Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins (Isaiah 40:1–2, esv). “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God,” the prophet Isaiah recorded. Let those words […]
Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord (1 Samuel 2:12, esv). A permissive father says, “Whatever you want!” An abusive father says, “Whatever I want!” The passive father simply says, “Whatever.” He is not really engaged or connected. He watches his children hurt themselves and self-destruct, and he […]
“Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up” (Hosea 6:1, esv). God invites you to come back to Him. No matter how far away you’ve wandered or how long you’ve been gone, Hosea 6:1 opens […]
This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground (John 8:6, ESV). In John 8, a woman caught in adultery was dragged before Jesus by an angry, self-righteous mob. The woman in the story was a pawn. […]
[We are] always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh (2 Corinthians 4:10–11, esv). […]
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows (Psalm 23:5, esv). Have you made a few enemies in your lifetime? The right answer to that question should be, “I hope so.” Please don’t get me wrong—we don’t enjoy having enemies, and we […]
My beloved is mine, and I am his (Song of Solomon 2:16, esv). We all start out in life as selfish, prideful people, wishing the world would revolve around us—what we want, what we need, what we think is right, what we hope will happen. That’s just one of the reasons that the introduction of […]
So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to […]
“May they all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You. May they also be one in Us, so the world may believe You sent Me” (John 17:21, hcsb). All of us want to see more of our prayers answered, don’t we? That’s why we ought to be praying for […]
Behold, I am a servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word (Luke 1:38, esv). What do you think of when you hear the word surrender? For me it’s “Come out with your hands up!” Maybe you picture waving a white flag. But the biggest battle we face is […]