In the middle of his sermon on the mount Jesus uses a metaphor that hardly seems to make sense. He talks about a good eye, a bad eye, and a body full of light and darkness. Here is the passage: Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is … Read More
Have you ever felt like you only do what you do because somebody else did what they did? In four brief paragraphs author Paul Tripp brings insights that are at once clarifying and convicting. Read them first, then go read Romans 7:14-25, and then read them again.  While he applies these thoughts to regret in the middle of your life … Read More
Next time you feel like you’ve waited long enough for God to do something, reflect upon the characters of the Bible. Author Joann Weaver is bold enough to say what many of us were thinking when we read these stories. Was it really necessary to leave Joseph rotting in an Egyptian prison cell for such an extended period? Was it vitally … Read More
He was from Nigeria, but I met him in Hungary. I was teaching for five days, and he was one of fifty international students studying the Bible in an old communist castle. Over lunch one day, he asked me the question: âIs it right for me to marry an American woman, and expect her to return with me to Nigeria?â … Read More
Jesus gave us a guide to prayer. He tucked it right in the middle of his sermon on the mount (Matt. 5-7). We call it the Lord’s Prayer. It begins: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name (Matt. 6:9). The word hallowed is closely connected with the word holy, and it means to be set apart. Another way to think about … Read More
Even though it happened over thirty-five years ago I can still remember the feeling of panic. Looking down the ladder, realizing my brother was no longer steadying it at the base, and then feeling the ladder begin to slide away from the tree. My 30 foot descent wasnât rapid enough to break any bones, but it really knocked the wind … Read More
Dick Eastman, author of The Hour that Changes the World, shares insightfully: Nothing I can do will please Christ more than my joining with Him in daily prayer. And when I do, something happens in the world that could not happen through any other means. Here are seven tools that others have found beneficial in bringing consistency to their prayer life: Take and 8.5 … Read More
I enjoy reading the works of John Piper. In His book Desiring God he makes an especially excellent statement. Here it is: Saving faith is the heartfelt conviction not only that Christ is reliable, but also that He is desirable. It is the confidence that He will come through with His promises, and that what He promises is more to … Read More
Addiction isnât limited to substance abusers. The mark of an addict is when a want becomes a need â at least in his mind. This is easy to see when one struggles with substance abuse. In those cases our very body responds as if the thing we desired is an actual need. We call that process withdrawal. While it is painful to … Read More
It is one of those short proverbs that is filled with meaning. Solomon refers to it as sharpening the ax. He writes, If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen it then he must use more strength . . . (Ecclesiastes 10:10). The Gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus himself grew in wisdom, stature, and favor with … Read More
