Perhaps no portion of the Bible is more widely recognized than the Ten Commandments. People throughout the world are familiar with them, yet they are often misunderstood. Many see them primarily as stern demands that must be obeyed to avoid God’s judgment. Others regard them as merely “Old Testament law,” applicable only to the people of Israel before the Messiah …
Pride: Why God Opposes the Proud
Few statements in Scripture are more sobering than the words, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). Pride was the first sin committed against God, which makes it especially important to recognize for what it is: a direct challenge to His authority. Most Christians understand that pride is wrong, but James says far more than …
Shaped by the Living God
Shaped by the Living God, explores God’s desire to restore humanity to its original purpose as His image and representative on the earth. Drawing from Genesis, Ephesians, Romans, Colossians, and the Psalms, Rich Robson contrasts God’s design for mankind with humanity’s tendency to reject God’s wisdom and create its own standards of truth. He emphasizes that the root problem of …
Has Christ Been Formed In Me?
In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he wrote with deep concern over how these followers of Christ were departing from the gospel of the grace of Christ and returning to legalism—a works-based approach to righteousness before God. Righteous works are good. The question is whether those works flow from a transformed, spirit-led relationship with Jesus Christ or from merely following …
What Are You Thinking?
A few days ago, I received an unexpected phone call from someone I had not spoken with in more than three years. At one time, we served together in ministry. Circumstances eventually led us down very different paths, and the relationship ended with hurt, disappointment, and unresolved tension. Since then, there had been no communication between us. When my phone …
God Speaks Well of You
There are moments in Scripture when God intentionally slows us down and invites us to look deeper. Ephesians 1:3 is one of those moments. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3) In this single verse, the word “blessed” appears three different …
A Prize Worth Pursuing: Knowing Jesus
Last night at our Wednesday prayer meeting and Bible study, one of the ladies spoke up after we had just read these words of Jesus: “For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.” (Mark 9:41) This sweet, elderly lady (who had just …
Act Like It Matters
If what we believe is true, it should show up in how we live. Not in theory or intention, but in action. It is easy to say something matters. It is much harder to live like it does. Most of us would say our faith matters, that God matters, and that what Jesus accomplished matters. Yet when I step back …
Are You Missing Jesus?
How often have I wished that Jesus were here with me—in the flesh—especially when life feels overwhelming and the challenges seem too great to carry alone. In those moments, it feels like nothing would be better than having him right beside me. Yet at the Last Supper, Jesus said something that cuts directly across that mindset: “Nevertheless, I tell you …
Jesus’s Gethsemane Choice
Jesus of Nazareth was no ordinary human. He was extraordinary in every way, and he demonstrated the depth of his godly character throughout his life. This section of Hebrews is just one of many biblical testimonies to the depth of Jesus’ commitment to loving God and people. The author of Hebrews, after providing multiple examples of believers who lived and …