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We constantly attempt to manufacture our own goodness. We try to present our best selves to the world through intense personal effort. The text of the Bible compares the church to the moon. In literal...

Your future is secure because salvation rests on Christ, not on you. Hope is fragile when it depends on human effort.Thank God believers can look toward the future with joy, not fear. Paul writes: "We...

We are creatures of activity. We are addicted to doing, moving, and striving. But sometimes, God compels us to stop. During the global shutdowns, the world was forced into a strange, suspended animati...

Most people spend their entire lives trying to become someone. The gospel says you already are. You did not receive a project at salvation. You received a new identity. God did not hand you a to-do li...

There is a specific kind of success that the world does not understand. Most people believe that wealth must be bought with stress, sleepless nights, and declining health. They accept "painful toil" a...

There is a battle. We cannot ignore it. When you decide to live a life that impacts the Kingdom, you will face resistance. However, the way we engage in this battle matters. We often picture spiritual...

A psychiatric textbook and a Gospel say the same thing: live in the present moment. The difference is that the Gospel said it two thousand years earlier. Anxiety is not new. It is not a modern conditi...

There is a pervasive myth that the Christian life is supposed to be hard. We equate struggle with holiness. We think if we aren't grinding, suffering, or white-knuckling our way through life, we aren'...

We often read the Old Testament and dismiss it as ancient agricultural advice. Take Deuteronomy 25:4: "You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain." It sounds like a rule about being kind...

We tend to see our flaws first.God sees something different. When Scripture describes how Christ views His people,the language is almost hard to believe: "You are altogether lovely; there is no spot i...

The world tells you, "Don't get your hopes up." They say it to protect you. They think that if you keep your expectations low, you won't be disappointed when things go wrong. But the Bible says the ex...

Most of us want more peace and more favor. The natural human instinct is to ask, "What must I do to get it?" We assume the path to increase is increased effort-more discipline, more service, more hour...

When someone wrongs you, the immediate human instinct is to balance the scales. We want justice. We want to set the record straight. We feel the weight of the unfairness, and we exhaust ourselves tryi...

When God created humanity, He formed the mind without decay, confusion, or decline.Clarity was normal.Sharpness was normal.Peace was normal. It was only after the fall that the mind became vulnerable....

Strength doesn't always come from discipline.Sometimes it comes from being loved. In John 21, the disciples worked all night and caught nothing.When Jesus appeared, the net filled with fish-so heavy t...

There is a tendency to become hyper-aware of the opposition. We look for the problems. We analyze the "enemy." We worry about what might go wrong. But Jesus gave a very interesting instruction regardi...

There is a strange detail in the story of Lazarus that we often skip over. Jesus receives word that His friend is dying. Lazarus, the one He loves, is sick. You would expect Jesus to drop everything a...

One question often lingers in the Emmaus story:Why did Jesus keep them from recognizing Him? He could have ended their sadness instantlyjust by saying, "It's Me." But He didn't. Instead, their eyes we...

God is not mad; He seeks to save, bless, and give abundant life. If you imagine God frustrated, disappointed, or perpetually tired of you, you'll never feel safe enough to draw close. But Jesus correc...

There was a man who crossed the ocean eating crackers in the lower deck because he didn't know the meals were included in his ticket.The food was his all along - he just didn't know it. Many believers...