Imagine looking up at the evening sky in the desert somewhere in the Middle East thousands of years ago. Think of all the brilliant stars you would have seen without the ambient lights of modern civilization. That's the type of night sky Abraham would have seen when God told him, "Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them. . . . So shall your ...
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Do you ever find yourself absorbed in the activities of life and wonder how you became so busy? Many people overextend themselves to the point of exhaustion. When asked why they are rushing here and there, they answer that they are just keeping up with the normal details of life.
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Whether you are married or not, Peter has some good advice: The beauty of your character is your greatest asset. No matter what people say about you or do to you, your character says the most about who you are. The decisions you make when no one is watching determine the depth and nature of your character.
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The apostle Paul knew about the dangers of false teaching. As an itinerant evangelist, he would travel from town to town, preaching the Gospel and planting churches. Many times, after he would leave a city to continue on his mission, false teachers would come in and teach God's people destructive doctrines and lies. These false teachers were wicked men who would do anything to attain their ends. In Thessalonica, for ...
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Whether it's their first day of kindergarten or their first semester away at college, raising a child is an exercise in trust. Ultimately, it is the Holy Spirit who must work in the lives of our children, so we must trust the Lord, praying fervently but always with faith that God is at work. Read John 4:46-54. This is an account of a father's love for his son and his faith in ...
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Sin—the product of disobedience—is deceitful. We can even be mired in sin and yet unaware of our disobedience because of our cultural blindness. It is a consequence of the fall that we struggle against daily—a brokenness that we could never cure—a failing with an ultimate cost. Romans 6:23 tells us that "the wages of sin is death"—a debt too high for any of us to pay. That's why our God of grace ...
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Up until Christ's birth in redemptive history, enjoying the privilege of being one of God's people had been limited to the Jewish nation of Israel. In fact, Israel had been exclusively known as God's people for thousands of years, ever since the time of Moses. But through Jesus, God opened the door for anyone to know the blessing of being one of God's own through salvation in His Son.
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Andrew Carnegie's wife was so fond of classical music that at the end of every year, she insisted that Andrew pay any outstanding debts incurred by the New York Philharmonic Symphony. Finally, Andrew became weary and faced the symphony's board of directors with this challenge: "I can't keep doing this year in and year out. You need to go out and raise half of the money needed, and I will ...
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In this passage, the apostle Paul outlines four Truths about our life in Christ to encourage us as we seek to live for Him. We are bound to Christ, not the law (vv. 1-6). Christ frees us from the bondage of performance of the law so that we now have joy instead of despair, life instead of death, love instead of duty, and willing service instead of begrudging effort.
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In every false gospel the focus is on us, on our political views, on our well-being, on our good works, on our own interpretation of God's Word, on our personal experiences. In the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the focus is on Jesus—His death, His burial, His resurrection. All false gospels are human-centered. The one true Gospel is Christ-centered. Even the hope of heaven is focused not so much on us ...
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