He came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour” (Matthew 26:40, esv)? Most likely, you’ve read and heard the story so often, you could almost quote the narrative by heart. You’ve spent time trying to picture what Jesus was enduring, both […]
He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart (Luke 18:1, nasb). “Once I get to feeling better,” you may sometimes think, “I’ll start praying again with more regularity.” “Once I’m not so upset, once my heart is not so overwhelmed, maybe I’ll […]
And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save […]
So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited (2 Corinthians 12:7, ESV). God allows bad things to happen to good people. The phrase “good people” is a […]
“Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David” (Isaiah 55:3, nasb). A covenant is like a turbo promise. When God declared His covenant with His people, He was reminding them of His everlasting hesed—His covenant love, His mercy and kindness. It […]
“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45, esv). According to one of Aesop’s fables, a man and his grandson were traveling to town. The old […]
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and […]
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:9–10, […]
We all stumble in many ways (James 3:2a, esv). Maybe you’ve noticed one or two flaws in a few of the Christians around you. (Just maybe.) But that’s not really so surprising, right? After all, we’ve got a few flaws ourselves. If the church is supposed to be a place where hope abounds—even with sin […]
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. —John 4:23 John 4 includes some of the most influential verses regarding the discipline of worship – how better to understand whether or not […]