Devotionals

Weekly Devotionals from Pastor Mike Fabarez

The God Who Is

God, by definition, is “Almighty.” In our desire to “humanize” God and relate to the softer and gentler side of Deity we often lose sight of the fact that the God who actually exists is a God who possesses all authority, all power, and all dominion. He is a Being who is unchallenged in his rank, sovereignty, and supremacy. He speaks things into existence, and at will chooses things to come to an end. There are times in life when we sense the profundity of

Love Like Jesus

Having spent years walking through Israel with Jesus, having listened to him teach, and having seen him heal the sick and even raise the dead, the Apostle John distilled Christ’s love into this intriguing statement: “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16a). Without reference to any warm feelings or emotions, John elevates the painful sacrifice

Life’s Detours

We all experience life’s detours—those unexpected twists and turns which disappoint and frustrate us because they’ve disrupted our well-laid plans. When the next one comes our way, let’s be careful how we respond. If the disappointment turns into anger and bitterness, then we know we’ve clearly lost sight of one of the central tenets of biblical Christianity—namely, that God is sovereign. Of course this is not some kind of fatalism that gives us license to

Bible Truth

As C. S. Lewis said about Jesus’ claims (i.e. he is either a lunatic, a liar or Lord), something similar could be said about the choices we face when we consider the book in which those claims are recorded. Either the Bible is a collection of error-laced letters penned by delusional authors...

Three Kinds of Prayer

There are three primary settings for biblical prayer which should have priority in our lives. The first is a focused type of scheduled prayer (Mt.6:6). This is the kind where, like Daniel’s three times a day or Jesus’ predawn appointments, we plan

Patience

It should not come as a surprise to those of us who make it our practice to ponder timeless biblical principles and worship an eternal God, that many aspects of the Christian life are going to require a lot more waiting...

Christ’s Return

The Bible warns that many will ridicule us for our confidence in the second coming of Christ. “Where is he?” they will scoff, “It seems to be taking him a long time” (cf. 2 Peter 3:3-4). While we may respond defensively...

Giver of All Good

The Bible tells us that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father” (James 1:17). God is certainly benevolent and generous to us. He gives a variety of good things, from the gift of life in a newborn baby, to the satisfying experience of a good meal after a long day’s work. No matter how profound or how seemingly mundane

Bearing Real Fruit

Jesus said, “You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). That kind of straightforward evaluation should not only be applied to “them,” but also to us. In the upper room, not long before his crucifixion, Jesus told his twelve apostles, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:8). At that time, you’ll remember, one of the Twelve was secretly conspiring to betray Christ, cashing in his association with the Messiah for thirty pieces of silver. Judas wasn’t intent

Wait Patiently

Sometimes the way we read the Bible becomes a disservice to our Christian life. When a tension is presented in the plot of a biblical narrative we naturally “can’t wait” to see how it will be resolved; so we rush on to see how God works it all out. And after we’ve become familiar

Self Apologetics

The Apostle Paul actively engaged the people of his generation, logically and persuasively “destroying arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and taking every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Such is the work of apologetics, evangelism, and discipleship. But this is not only the work we should seek to do in the minds and hearts of others, it is a job that starts

Future Good

Because mature Christians have learned that all good things in this life come from God’s generous hand, they are usually careful to give thanks to him whenever they experience them. And so we should (James 1:17; Ephesians 5:20). But the Bible also calls us to learn to give thanks for the good things we’ve yet to receive – the ones we will experience in the next life! Colossians 1:12 says you ought to be “giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints.” The “inheritance” Paul has in mind

Biblical Standard

Christians are often accused of defying logic and reason to become superstitious mystics when we run to quote our Bibles as the authority on what is true and how we should live. The problem with this accusation is that thoughtful Christians contend (perhaps not loudly or cogently enough) that it is supremely logical and reasonable to understand the Bible as God’s authoritative voice on life and reality. Christians are not asserting

Pain and Sickness

The Bible promises us that this life will be punctuated with sickness and pain. For some it will be more chronic than others, but unfortunately for all of us there will be certain seasons of severe and almost unbearable discomfort. While we’d wish that God’s children were exempt, we must remember that for now, Christ has not granted us any such immunity. When sin entered the world

Subtle Lies

It is not difficult for Christians to admit that deception is morally wrong, and that because he is a God of truth, “lying lips are an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 12:22). But unfortunately we are not always quick to recognize all the subtle forms lying takes in our everyday conversations. Consider the way we can toss around insincere compliments and words of praise, which, if pressed

Weightless Words

The Bible states, “Do not take to heart all the things that people say [about you]” (Ecclesiastes 7:21). And these days, with everybody saying all kinds of things about everyone else on social media, this timeless principle may be more important than ever before. The biblical context of this verse clearly has in view the typical opinionated chitchat and conversational commentary that has gone on between...

