If we are to make any worthwhile progress, we must deal with our daily decisions straightforwardly. If they seem difficult this morning, they will be more so this afternoon — and by this evening, they may have become practically impossible.
When it comes to God, there is no safe territory between love and hatred. Halfheartedness is simply one form of hatred, and it is the most repulsive to God. For this reason, Jesus wishes to disturb us. “I did not come to bring peace but a sword.”
If we seek God truly, we will not wander aimlessly in the realm of spirituality but will pursue a path that goes toward the doing of definite good things. The discipleship He seeks is not merely one that we enjoy, but one that produces results.
Our hearts are moved by Jesus’ words: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:23). This seems much too good to be true. Only God could make it true.
We’re invited to “take hold of the life that is truly life.” There is no good reason why our God can’t be the God whom David knew: “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
God waits for us to confess our weakness and come home to Him. The story contained in the Scriptures is the story of how God made this homecoming possible. It is the story of an infinite God in whose perfection we may find our sustenance and support.
“In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). To be rightly related to God is to believe that He “has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).
We find ourselves frustrated, unable to find the complete fulfillment of our desires. Unaided by anything outside of time and space, we discover that despite short-term successes, the long-term verdict is that we’ve been “grasping for the wind.”
When we allow our lives to be driven by materialism, it must be admitted that we lead very hollow lives. Whether we face the fact or not, our hearts were made to experience much more than anything the material world can provide.
Worldliness means being preoccupied with temporal matters so that spiritual concerns are crowded out of our thinking. Paul wrote, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” This is not easy to do, given the pull of this world.
God must be TREATED as holy, with respect for His commandments, but He will also DISPLAY His holiness in His dealings with those who come near — even by punishing ...
There is a link between the CHARACTER of God and the COMMANDS of God. When God has given any instruction to regulate our behavior, we cannot disrespect His WORD without ...
The first thing necessary was for the people to repent of the sins for which they sought God’s forgiveness. So the only preaching that could have prepared them for the ...
In practical terms, a person’s burial and resurrection in baptism marks the beginning of a new life, so much so that it can be said that a new person has ...
We can deplore Israel’s lack of trust when they backed away from God’s command, but do we do any better? When it comes to obeying the gospel of Christ, do ...
If Jesus’ tomb was empty, we must decide whether its emptiness means He was resurrected. And most importantly, we have to decide whether, if Jesus was resurrected, that means “God ...
Psalm 110 is a powerful prophecy of the Messiah — every part of it meshes seamlessly with Jesus Christ. No wonder the New Testament writers saw in David’s words clear ...
The apostles played a pivotal role in the NT period. No one since then has possessed Christ’s authority as they did, and their teaching will always be the benchmark against ...
If it is our pride that is the root of our sin, there can be no deliverance for us if we won’t humble ourselves before our King. But are we ...
The messianic titles in Isaiah 9:6 (Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace) are epithets that could apply only to a divine ruler, a King worthy of receiving ...
Writing to Christians, Peter used all of the ideas in Exodus 19:5,6: “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that ...
Abraham is the prime example of how salvation works: the forefather of all who trust in God’s promises enough to actually walk by faith. And when the whole host of ...