Watching and Waiting
“When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”” (John 5:6) Of all the “Questions God Asks,” this one is the most shocking. John tells us this invalid was brought daily, for 38 years, to the […]
I Believe in You
“Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.“ (Philemon 21, NIV) Paul wrote that line to a friend named Philemon. Philemon was a new Christian…but he was still working things out. There were some major issues in Philemon’s life that he hadn’t yet handed over […]
Broken
“While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.” (Mark 14:3, NIV) The week before Jesus’ death, he […]
Time and Money
“Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.“ […]
Living in God’s Peace (Jude 1:1)
God doesn’t promise to bring peace to our circumstances but to our hearts, regardless of our circumstances.
Dead Faith?
“… faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.“ (James 2:17) The American church has systematized and codified Christian faith. We’ve boiled it down to a list of statements we accept as true (how many are on your list depends on your brand of Christianity). Is Jesus God’s Son? Check. Was […]
God Helps Us Believe (1 John 5:10)
God has given each of us the twin testimonies of his Word and his Spirit. He speaks to us through both. We hold one in our hands, and the other holds us from within our hearts. If we truly want to progress in the life of faith, we must neglect neither.
Learning the Great Value of Tested Faith (1 Peter 1:6-7)
We need God all the time…but we don’t always feel our need for Him. We imagine that we’re OK without Him. So, He graciously provides trying circumstances in which our need becomes obvious, sometimes painfully obvious.
Believing and Doing
You and I can exercise the faith of Abraham… What God calls us to do doesn’t have to make sense – it didn’t to Abraham. He decided that he would do what God commanded not because it made sense but because God said it. That’s what makes it faith.
Keep Going. You Can Make It! (Heb. 12:1-2)
God has laid out a unique race course for your life and for mine, and He tells us to “Run in such a way to win the prize” (1 Cor. 9:24). Today’s verses provide five essentials for those of us who want to finish well.
Impressing God (Heb. 11)
Faith impresses God. In the entire Bible, Jesus was “amazed” only twice: at a Centurion’s faith and at His hometown’s lack of it … Faith is acting on what God says rather than on what we see.
Knowledge and Faith (1 Tim. 1:13-15)
Our great need is not better understanding of creation, but fuller connection to the Creator in whom is all that is good and right and beautiful. Let’s decide not to allow ignorance or unbelief keep us from that.
