The Gift of Faith
1 Corinthians 4:7 – 7For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? The Bible teaches us that everything we receive is from God. We cannot and should not boast in something we received as if it is something we earned or achieved. This is…
Examining Yourself
1 Corinthians 11:27-29 – 27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on…
Purifying Ourselves
1 John 3:2-3 – 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. The Bible makes it clear that for those who God begins the good work, God completes it. The passage above…
Motivated by Love
1 Timothy 1:5 – 5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. What are my motivations behind my actions? Maybe a more pressing question is “Do I even consider my motivations or do I only focus on the results?” Sometimes we focus so much on the results of our actions that we don’t stop…
God of All Circumstances
Habakkuk 3:1718 – 17 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. I desire to live by God’s grace each and every…
Proving To Be Disciples
John 15:8 – 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. Should we do good works throughout our lives to prove to ourselves and others (and perhaps even to God) that we belong to Jesus Christ? Wrongly understood, this verse can drive us to legalism. The Bible teaches us that God saves us by grace…
How Do I Love?
John 15:9 —9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. Stop and think deeply about what Jesus is saying to us right here. The Father and Son have existed eternally with perfect love for each other. There were never any ulterior motives, never any selfishness or self-seeking in their relationship with each other. There was never any hurt…
Reason for Assurance
Hebrews 9:13-14—13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. D.A. Carson…
Always rejoicing, praying, and thanking
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Rejoicing, praying, and being thankful to God; Paul tells us that this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us. How are we doing in this? These aren’t natural things that you can just conjure…