We’re not always told why we’re commanded to do something. But in Matthew 5:45, Jesus tells us why we are commanded to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors, and the reason points us to a glorious, climactic reality. He says, “So that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”
Read More
We talk a lot about biblical wisdom here at Focus on the Family. The reason is because more than any other factor God’s wisdom is critical to the success of a marriage, a household or a culture. Without His wisdom to guide us, poor, even destructive choices, are sure to follow.
Read More
How refreshing it is to come across individuals who realize they have their parents to thank for so much of what they have in life. Marian Anderson was one of those individuals.
Read More
This week, we’ve discussed several reasons for God’s thundering silence in our lives. Sometimes God’s silence is the result of unconfessed sin that has created a barrier between God and us. Sometimes it’s the result of uncontrolled emotions, such as fear, that drown out God’s voice in our lives. Sometimes it’s the result of unpredictable timing because God’s timetable is different from ours
Read More
A young man and a young woman had pledged to each other and were looking forward to a near wedding day when the young man was suddenly called to service. From the warfare field, letters regularly came and went, and love shone brightly in all of them. Then, letters from the young man abruptly ceased.
Read More
The classic hymn by Robert Lowry says, “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. O precious is the flow that makes me white as snow; no other fount I know; nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
Read More
the Bible tells us that God is love. The apostle John writes, "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love" (1 John 4:8). He reiterates this truth a few sentences later. "God is love, and he who abides in love, abides in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16).
Read More
When Jesus rebuked the disciples in Matthew 8 for having "little faith," Jesus wasn't talking about saving faith but rather daily living faith (see Matthew 8:23-27). Our saving faith remains constant, but our daily living faith rises and falls according to the strength of our relationship with God. When we are not in constant intimacy with God, the first storm that hits will create fear and panic.
Read More
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” It’s hard to imagine how controversial that one little command would have been when Jesus first spoke it. We saw in a previous post that the Jews in the first century had twisted God’s Word to justify their hatred for the gentiles—even to the point of letting gentiles drown instead of helping them.
Read More
When someone says to me, “Chuck . . . I got a lot out of the message,” I usually try to respond in a way that allows him or her to be more specific.
Read More