“Love… bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor 13:4, 7). If you love people unconditionally, they will dare to show you the best in them; if you love with conditions, watch out that you not show them the worst in you! God hates the bargaining spirit. […]
“You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well” (Ps 139:13-14). Is the lowly violet any less God’s creation than the mighty oak? Learning what God made you to be, […]
“But you, O man of God, flee these things and [follow after] righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life” (1 Tim 6:11-12). Not every hill is worth dying on: sometimes it’s fight the good fight, but at other times it’s flee the good flight. At […]
“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise” (Prov 12:15). The longing to always DO right is prompted by God’s Spirit in our spirit; the longing to always BE right is prompted by the flesh in our ego: victory says yes to the first and […]
“God…made us alive together with Christ…and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:4-6). They say the only job where you start at the top is digging a hole. But they mustn’t have heard about God’s business! He starts us at the very top, then […]
“But this I say, brethren, the time is short…For the form [present state] of this world is passing away” (1 Cor 7:29-31). In just two days, tomorrow will be yesterday. We shouldn’t live FOR the present, but we need to use the present wisely, buying up opportunities while we have them to invest in eternity. […]
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Ps 23:1). Hebrews 13:5 says to resist covetousness by being “content with such things as you have,” but look what we have! “He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” Is He enough? […]
“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me” (Php 3:12). Who you are now and who you hope to become requires a bridge of honest reality between the two. Today I need […]
“Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful” (Prov 27:6). Some of us are good at dishing it out, but find it hard to take correction. But friends who know and love us should be encouraged to give it to us straight. Like God, they hurt to heal […]