Why Giving Is An Act of Worship

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all…

Lessons Learned: Threat

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.  What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit…

Where Conflicts Are Born

Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have,…

The Lord Will Provide

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”“Here I am,” he replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took…

Maturity’s Merit

And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My…

Wisdom and Power, The Fuel of Faith

And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My…

Honesty’s Enduring Value

The Lord detests lying lips,but he delights in people who are trustworthy. Proverbs 12:22 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in…

Know the Season

For everything there is a season,    a time for every activity under heaven.A time to be born and a time to die.    A time to plant and a time to harvest.A time to kill and a time to heal.    A time to tear down and a time to build up.A time to cry and a time to laugh.    A…

Lessons Learned: Disciple

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. Matthew 9:9 OUR HUMAN CONDITION We are anxious, tied up in the status quo. We conform to our culture, knowing all the while that it is sick…

Psalm 119 (part 22)

169 May my cry come before you, Lord;    give me understanding according to your word.170 May my supplication come before you;    deliver me according to your promise.171 May my lips overflow with praise,    for you teach me your decrees.172 May my tongue sing of your word,    for all your commands are righteous.173 May your hand be ready to help me,    for I have chosen your precepts.174 I long for your salvation, Lord,    and your law gives me…