God’s kingdom is the realm of His rule, a spiritual domain within hearts surrendered to His will. Jesus taught us to pray for God’s kingdom to come on earth, a call for each of us to live in alignment with His divine sovereignty.
Our hearts are happiest when we want the same things that God wants and when those things are granted to us by His grace. To know that our deeds have been harmonized with our Father’s will is a wonderfully refreshing feeling.
Although there is some difficulty in choosing the life that God offers, it is no difficulty at all compared to what is encountered on the path to death. And choosing life over death is also easier than living in the limbo of not deciding.
It is the justice of God that makes His mercy meaningful. Just as our love for God would mean little if we were robots who had no choice but to love Him, God’s mercy toward us would be meaningless if punishment were an impossibility.
The goal of God’s commandment is love: a love from a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith. True faith seeks God and results in love, marking us as disciples. Without love, our spiritual journey risks missing the point entirely.
Physical, mental, and emotional growth may be important, but it’s even more important to grow in the spiritual dimension of our nature. We need — every day — to be moving away from the mortality of the body and toward the immortality of the spirit.
Christianity is a path through the world, not a detour. As Jesus prayed for His apostles, we too are called to live “in the world” but not be “of the world,” rejecting worldly values and dedicating ourselves to God’s mission of compassion.
It simply can’t be said too often: we must seek God with our whole hearts. Only a single-minded focus on our Heavenly Father will get us where we want to be. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).
What if we find ourselves, as most of us do, already among the affluent? Then we need to be honest about the difficulties and dangers that face us, and we need to do whatever it takes to compensate for the disadvantage of our possessions.
There aren’t many Christians who wouldn’t say that God is their most valuable treasure. But where is the evidence of that? The real location of our treasure is most easily discovered by looking at where we invest most of our energy and enthusiasm.
God’s people “bear” His name. In a sense, God has put His reputation in the hands of those who are “a people for his name.” Knowing that the world is ...
“I will be their God” had reference in the old covenant to Israel, but in the new it would encompass people from every nation. And amazingly, even this had been ...
Reconciliation can only be through the atonement of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. But in Christ, let us not undervalue what it’s possible for us to be: a people set aside ...
If God has a people, which He certainly does in Jesus Christ, it was not without purpose that He made them His people. God dwells with us in order that ...
Reminiscent of the Passover lamb in Israel, Jesus was a greater sacrifice, enabling God to justify mankind from its sins. John the Baptist said on one occasion as he saw ...
Christ gave Himself up for the church in order that “he might sanctify her.” The whole plan by which Christ was able to have a “set apart” people depended on ...
The church in Philippi had begun in unusual circumstances, and they had been a great encouragement to Paul. The salutation of his letter to them (Philippians 1:1) is a good ...
Let’s consider the fascinating group which Paul addressed as “the church of God that is in Corinth.” Together, the two letters that we have from Paul to Corinth take up ...
Christ’s resurrection proves that God can be counted on to help us. His power will guard and keep us until our hope is finally realized. So when discouragement hits us ...
What if you become a Christian? In America, as Christians become a shrinking segment of the population and our views become despised by the mainstream culture, it is likely that ...
Without faith, baptism accomplishes nothing. It is not a merely ritualistic act, effective regardless of what is going on in the recipient’s heart. Rather, its efficacy depends on “faith in ...
God is one, but His unity is a tri-unity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While this challenges our best efforts to understand, it is clearly what the Scriptures reveal about ...