“We all stumble in many ways” (James 3:2). Many of you are reading this on a Monday. Mondays can be a downer. They’re certainly not the weekend. Many of you are headed back to work, school or other things that remind you that life has unavoidable responsibilities. But Mondays are also a kind of re-set […]

In John 1:14 (and elsewhere) we learn that Jesus is God come to us in human form. In that same verse we also read: “We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Notice how Jesus is full of grace and […]

Yesterday we talked about being adopted by God and the new special status that gives you. You can be at peace and be confident. You are chosen. You are loved. You are royalty. Today let’s flush out another benefit of being adopted by God. Writing in the 17th century, William Gurnall said: “He who has […]

In my experience, people tend to downplay (or misunderstand) what it means to be a child of God. We often hear or say that ALL people are children of God. If it’s a status all people have, then it’s not really unique to anyone in particular. I get what people mean in a general kind […]

John the Baptist was asked to describe himself. He responded by quoting the prophet Isaiah: “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord’” (John 1:23). The point of John’s life was to direct people’s attention elsewhere. That is so refreshing in a world of me, myself […]

One of the ways we guard our hearts and ensure that the pathways of our lives are steadfast is to deliberately direct our attention to good and godly things. In the words of Proverbs 4:25: “Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.” Some examples of good and godly things would […]

Have you heard of F.O.M.O.? It has started to appear in dictionaries. It’s an acronym: “fear of missing out.” Apparently there is an entire group of people who are afraid to miss out on the latest trend, post, gossip, news story or event. As a result, they never disconnect. They have to stay online, track […]

Hebrews 12:1-2: “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus…” Let’s say that you’re dead. And let’s say that you’re having a conversation with Jesus. What kind of question do you think he would ask to evaluate your success at navigating this trying chapter of life?  […]

A lot of people wonder if their life is headed in the right direction. Am I doing the right things? Am I setting the right priorities, and am I living by the right priorities?  Let’s not be unclear: Your life is always headed in the right direction if you’re following the right person.  And that […]

I know that feelings are powerful. And there are times when our feelings can teach us important things. We just need to “let it out” sometimes (in appropriate ways, of course). But there are times when we need to act above our feelings. Stuart Holden recalls a story about two soldiers. One was a Christian, […]