People of Hope
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. I Peter 3:15 Peter encourages the persecuted scattered Christians to put their hope in Christ and to […]
The Penitent Redeemed
…but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Romans 7:23-24 Isaiah describes […]
Preparing for our Spiritual Journey
This is what the Lord says; “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ Jeremiah 6:16 It is not uncommon for us to board a […]
Salt and Light
. . .you are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither […]
A Gospel of Righteousness
What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they […]
Seeking God
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 Throughout the Scriptures, we learn that if we seek God, we will find Him; if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. (Jeremiah 29:13, James 4:8) For years I didn’t understand the importance of […]
Joshua’s Faithful Response
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. Hebrews 11:8 The Lord promised Joshua that He would be faithful to him just as He had been to Moses. But just as Moses had […]
Strangers in the World
Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires which war against your soul. I Peter 2:11 Peter refers to Christians in the world as strangers whose citizenship is in heaven. Peter calls the readers to live as strangers in the world, abstaining from sin and glorifying […]
Removing the Grave Clothes
Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Then Jesus said, “Did […]
Missing the Mark
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6 The Greek word for sin is hamartia, which translates “missing the mark.” When we sin, we miss the mark of obtaining God’s best for our […]