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Devotionals

Weakness

As sinful and fallen people we hate the feeling of weakness. On the other hand, we love feelings of strength, dominance, control, power and independence. But the reality is, that as creatures of the One who “gives all men life, breath and everything else” (Acts 17:25) all of our perceived...

Motives

What an amazing experience to have been a follower of Christ during his earthly ministry. Imagine sitting in the crowd listening to him teach, counsel and correct the world in which you lived. Consider the enormous privilege of being able to ask your specific questions and having God’s perfect wisdom delivered to you by the mouth of Christ himself. But even with all of that, Judas proved to be a traitor

Dependence

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

Christ with Us

God has promised his kids that he would never leave them and never forsake them (Heb.13:5b). Before Jesus physically left his followers after the resurrection he allowed these final words…

Exchanging Our Expletives

The dictionary defines “expletives” as “words with no meaning.” They are those words we blurt out as our impromptu expressions of pain, joy, frustration, or surprise. They are words fueled…

That Uncomfortable Feeling

I recently read an article based on the stated premise that “the Bible should be read for one’s enjoyment.” With that objective, it was no surprise that the rest of the piece consisted of the author aggressively...

Compartmentalization

It is easy to compartmentalize our lives. While sitting in church we can approvingly nod at the biblical lessons that call Christ’s followers to sacrifice, deny themselves, and leave behind earthly pleasures to store up treasure in heaven. But come Monday morning...

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...

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...

Trusting God

God wants us to trust him. The Bible goes so far as to say, “without faith it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:6). Trusting God to forgive us, and having confidence in Christ to save us from the penalty of our sins is just the beginning (as the rest of Hebrews 11 goes on to illustrate). We face important opportunities to trust God when

Hell

Hell. No one likes to think about it. The world attempts to dilute its force by using the word as an expletive or as an impertinent adjective. But much like tax day

Handling God’s Word

As Christians we often feel wise and secure because we are familiar with God’s word. We acquire a sense of empowerment and feel justified in our actions because we have confidently applied this verse or that to the decisions we have made. However, God warns us...

Opportunities to Witness

God calls us to always be looking for opportunities to help people understand the urgency of turning from sin to live for Christ. Paul depicts this Christian responsibility as telling the people in our world to “wake up” (Eph.5:14) – a duty not always eagerly accepted...

God’s Dwelling

When King Solomon had completed construction on the most magnificent, costly and beautiful edifice Israel had ever seen, he admitted during his dedicatory prayer that their new and expansive house of worship was far too...

Live by Faith

The Bible tells us that, for the time being, we have to function in the Christian life without the benefit of “seeing” the important and eternal things that we live for and live by (2Cor.4:18; 5:7; 1Pet.1:8; et al.). Our hope in God – his forgiveness, his blessing and his presence, just to name a few...

Invisible War

There is a lot going on in the room in which we sit that is very real yet unseen. Not only are we surrounded by a huge spectrum of electromagnetic radiation carrying hundreds of radio programs, television channels, text messages, and cell phone conversations, the Bible says that there is an abundance of spiritual agents, both good and bad, vying to...

Discernment & Acceptance

Acceptance is a virtue that is easy to applaud. It feels good for everyone involved when we are approving, supportive, and accepting. Often that is precisely what life calls for—a broad, sympathetic, and inclusive heart that embraces someone even when they don’t deserve it (Rom.15:7; Col.3:13). But there is a complementary virtue that Jesus frequently taught us to possess...

Opportunities

Followers of Christ always need to be on the look out for opportunities to stand up for Christ and to speak up for his cause. And the more sinful the culture, the more critical it is that God’s people exploit...