When he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you […]
When [Peter] saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me” (Matthew 14:30, esv). Picture the scene. A raging storm, giant waves crashing against a first-century fishing boat, and the disciples on the Sea of Galilee. Imagine their terror-filled eyes as water poured over the sides, negating their efforts to bail. […]
Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the […]
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those […]
God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV). Human beings, we know, are born with an innate need to be loved. In certain Newborn Intensive Care Units, for example, volunteers come at scheduled intervals to hold the tiny preemies […]
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 […]
It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops (2 Timothy 2:6, esv). In his second letter to Timothy, Paul used a string of work analogies to show what it’s like to follow Christ Jesus. He spoke of Christ-followers as teachers (2:2), soldiers (2:3), athletes (2:5), and farmers (2:6). […]
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end (Ecclesiastes 3:11, esv). More than three thousand years ago, a king named Solomon chronicled his search for fulfillment. He was the wisest […]
“Do you want to be healed” (John 5:6, esv)? Whether you’re in the midst of a rough marriage, a health crisis, or just feeling the weight of our sin-worn world, nothing in your life is going to change until you change the way you think. You have to care enough to hope for something better. […]
Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.” When he had washed […]