“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34–35, esv It turns out that loving Jesus is the easy […]
And the Lord sent Nathan to David. . . 2 Samuel 12:1a, esv Here’s an uncomfortable thought: A genuine friend will restrain or correct you at times. Not only does a biblical friend hold you up when you stumble, but that friend also holds you down when you stray. We stumble under the heavy pressures […]
David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find […]
But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” Luke 18:13, esv Two guys go into the temple . . . That’s how one of Jesus’ parables from Luke 18 begins. Now neither one of these […]
When Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed”? John 5:6, esv Far be it from me to find fault with Jesus’ bedside manner, but . . . “Do you want to be healed?” doesn’t seem the most […]
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 1 Peter 4:1–2, ESV Suffering […]
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” Matthew 7:1–2, esv Doesn’t it seem like everybody knows this verse? Especially that first phrase. People who don’t even believe in God’s Word quote this one […]
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came (Matthew 4:1–3a, esv). Faith is as practical as you can get. It’s not ivory tower, abstract, feel-good thinking. Faith is for real life […]
“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV For dark days and even darker nights, for stretches of hardship that seem never to end, for the everyday problems […]
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Revelation 19:11, 16, ESV Spoiler alert: In the […]