Thoughts from my journal I offer to all. Longing must linger; it must be given air. Without air, the soul cannot breathe. Longings that are not allowed to linger in the heart are all too often smothered by ambition or buried beneath the burdens of responsibility. Lingering is unhurried, neither forced nor coerced. Lingering is the language of discovery. It …
Called and Chosen by God
Throughout Scripture, God calls people to Himself and gives them purpose. Abraham, Moses, David, and the apostles were all called. But was that kind of calling limited to a select few in biblical history? Not at all. Believers today are called as well. We are called out of darkness and into God’s light, called into fellowship with His Son, and …
Have We Neglected the Gospels
This teaching examines the vital place the Gospel accounts should have in the lives of Christians today. While recognizing legitimate distinctions between biblical administrations and the importance of understanding to whom a passage was originally addressed, it challenges the tendency to let those distinctions diminish the value of the Gospels or the Hebrew Scriptures. All Scripture contributes to the larger …
Maturing in Christ
Every so often, I have to stop and ask myself a hard question: Am I really maturing in Christ? It is easy to assume that I am. I can point to how long I have believed, how much Scripture I know, or how many responsibilities I carry. But maturity is usually revealed in moments that are far less impressive: when …
The Love Behind the Ten Commandments
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
What is the Abundant Life?
Many prosperity teachers rely on John 10:10 as a foundational text for pursuing “the abundant life,” often using it to springboard into isolated verses—frequently stripped of context—to suggest that the Christian life should be an ever-increasing climb of health, wealth, and unending success. Yet, this message conveniently ignores passages like John 16:33, where Jesus plainly warns, “In this world you …