Let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your promise; then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me, for I trust in your word. (Psalm 119:41-42) When you open your Bible, what message comes to you?  A record of sermons that is filled with duties and doctrines?…

From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:16-17) Sometimes life feels like Monopoly. You land on Park Place and win the game or you draw the dreaded “do not pass ‘go”’ card and head to jail. How…

Our Father in heaven, . . . give us this day our daily bread. (Matt. 6:9, 11) To answer this prayer, God may sometimes deny the physical blessings of this life. In doing so, he never denies us the “daily bread” he taught us to seek in the Lord’s Prayer.  Jesus taught the precise nature…

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace. (1 Pet. 4:10) A new Wal-Mart opened in a rural community and quickly became the social center of town, drawing everyone who wanted to meet anyone. One of those drawn often was a dear, older woman…

Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. (Col. 3:11) When Billy Graham started refusing to segregate his crusades in the 1950s, and when Promise Keepers made racial reconciliation a priority for Christian men in the 1990s, they were applying the Apostle…

I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Tim. 1:16) If God shows mercy to people who have messed up as badly as the Apostle Paul (and David, and…

Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them. The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. (Psalm 119:129-30) If our reason for reading our Bibles is to keep God from being mad at us, then we’re reading to earn points that we can use to barter with God for…

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4) In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” It’s important to note that the Lord does not tell us to request strawberry shortcake or filet mignon, though he is certainly…

Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary (Isaiah 40:30-31, NASB) This verse has never meant more to…

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you. (Psalm 32:8-9) God’s precautions often come as practical…