And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes, and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp (Numbers 11:1, ESV). Why do we complain? We would all agree that complaining changes nothing, yet […]
He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you” (John 21:17, esv). Can you feel the tension and heartache […]
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years (John 5:2–3, 5, esv). The hardest part of a trial is not always […]
“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 29:13–14a, ESV). The most important choice you will ever make in your life is to choose God. To choose to connect with the God who made you and me and […]
The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him (Nahum 1:7, esv). God knows. Not just every fact that can possibly be known. He doesn’t just know, for example, which of His children are in bankruptcy court this morning, or how many of us could […]
“Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25, esv). Has this ever been you? You’re running late to a meeting or a doctor’s appointment, when someone cuts you off in traffic or won’t pull over to let you pass. And before […]
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him (Colossians 2:6, esv). While the writers of Scripture use many vivid metaphors to describe the Christian life, by far the most common one in the New Testament is a walk. “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the […]
The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask […]
Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts: “Because you have spoken this word, behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them” (Jeremiah 5:14, esv). Just what is this Book? Every now and then we get a glimpse of the Bible’s […]
This commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother (1 John 4:21, esv). When you’re having a problem in any relationship, you can grab a number of tools from your toolbox in an attempt to fix it. Perhaps one of the tools you’ve been in the habit of picking up […]