Devotionals Archives - Focal Point Ministries

Precarious Paths

In the model prayer that Jesus provided to guide us into the kinds of prayer concerns we ought to habitually bring before the Father, he included the request: “lead us not into temptation” (Mt.6:13). I would hope this recurring appeal for God to direct us around sinfully enticing...

Exclusivity

Many take offense at our call to trust Christ for the forgiveness of their sins because it is so exclusive. They stumble over the words of Jesus when he said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn.14:6). They despise the tone of our evangelism when it echoes...

Pleasing God First

The Bible often reminds us of the Christian calling to please those with whom we interact from day to day. Servants should please their masters (1Tim.6:1), children their parents (Col.3:20), citizens their governing authorities (Rom.13:1), parents should parent without exasperating their children (Eph.6:4), and the list goes...

Self-Serving

How are the decisions we make impacting those around us? Jesus said that we should seek to love others as we would love ourselves (Mt.22:39). Nothing could be more central to that command than for us to spend more time considering how our plans, actions, and words will either...

Well Wielded Words

At mealtime a parent may comfortably give their toddler a spoon, but never a knife. Eventually the child’s place setting will include one, but not until there is the maturity and self-control to safely employ its use. Perhaps this restrictive image is one we should recall when we consider God’s warning that “rash words are like...

Battlefield of the Mind

The progress in our sanctification is fought in the battlefield of our minds. Though the Bible often enlists the word “heart” for the “organ” we must guard so carefully (Pr.4:23), it is important to remember that this Hebrew analogy refers to the faculty of our thoughts, reason, imagination, intention, and contemplation. When God looked on the corrupt...

Exposing Anxiety

When God confronts the sin of anxiety in Philippians 4, his prescribed remedy helps to clearly diagnose the problem –…

Health

Good health is good. It is certainly preferable to sickness and disease. Occasionally you’ll find some concern for it in…

Anger

Anger is admittedly a volatile and dangerous emotion. But it is important to note that it is not always a sinful emotion, and it certainly isn’t always expressed in sinful ways. God gives us adequate warning that...

Superstitions

While Christians affirm that God is supernatural, we of all people should not be superstitious. Yes, we recognize that from time to time in biblical history God has spectacularly suspended natural law as a strategic way to display...

Sola Scriptura

Just before one of the strongest statements regarding the uniqueness and sufficiency of Scripture, the Bible warns us that as time marches on “evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse” (2Tim.3:13). The threat of “evil people” opposing the truth has...

Tolerance

We live in a society where the advocates of “tolerance” are increasingly intolerant. We should be careful not to miss…

Exiles

“Exiles!” There’s a word that doesn’t feel good. Consider the ache and frustration of being trapped in a foreign land…

Outlook and Attitude

It doesn’t take long to discover that the Christian life is certainly not a continuous experience of fun and laughter.…

Repent

Like a lot of preachers, Amos confessed he had no aspirations of being one. He told his critics that he…

Perspective

Solomon’s refrain that everything the world has to offer is “utterly meaningless” (Eccl.1:2) becomes easier to affirm the older one gets. It seems that with increasing age comes the increasing realization that the world is truly a rip-off...

Suffering and Trust

If we read through the God-breathed songbook of Israel we’ll find plenty of psalms which remind us that in this life God’s favored people are in no way exempt from serious pain and intense suffering. It is how the psalmists’ deal with their pain...

Let There Be Light

Sometimes the important analogies presented in the Bible are so frequently echoed in our worship, our prayers, and even our conversations, that God’s intended meaning gets lost in our minds somewhere along the way. Consider the frequent...

Unbiblical Thoughts

To grow in our understanding of God and the Christian life requires that we leave behind wrong ideas about God and the Christian life...

Responding to Trials

Modern Christians tend to misplace a good portion of their compassion. Often when they learn of someone who is struggling or hurting, regardless of the reason, they are quick to offer...

Selfish Prayers

James 4:3 diagnoses one of the most insidious problems which always undermines, and often devastates our prayer lives. The problem we’re told, is...

Dependence

Comprehending something of our real and absolute dependence on God is foundational to everything in the Christian life. It is where...

Prayer Perspective

We need to remember the greatness of the God to whom we pray. We often pray small prayers for small things because we’ve forgotten...

Real Biblical Love

“Love” may be a word we hear every day, but it’s rarely employed to describe anything resembling the virtue the Bible calls us to emulate. While there is nothing wrong with feeling good about the things, places, or people who make us feel good, the biblical concept of “love” is something entirely different...

Relativism

After recently preaching on the problem of relativism, I am reminded of just how pervasive, yet inconsistent, this way of thinking actually is. Many loudly insist that it doesn’t matter what you believe regarding religion, because, after all, “God is loving” and he wouldn’t conclude that anyone’s views about him are wrong. It doesn’t matter, they insist, if your beliefs don’t

If It Feels Good

Countless Christians have warned of the folly contained in the well-worn phrase, “If it feels good, do it!” But this warning should be applied to more than just the indulgent physical pleasures that would transgress the bounds of righteous and godly behavior. We ought also to be cautious...

Christianese

Every arena of life has its own vocabulary, whether we are talking to teammates in a sport’s league or to coworkers in our profession. Christianity is no different. Some of our specialized Christian vocabulary can be helpful, providing us with a kind of verbal shorthand for more efficient communication. But it is time we realize...