Resources

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, . . .” (Ephesians 3:17-18). Read Ephesians 3:14-19. Deceptive ideas about God and His love as benign, spineless, insipid, and universally neutral are gaining momentum in the West like an avalanche. In reality, the love of God is active, even fierce. His love cost Him a colossal and incalculable price. The love of God displayed in the gift of Jesus Christ is astonishing and priceless. To equate it with the warm, fuzzy, and indifferent feelings of the “Love is love” mantra is a gross misunderstanding, a perversion, and, frankly, insulting. When it comes to the disciples of Jesus, we must spend our lives attempting to comprehend the incomprehensible love of God and sharing its Truth. This is why Paul prayed that the Christians in […]

“We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads’” (Acts 26:14). Read Acts 26:12-18. On the third day, Jesus walked out of His borrowed garden tomb, alive and well. The religious tried to stop the resurrection with seals and stones and soldiers. It didn’t matter; Jesus rose from the dead all the same. Even so, opposition to the resurrection power of Jesus continued. Religious authorities, political leaders, and others tried to silence Jesus’ followers and put a stop to the spread of the Gospel. One such enemy of Christ was a young Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus. He rose to prominence and found a measure of fame because of his hate for Christian believers who kept on proclaiming the resurrection. He intimidated the believers, imprisoned many, and even oversaw the murder of a deacon in the […]

“He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay” (Matthew 28:6). Read Matthew 27:57-28:6. The chief priests and Pharisees went to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate and asked him to set guards at the tomb because they believed Jesus’ words more than His disciples did. They feared the resurrection, and they wanted to stop it. Pilate must have thought they were out of their religious minds, but he humored the Jewish leaders. He had a seal placed on the tomb. He stationed guards to prevent anyone from disturbing the grave. And yet, on Sunday morning, the seal was broken, the stone was rolled away, and the guards fell like dead men. There was no stopping the resurrection. Of course, the chief priests and the Pharisees didn’t quit there. They bribed the guards to lie about what had happened, to spread the rumor that the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body (see […]

“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit” (Matthew 27:50). Read Matthew 27:45-50. When we are tempted to doubt the love of God, all we need to do is look to the cross of Christ and remember that His love led Him there. Jesus endured the worst physical suffering imaginable—His hands and feet nailed to a crude implement of torture, His back flayed from the scourge of a soldier’s whip, and His head pierced by a thorn of crowns. But the Lord also endured another type of pain: “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). Some pastors and theologians have tried to discount these words, but there is no way to avoid them. For a short time, while Jesus was dying on the cross, the Father turned His back on […]

“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). Read Zechariah 9:9-12. From the earliest days, those who remembered God’s promises anticipated a coming King—the Messiah promised way back in Genesis 3:15 who would crush the head of the enemy. Genesis 49:10 reveals that the scepter will never depart from His hand. According to 2 Samuel 7:13, His Kingdom will last forever. In Psalm 2, He is anointed King by God the Father Himself (vv. 6-7). In Psalm 72, all other kings bow down before Him (v. 11). In Isaiah 2, He reigns in complete righteousness (vv. 3-4). In Daniel 2, His Kingdom topples all others (v. 44). And in Zechariah 14, He is King over all the earth (v. 9). While the Old Testament offered a rough sketch of the coming King, the New Testament reveals […]

“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, . . .” (Ephesians 1:11). Read Ephesians 1:11-14. The disciple of Jesus must go directly to the Lord Himself in the pages of Scripture to discover the Truth of who He is. And the most foundational Truth about God is that He is sovereign. God accomplishes all things according to the counsel of His will—nothing can thwart His purposes (see Ephesians 1:11; Psalm 135:5-6; Isaiah 14:27; Job 42:2). God’s knowledge, authority, power, and dominion extend to the smallest thing in the whole universe. And this absolute rule is the axle around which all God’s other attributes revolve. People tend to have one of two responses to the idea of God’s sovereignty in the midst of this broken world: Either they don’t believe the Lord is in perfect control of the universe, or they […]

“Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life” (1 Timothy 6:18-19). Many people see the new year as an opportunity to turn over a new leaf, and so the first of the year becomes a time to set goals and make resolutions. Most resolutions focus on the here and now; few address eternal matters. While it is beneficial to give some focus to strengthening our physical bodies, it should not come at the cost of neglecting our eternal souls. We must not create a to-do list of projects to improve our houses while failing to consider how we will sow into our heavenly dwelling places. It is easy to become distracted by earthly concerns. It is easy to […]

Read John 13:34-35. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). “A new command I give you: Love one another” (John 13:34a). At first, we might think, “How is this a new command? Didn’t Jesus already identify the first and second most important commandments as loving God and loving our neighbors?” (see Matthew 22:35-40). Thankfully, Jesus gives us the answer in the very next sentence: “As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34b). That’s what’s new. No one had ever experienced a love like Jesus’ love. His love is beyond any the world has ever known. Then Jesus teaches them, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples” (v. 35). Friends, we are to love as Jesus loved. We will truly be seen as His disciples when we become like Him. Before Jesus shares this imperative with the disciples, […]

Read Luke 14:25-35. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). In Luke 14, Jesus has large crowds following Him—He often had large crowds following Him. Conventional wisdom would say, “Jesus, get them on Your good side first. Tell them what they want to hear. Jesus, tell them how wonderful they are. Tell them to name whatever they want and then claim it, and then whatever it is will be theirs.” Or maybe we would advise Jesus, “Don’t tell them the true cost of discipleship yet. Maybe start with a short Bible study first. Then, You can work Your way up to the difficult stuff.” But Jesus does nothing of the sort. With Jesus, there are no misleading subtleties. There is no fine print or sugar coating. He spells out exactly what it will cost to be His […]

Read Matthew 28:18-20. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). Jesus’ call to make disciples of all nations can sure seem a daunting task. But Jesus promised: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. . . . And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18, 20). In other words, Jesus Himself empowers us for the task. We go with the authority of Jesus Himself with our Savior in our very midst. However, in order to make true disciples of Christ, we must be true disciples of Jesus ourselves. We must obey and imitate Him in every area of life. There are many who claim to be followers of Christ but never reflect His love, mercy, grace, or […]

“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 […]