to protect our kids and God’s ability to protect his Son is expansive. Withholding his power to protect his boy, while allowing his torturous death to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins, wins our heart. Something inside us knows that we can only stand in awe of such love. Something inside that love wins us at the soul level. We become his children, too, bought by a grace beyond us. As the old hymn When I Survey the Wondrous Cross concludes, “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all!” O God Almighty, your wondrous creation captures my imagination. However, dear Father, offering your Son as the sacrifice for my sins wins my heart. Thank you for paying the ultimate price any parent could ever envision. I am humbled that you paid such a horrific price so that I could be your child. Thank you in the name of Jesus, your Son and my Savior I pray. Amen. Dear brothers and sisters, when I first came to you I didn’t use lofty words and brilliant ideas to tell you God’s message. For I decided to concentrate only on Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. I came to you in weakness, timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. I did not use wise and persuasive speeches, but the Holy Spirit was powerful among you. I did this so that you might trust the power of God rather than human wisdom. (1 Corinthians 2:1-4 NLT) About the author: Phil Ware has authored 11 years of daily devotionals, including VerseoftheDay.com, read by 500,000 people a day. He works with churches in transition with Interim Ministry Partners and for the past 21+ years, he has been editor and president of HEARTLIGHT Magazine, author of VerseoftheDay.com, God’s Holy Fire (on the Holy Spirit), and aYearwithJesus.com. Phil has also authored four books, daily devotionals on each of the four gospels.
Light for Living
What will you do when the lights all go off? When I was a boy of about ten, my mother and father took me to Carlsbad Caverns. I still remember the gigantic stalagmites and stalactites. I can almost feel the cold of being deep inside the earth on a hot summer day. But my most vivid memory is of the moment our guide had all of us find a place to sit down and – after warning of what was about to happen – turned off all the electric lights that had been put inside the dark belly of the earth. I felt like I was tumbling head over heels. My heart raced. With one hand I grasped the rock ledge on which I was sitting and with the other reached for my father. Fortunately, the tour guide didn’t allow it to last long. He turned on his flashlight. And it looked as bright as a million candle-power searchlight! An ordinary flashlight that costs $3.00, complete with batteries, can push back the encompassing, frightening darkness of Carlsbad Caverns. A beam that would be hardly noticeable at ground level on a sunny day looks like a laser in deep darkness. As soon as it appeared, my stomach gave up its tumbling sensation. My lunch became stable again. I could see my parents’ faces in outline again and knew I wasn’t alone. I sensed that the single light in our guide’s hand heralded the return of the lights which had guided us previously and whose presence we had taken for granted. When God created Planet Earth for our habitation, he came onto a scene that was formless and dark. He pushed back the darkness with light, then set about to bring order to chaos. It takes light for life to survive and thrive. When Jesus was re-creating the human race and restoring hope to despairing people, he came onto a scene made formless and dark again. This darkness had come by human rebellion against his Father and humanity’s inhumanity to its own. In his birth, teaching, lifestyle, and personal victory over death in the resurrection, he pushed back the darkness with the light of heaven’s bright glory. To use John’s language, Jesus was the light shining into our darkness; the darkness could not conquer the light he brought. If you ever feel the head-over-heels sensation that comes of being in the deep darkness, look in his direction. Jesus is still the Light of the World. And it is only in the presence of light that you can live, grow, and flourish. “I am the world’s Light,” Jesus said. “No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in” (John 8:12 MSG). About the author: Rubel Shelly preached for decades and served as a professor of medical ethics, Bible, and philosophy at multiple universities. He was a former president of Rochester College and Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Lipscomb University. He was the author of more than 30 books and hundreds of inspirational articles. His commitment to a non-sectarian presentation of the gospel touched countless lives.
At Just the Right Time
Can you hang on till the right time? When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. (Romans 5:6) Something always seems to happen at just the right time. The something may be different, usually is, but something almost always happens at just the right time to make life better, to get you through a situation, or to give you strength to continue the journey. A mother who spends all day with small children gets almost to the end of her rope by the end of the day. Her nerves are on edge. The noise in the house has reached the “driving me crazy stage.” She has issued her last warning. “The next child who says, ‘Mommy, I want …’ will spend the rest of the day in their room.” Then, at just the right time, Dad comes home and gives her a break (hopefully a real break, not just the opportunity to prepare dinner). She will be able to survive another day with the children. A teacher has reached his breaking point with his unruly students who daydream more than focus, talk more than listen, and play more than they study. He’s questioning his sanity and considering a career change. He’s made up his mind that if things do not get better by year’s end, he’s quitting. At just the right time, a former student stops by just to talk. During the conversation the student tells him, “You taught me so much! Thank you.” He will renew his contract. A youth worker is considering leaving his ministry position. He’s been doing it for years. He is afraid he’s losing touch with the younger generation. His family needs have changed. He finds himself scanning the “Minister Needed” section of the church papers, and occasionally he ponders what it would be like to be just a regular church member. At just the right time he gets a call from a former member of his youth group. He tells him he is considering going into youth ministry and wants to ask his advice. A dad drags himself out of his office at the end of another long grueling day. He’s seen his clients more often than he has seen his family. Yesterday he missed another of his son’s games. He likes his job but finding the balance between work and family is tough. He wishes he could figure out a better way of life. At just the right time he and his family get away for a vacation. They reconnect. They recommit. They refocus. They are refreshed. He will go back to work next week with a new attitude. A friendship is hanging on by a thread. Too much time and too many miles have made it difficult to stay close. Every week your good intentions are to give her a call. Every week you fail to call. You rarely hear from her and when you do it is just the surface stuff of life that you despise. At just the right time she calls and says she is coming for a visit. You visit. You laugh. You rebuild. You are amazed at how it seems as though you picked up right where you were the last time you were together. A believer does everything in his power to justify his inheritance in the kingdom. He works hard in the church. He provides for his family. He prays regularly and often. He reads his Bible daily. He doesn’t cuss, smoke or drink, and he does not hang out with those who do. But still it’s not enough. He has no peace. He has no hope. He has no confidence in eternity. At just the right time, God sent his son into the world to die on the cross and save us from our sins and finally understands the reality of the Father’s grace. (Romans 5:1-11) God provides for our needs at just the right time. The right time is not always what we consider the right time. But it is His time. That is the right time. May God bless you so that you can see this time when it comes! About the author: Tom Norvell is the author of “A Norvell Note” — Thoughts and reflections on God, life, people, and living as a follower of Jesus. He has ministered with followers of Jesus for four decades and loves Jesus, his family, and those seeking Jesus, passionately.
24 Feb 2026c
May we not be counted amongst the wicked, amongst those who do not fear God. May we choose to be on God’s side and to live for Him. May the words of our mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to God. Psalm 14:1-7.
23 Feb 2026
In 2 Kings 9:14-37, 2 prophecies that God had made concerning Joram and Jezebel come to pass. This goes to show the greatness of God and the power of His word. May the Lord grant us peace and may we fear Him enough to obey Him.
26 Feb 2026
With God’s help, let us avoid what would lead us into sin and do what His word prescribes. Let us flee like Joseph if we have to and avoid moral filth as James 1:19-25 states. May we strive to avoid anger and evil and meditate on God’s word which can save us.