In areas where we may not understand the rationale for what God commands, let’s trust that God knows what He is doing. Because we have faith that God is wise and that He will never lead us astray, let’s obey whatever God’s will is.
We need to make the effort throughout life to grow deeper in the knowledge of what prayer should be. Indeed, there is more to learn about communicating with God than we could learn in a long lifetime. The challenge is to keep learning and growing.
Just as Israel was tempted to rely on other help other than what God provided, we may not place our total confidence in Him. We may be tempted to “supplement” our faith in God with a variety of earthly confidences: worldly wealth, wisdom, and power.
God expects us to grow to maturity in Christ, and we must decide to cooperate with His plan for our perfection in eternity. Spiritual growth is not optional. If we’re negligent or lazy right now, we can’t depend on grace to get us to heaven.
In the final analysis, what really are the components of genuine happiness? If we’re serious about answering that question, the account in Genesis 2 of Adam and Eve’s happiness in the Garden of Eden will be of more than passing interest to us.
As special as the relationship was that God entered into with the nation of Israel, that relationship was only meant to foreshadow and prepare for the even more special union between God and spiritual Israel, which is the church of Jesus Christ.
Whatever secondary benefits there may be to membership in a local congregation, the main one is spiritual growth. We always need to be asking: are we helping one another to grow toward maturity in Christ? If not, some adjustments need to be made.
The knowledge of God comes through the truth about Himself that God has revealed in the Scriptures. There is no knowing God without taking into our hearts the words of the Scriptures. To know God, we must learn what the Scriptures say about Him.
There is no greater foolishness than to ignore God — and no greater wisdom than to properly worship Him. We are glorious creatures made in the very image of God. Let’s not only recognize that fact but be exceedingly thankful for it.
Moses prayed for the people of Israel, “Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!” We are wise if we seriously consider the end of life. Quality lives are the result of a definite choice we make.
There is simply no force in the world more potent than love — and when love is a holy passion for God, it is a force that will move us ...
Is it any wonder that we see so many exhortations in the Scriptures to keep the faith. These warnings are greatly needed. We should not be doubtful about our salvation, ...
Despite the negative aspects of “warfare,” it is a fact that strength, as well as gratitude, is generally built up through struggle. Danger is certainly one of the “good and ...
Heaven won’t be for those who have earned it by their own success in being good people; it will be for those who have been rescued by the Great Redeemer. ...
For all Job knew, he was going to die from his afflictions, but if so, he was unconcerned: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he ...
Confronting the awfulness of our sin, without self-pity or evasion of responsibility, we should grieve how we’ve rebelled against God’s love. And we should yearn to be with Him in ...
We tend to see people only through the lens of their past. And unfortunately, if a person’s past is so sinful that we deem them unfit candidates for God’s grace, ...
Human beings have always faced an ultimate choice. Do we lay aside our self-sufficiency and trust in our Creator, or do we double down on our self-sufficiency and trust in ...
Rather than dismissing the distinction between godliness and ungodliness by saying, “Only God knows who His people are,” we need to be growing in our ability to make this distinction ...
Let’s avoid thinking that “eternal life” is different only in that it lasts longer than our earthly life. It is indeed “eternal” because it is unending, but more than that, ...
The fact that, as Joseph knew, sin is always against God should weigh more heavily in our thinking than any social consideration. Social consequences are serious, no doubt, but separation ...
We can stay where we are, which is easier, at least in the short run, or we can let the Great Deliverer begin to break our chains. Between now and ...