Hope Misplaced: Herodians

Some people don’t like things to change. They are happy with the status quo and will do anything to keep it that way. Jesus encountered a group like this when he came to earth...

Hope Misplaced: Zealots

In our world there is a growing distrust and dissatisfaction with the government. But this is nothing new in history. Throughout the centuries kingdoms have risen and fallen on the backs...

Hope Misplaced: Pharisees

We’ve all heard about the Pharisees. The religious leaders of Jesus’s day who clung to the letter of the Law and placed heavy, over-reaching rules on the people. What is interesting is that...

Hope Misplaced: Sadducees

When Jesus came to this earth, he faced a lot of opposition. Different groups were vying for power and one of those was a religious group called the Sadducees. We first hear...

Tumultuous World

We live in a violent and tumultuous world—for now. Surprisingly, it’s one of the byproducts of grace. Had God chosen to destroy every sinner at the moment of his or her sinful intent, our world would indeed be free from all the horrible headlines, but it would also be unoccupied. Instead, God graciously and mercifully provides...

Getting It Right

Rightly understanding and properly responding to the gospel is of paramount importance. Nothing could have broader or more profound consequences than being right or wrong about the content and demands of the message that determines our placement in eternity. While that seems

Sin and Reproof

We intuitively like to think that what we do is right. “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,” the Bible says (Proverbs 21:2). But when we honestly reflect on our lives we know that we are not always right, and what we do is not always what we should do...

Prayer & Evangelism

Prayer and evangelism go hand in hand. Many of us hope that our lives will be used by God to lead people to the place of repentance and faith in Christ. But if we learn anything from the example of the evangelists in the New Testament, we learn that this is not likely to ever happen unless

Training

Accomplished athletes make their sport look easy. But for all of us who have tried to advance in a sport, we know there is nothing easy about reaching a level of proficiency in athletics. Some people can make godliness look easy. They seem to effortlessly love God and do what is right. But the Bible is clear that like athletics, reaching a level of proficient godliness requires a lot of hard work. Paul wrote, “train yourself for godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7). The word that

Juicy Morsels

There is little debate that “there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). Even the most godly Christians are quick to concede that “we all stumble in many ways” (James 3:2). Thankfully, when it comes to imperfect people engaging in imperfect fellowship the Bible tells us “love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). Unfortunately though

Easy Answers?

We all like easy answers. Yet the Bible tells us that “It is the glory of God to conceal things” (Proverbs 25:2). That may appear to be a cruel portrayal of God, who is lauded for stealthily hiding important matters from his creatures. But think for a moment about how loving parents routinely and strategically choose to refrain from simply handing over the answers to their children’s homework questions. Parents and teachers alike intuitively recognize

Why Me?

“Why me?” That’s a question we usually mutter in bad times, but it’s actually a great question to ask when things go well. Of course the theological answer is easy and concise – namely, God’s grace. But beyond that, asking “why me?” when you are blessed may have practical and more specific answers that are worth discovering. In the Old Testament the question was asked

Humble Prayer

The Bible tells us that the prayer of Solomon “pleased the Lord” (1 Kings 3:10). It’s a simple phrase that we can read without giving it a second thought. But we ought to. Consider what a big statement that is. The content of Solomon’s prayer evoked pleasure in God’s heart. To imagine that something we ask for can have an impact on the way the Almighty God feels is a remarkable

Scripture Twisting

Occasionally when reading the words of Christ we come across some jarring statements. For instance, in Revelation 2:6 Jesus says to the church in Ephesus, “You hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” Sentences like that should slow us down to consider the powerful concern motivating such strong language. Think of it, “hatred” in this case was praised as godly when directed toward the behavior of a group of
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