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“Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring” (2 Thessalonians 1:4). Read 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12. The believers in Thessalonica faced persecution daily. Some endured physical attack, many lost their jobs, and others had their property destroyed. Some even faced imprisonment or worse. But in spite of their great suffering, they did not lose hope. That is why the apostle Paul could encourage them, “We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters” (2 Thessalonians 1:3). Paul had faced his own share of persecution and hardship, so he recognized the beauty of the Thessalonians’ faith. He could see they were looking up when others in their situation would have been cast down. The difference, of course, is Jesus. He brings light into darkness, comfort in times of pain, hope in seasons of despair. We are never more like Christ than when we are looking up to God […]

“Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy” (Psalm 130:1-2).   “Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty’” (John 19:28). This cry, the fifth statement from the cross, was a cry of personal agony and physical pain, but also a cry of deep spiritual need.   Two days prior to the crucifixion, our Lord Jesus went through a tremendous amount of tension and apprehension. First, there was the upper room where He told His companions, who had walked with Him for three years, that one of them was about to betray Him.   That was followed by Gethsemane, where our Lord was sweating blood, asking the Father if there was some other way that this cup could pass, that His people could be redeemed. Then there was the tension and the apprehension […]

“Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered” (Psalm 32:1).   “About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ (which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’)” (Matthew 27:46).   This fourth statement from the cross is the very core of our redemption. It is the very essence of the Christian faith. If you miss this, you miss everything.   Had the Father not turned His back on the Son, had the Father not abandoned the Son at that moment, we could never be sure that the Son actually carried our sin and our judgment on the cross.   This is the most surprising statement of all those Christ made from the cross. In fact, it is downright confusing to many people. Here the word forsaken literally means “to leave someone in a lurch, to abandon someone completely.” How can the Father abandon His Son, […]

“But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God” (John 3:21). One of God’s greatest desires for us is that we come to know Him intimately. He made the ultimate sacrifice so that we may have constant fellowship with Him, laying the foundation for a powerful relationship that transforms our lives and causes us to become who we were created to be. However, in relating to God, we must be honest about living and walking in the Truth. Establishing Truth deep in our heart so that it transforms our character takes work. Though we have heard all the right answers and know the Truth, sometimes we act as if we do not really believe it. What we truly believe is best determined through how we live, not just what we say. To walk in the Truth is to walk […]

“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).  If you’re a genuine believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, Satan and his demons will tempt you. But we also know from the Word of God that God has given us the power to have victory over Satan’s temptation (see James 4:7 and 1 Corinthians 10:13). The problem is that we tempt ourselves. We know Satan tempts us, but we can also tempt ourselves when we put ourselves into situations that cause our sinful flesh to rise up and crave what is ungodly. In those moments, we become our own worst enemies. When Jesus taught us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” He meant us to ask God to empower us not to tempt ourselves nor to tempt God. But, how do we tempt God? Don’t get me wrong, God cannot be tempted by evil. That is […]

Read Mark 10:17-31. “Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!’” (Mark 10:23). With so much uncertainty in the world, so much volatility in the economy, and so much negativity all around us, it can be tempting to envy the rich. After all, the wealthy are not as vulnerable to higher prices and the fluctuations of the labor market. They have money and resources in reserve—just in case life takes a turn for the worse. Many rich people also have connections that ensure they have access to the necessities of life if there are shortages. There is, of course, nothing wrong with wealth in and of itself. Many heroes of the faith in Scripture were wealthy—Abraham, David, and Daniel to name a few. The Bible never condemns riches outright; rather, the Word of God condemns men and women who place all their hope and trust in their […]

Read Proverbs 18:10-12. “The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe” (Proverbs 18:10). There are many places in the world where professing faith in Christ can cost you your freedom, even your life. Yet it is in those places where people are running to Christ by the thousands—sometimes the tens of thousands. At the same time, here in the West, where people can attend church freely and proclaim their faith in Jesus publicly without fear of reprisal, many people are walking away from the true faith. They’re taking their eyes off heaven and settling for this world. This is the state of the world today, and so I wonder if the Lord may be in the process of gathering His elect from every language, tribe, and nation. It also appears that perhaps Satan is preparing the world for the arrival of his emissary, the figure the Bible refers to as the […]

“The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights” (Habakkuk 3:19). Read Habakkuk 3:16-19. Like the prophet Habakkuk before us, we may want to cry out, “God, evil is thriving, and the wicked are succeeding! How long must we cry out to You for help?” When we do this, however, we are asking the wrong questions. Instead of questioning God, we ought to be questioning ourselves. We ought to be asking, What is God teaching me? Do I need to repent? Do I need to grow in faith? Is there something I need to do? You see, instead of blaming God when things look grim, we should be praising Him and examining ourselves. Tough times are an opportunity to look inward and purify our hearts in the power of Christ. This is precisely what Habakkuk discovered. At first, the prophet said to God, “I stand […]

“Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2).   Read Habakkuk 3:1-15.   There are times when we pray and there doesn’t seem to be an answer. There are other times when God’s answer seems to be “Wait just a little while longer. Not yet.” And, as Habakkuk experienced, there are times when the answer we receive is the opposite of what we want to hear. When any of these things happen, it can be easy to sink deep into discouragement. But that is not our only option. Like Habakkuk, we can allow these disappointments to draw us into greater intimacy with God.   Instead of being angry with the Lord, instead of developing a hard heart toward God, instead of deciding to give up praying, Habakkuk turned his unanswered prayer into an opportunity to grow […]

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25a). Read Romans 7:1-25. In this passage, the apostle Paul outlines four Truths about our life in Christ to encourage us as we seek to live for Him.  We are bound to Christ, not the law (vv. 1-6). Christ frees us from the bondage of performance of the law so that we now have joy instead of despair, life instead of death, love instead of duty, and willing service instead of begrudging effort.  Maturity builds up (vv. 7-13). Immature Christians live depending on themselves. But sooner or later, they fail because the law cannot help anyone overcome their sin. Mature Christians do not blame the law, but daily accept their desperate need for a Savior.  Do-it-yourself religion will fail (vv. 14-23). Temptation will always find us on this side […]

“But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code” (Romans 7:6). Read Romans 7:1-6. Many Christians today are confused about the balance of grace and obedience. One extreme would have us use grace as a license to sin, and the other is legalism—relying on our good works for our ultimate salvation. You know you’re under the influence of legalism when you get up in the morning and say, “I’ve got to obey today—or else.” When you find mild success, you pat yourself on the back with pride. But when you miss the mark, you become overwhelmed with guilt and shame. Praise be to God—Romans 7 gives us a more excellent way. True freedom is no longer found in our performance—that was the old way of the law—but by trusting Christ’s powerful work […]

“And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else” (Acts 17:25). Our culture most certainly recognizes Christmas as the season of giving. Believers and unbelievers alike see it as a time of gifting, celebrating, and gathering with friends and family—a time when we overload our schedules with events and obligations, when we make lists and worry about the right gift or about having to get another gift. In the midst of all the bustle, for many, it’s also a time of depression, loneliness, despondency, and discouragement. Why? Because we buy into the message of our secular, commercialized culture that turns Christmas into a carnival—a time of superficial indulgence—rather than the deeply satisfying, soul-awakening celebration it truly is. The holy God, who is from everlasting to everlasting (see Psalm 90:2), who does not need anything from us, not praise nor love nor sacrifices (see Acts 17:24-25), […]