“Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Lk 6:37). What a relief today to realize I am neither my fellowman’s judge nor his jailor—but through the Cross I am able to forgive, and only can afford to show no mercy […]
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand” (Ps 37:23-24). For the Christian, failure is not final; in fact, failure is an opportunity to begin again, this time […]
“As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God…” (Ps 42:1-2). The singular passion to which you may give yourself wholeheartedly without it corrupting you is the passion for God: this is the one and only magnificent obsession. […]
“I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews” (Acts 26:2). Happiness is a decision, not a consequence; some people, in the most favorable circumstances are miserable, while others, in the midst of adversity, shine in the […]
“Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us” (1 Cor 5:7). Purge out leaven…since you are unleavened? Here is the heart of Christianity: believe what you read; possess your possession; become what God says you are; […]
[That you] “may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge” (Eph 3:18-19). Every believer has a unique Christ, a Christ to answer exactly our unique needs, abilities, challenges, and burdens—thus all the saints are needed to […]
“There remains therefore a rest for the people of God…Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest” (Heb 4:9, 11). Faith is not a substitute for effort, nor is effort a substitute for faith, but both must link together, with our sincere efforts based on faith in God’s Word, providing evidence of faith in […]
“Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). Some seemingly ordinary day will dawn—but it will be THAT DAY, the day when the Father is satisfied, when the Son is magnified, when the saints are glorified—and it could be today! […]
“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (Jas 1:27). “Gimme that (real) old-time religion”—watching out for life’s most vulnerable and easiest to overlook, while also watching out myself for the world’s tricks and the devil’s […]