Tag: faith
-
They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved.They spoke against God, saying, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed.Can He also give bread or provide meat for His people?” (Psalm 78:18-20) When we look at the history of Israel–how God chose them, delivered them, and…
-
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him,…
-
In the previous post (“On Rebuilding: Starting from the Ground Up”), we saw how Ezra and the Jewish exiles returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple—the centerpiece of all Israel. We mentioned that this is not unlike our own struggles to rebuild our lives, especially after things happen that rip life apart. We further mentioned…
-
They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations;they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations (Isa. 61:4). If we look at the world around us today, we will see so many people in the midst of pain, brokenness, and darkness. Their lives are coming to an end, it…
-
Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water (Jer. 2:12-13). Have you ever stopped and thought about just how foolish…
-
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (Rom. 12:2). We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive…
-
See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I…
-
I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:20-21). What is necessary for true biblical change to occur? In our last…
-
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets (Matt. 22:37-40). In…
-
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I…
-
Today we begin a series about growing in Christ. It’s common for believers to reach a point where they ask, “Is that all there is? Am I missing something?” It’s my firm conviction, after 25+ years of walking with Christ, that they are indeed missing something. Not salvation. They are genuine believers who want to…
-
[Note: This is part 4 in a six-part series looking at the First Epistle of John. Some of the material is adapted from my commentary That You May Know: The First Letter of John. During this series, we won’t necessarily touch on every single verse, but will look at the major messages that 1 John…
-
What happens when our faith is shaken? Those around us seem to be enjoying the blessings of God, yet He seems deathly silent to us. We struggle with questions about why He isn’t answering our prayers, healing our bodies or hearts, or just not speaking to us. We feel like we have been given the…
-
Last week’s post (On Faith: Part 1) drew a broad outline of what faith means. This week we are going to begin looking at biblical faith. What does the Bible say about faith? In our discussions in this and other posts, we want to be careful not to go beyond what is written. Defining true…
-
[Note: This is part 2 in a six-part series looking at the First Epistle of John. Some of the material is adapted from my commentary as.That You May Know: The First Letter of John During this series, we won’t necessarily touch on every single verse, but will look at the major messages that 1 John…
-
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,…
-
There is a lot of talk about faith these days, both inside and outside the church. We speak of, “having faith,” “having enough faith,” “faith-based [instruction, care, etc.],” and others. It seems that much of the general population believes that faith is an okay word to talk about. It also seems that working definition of…
-
Allow me to introduce you to my friend Billy Charles (not his real name, but we’ll get to that later). Billy has been in my life as long as I can remember. I can’t think of a time when he wasn’t there. Billy is the kind of friend that many people have. He’s very spiritual.…
-
If you’ve been in church or read the Bible for any length of time, you’re probably acquainted with the story of Joseph, the boy with the coat of many colors (Gen. 37, 39-50). As children, that’s sometimes the only thing we remember about him. But as we read more of the story, we find that…
-
Several years ago, I took part in an Easter Outreach with a local church. For several hours, we drove through local neighborhoods delivering a potted plant and asking people if we could pray for them. No donation, no “hey, come to my church” speeches. We just wanted to bless the folks of our neighborhoods. The…
-
This week, we continue looking at the life of Abraham, the man of faith, to see what we can learn for our own journey of faith. God is able to redeem our past (Gen. 16:1-16; 21:8-21). The Lord gave a promise to Abram, that he would have a son. The only problem? Abram and Sarai…
-
For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to…
-
We talk a lot about the gospel. And well we should. It’s the story of redemption, after all—our redemption. We talk a lot about various parts of the gospel as we try to get the big picture. We tell people, “Jesus died for your sin.” “Jesus paid the penalty for your sin.” “For God so…
-
The Bible is full of examples of faithful men and women who heeded God’s call on their lives. In today’s post (the first of a two-part series), we’ll look at what we can learn from the life of Abraham, the father of faith. Obedience brings us one step closer to His purpose (Gen. 12:1-9).Abram and…
-
Welcome to the first installment of #WordforWednesday. In this series, we will study a passage of Scripture once a week in an in-depth manner to pull out its teachings so that we may apply them to our lives. Just a note: These posts may tend to be longer than the average blog post. But that’s…