Resources

“He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:5-7). God has been dependable in the past, providing for us in every twist and turn of life. He is trustworthy—and He holds our future in the palm of His hand. There are incredible examples of the faithfulness of God in my life and in the life of this ministry. But I still believe with all my heart that we haven’t seen anything yet. In the life of the Christian, the best is always yet to come. After all, eternity in the new heaven and the new earth awaits us. Just imagine—a restored world, never-ending joy, perfect fellowship with God Himself! As Revelation 21:3-4 promises, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and […]

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). Read Philippians 4:4-8. It’s been more than two thousand years since an angel appeared to shepherds in a field outside of Bethlehem and proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14). And yet, with each Christmas that comes, peace seems even more elusive than the previous year for those who have not encountered and embraced the true Prince of Peace (see Isaiah 9:6-7). There is, however, a peace in which much of the world puts its hope, but it’s a deceptive peace. It’s an imitation of true peace—a temporary respite—that comes when we try to tranquilize our true longings with material possessions or intoxication. But this phony peace only brings destruction and further enslavement to a pattern of behavior that has no power to fulfill our […]

“From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name” (Luke 1:48-49). Read Luke 1:46-56. When young Mary learned from the angel Gabriel that she would soon be pregnant with the Son of God, she could have focused on all the hardship her pregnancy would surely bring her way. But Mary didn’t panic, of course. She asked one simple question of the angel: “How will this be, . . . since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34). It was an honest question, not an expression of doubt or disobedience. And once Gabriel told Mary that her pregnancy would be supernatural—the work of the Holy Spirit—she replied, “I am the Lord’s servant” (v. 38). It was a beautiful, humble response, fitting for the woman God chose to be the mother of His Son. But Mary had another response as well, one that echoes down through the centuries and is […]

“The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you’” (Luke 1:28). Read Luke 1:26-38. Mary’s deep, abiding relationship with God is truly a model for all of us, young or old, to emulate. By all accounts Mary didn’t have an easy life. She was a young girl in a society where only men seemed to matter. She was poor and lived in Nazareth, a village that had a reputation for being unremarkable, so she was likewise unremarkable from a worldly perspective. Add to this the fact that when she became supernaturally pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary was not yet married—only betrothed—so she knew her pregnancy would create a terrible scandal that could leave her abandoned, ostracized, or worse—stoned to death. Yet, because she had a self-image grounded in the God’s Word, she was able to hold her head high—not faking it but trusting in the Lord for […]

“Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him” (Luke 2:25). Read Luke 2:25-35. The Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon that the long-awaited Messiah would come during his lifetime. In fact, the Spirit told Simeon that before he died, he would see the Savior with his very own eyes. And so, Simeon lived his life in the peace of that promise. Simeon’s expectations were not fixed on the movers and the shakers of his time. Instead, his expectations rested on the promises of God. Luke’s Gospel tells us just three things about Simeon, the three things God cherished about the man. Simeon was righteous; he was devout; and he was waiting for the consolation of Israel. We know that to be righteous and devout means a person walks in step with God’s commands. But what does it mean that […]

“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise” (James 5:13). In Psalm 100, the psalmist instructs us: “Shout for joy to the Lord, . . . Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. . . . Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations” (v.1-2, 4-5). What is it about praise and thanksgiving that brings the Lord and the believer so close together? Praise melts our hearts so that we are no longer hardened by sin or disappointment. The Bible teaches that God is near to those who praise Him (see Psalm 145:18-19). He knows the deepest concerns of our hearts (see Psalm 139). And while He never requires our praise, He certainly desires it because He knows that praise […]

“On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, . . .” (1 Corinthians 16:2). Read 1 Corinthians 16:1-4. Jesus often taught on the subject of money. In His Sermon on the Mount, He said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, . . . But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19-20). Brothers and sisters, what you give to the Lord will always bear dividends—here and now, and ultimately for all eternity. At the end of his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul addresses the subject of giving. At first this seems a strange place to bring it up. He moves immediately from the triumph of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15 to the triumph of the collection plate in 1 Corinthians 16. But when we understand that our giving is an extension of our faith […]

“Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-28. When the first crop of the season ripens, it’s an exciting day for a farmer. The farmer has diligently prepared the fields, sown the seeds, and tended the seedlings. If the firstfruits are good, then the farmer can have confidence that the rest of the harvest will be good as well. On Easter morning, Jesus became the firstfruits of a much greater harvest. His body had been sown like a seed, but it was then raised new, glorious, and indestructible. What is true of the firstfruits will be true of all who trust in the name of Jesus: One day, all the dead in Christ will be raised to new life in Him. The Corinthian Christians believed that Jesus had been raised from the dead, but they weren’t so sure […]

“The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes” (Psalm 19:8).  Read Psalm 19:7-9. Psalm 19:7-8 tells us the Word of God “is perfect, refreshing the soul, . . . making wise the simple. . . . giving joy to the heart. . . . giving light to the eyes.” That is the power of the Scriptures. The Bible can lift a person out of the degradation of sin, from prostitution and drunkenness, slavery and addiction, greed and self-righteousness, to a victorious life in Jesus Christ. Here’s a famous example: The Word of God transformed the life of a slave trader named John Newton, and he became a preacher of the Gospel and a hymn writer. Newton wrote many songs in his day, but we remember one in particular because it’s his testimony set to music, illustrating the power of the Word of God: “Amazing […]

“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever” (Isaiah 40:8).  Read Isaiah 40:6-8. Today, no matter how hard someone might try, it would be nearly impossible to scrub the Scriptures from existence. But this was not always the case. Up until the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century, the Bible was preserved through the extremely meticulous, labor-intensive, and time-consuming process of copying it by hand. To hear the Bible read aloud in a public gathering was a tremendous privilege; to own a personal copy of the Scriptures was a luxury reserved for the super-rich. From its earliest days, the Bible has been subjected to the most intense hatred of any book in human history. It’s been despised by despots and dictators, many of whom outlawed the Bible. Some tried to destroy the Bible through clever arguments, others by force. Some passed laws and made it a capital punishment for anyone […]

“For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). Read 2 Peter 1:19-21. The Bible is a special book because it is filled with the very words of God, not merely the wisdom of human beings. Is it any surprise, then, that the Bible is filled with prophecies, many of which have already come true and affirm the trustworthiness of Scripture? Way back in the book of Genesis, God told Abraham, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there” (Genesis 15:13). Guess how long the Israelites were in Egypt. Four hundred years, just as God declared. And then there was Daniel, who interpreted a dream that, from his place in time, described the next five hundred years. Daniel even saw […]

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  Read 2 Timothy 3:14-17. More than two thousand times in the Bible’s pages, we read, “Thus says the Lord.” The Bible testifies to its truthfulness by appealing to its divine Author. The Bible contains sixty-six different books written over a span of about sixteen hundred years. These sixty-six books were written by forty different writers, and the backgrounds of these writers vary tremendously. There were doctors and shepherds, prophets and kings, statesmen and lawyers, priests and tax collectors, tentmakers and fishermen. As you would expect, these people held various opinions and worldviews, especially when you consider they wrote over such a vast time period. And yet, together they produced a unified book—unified in doctrine, ethics, and vision. It’s actually mind-boggling when you think about it. So many people […]