Would you agree that when we love someone, we want to please them? I know when I was a kid, it killed me to disappoint my parents. When I taught, I didn’t want the kids to behave out of fear of punishment but because they respected me and understood that…
“Living for Jesus” by Thomas O. Chisholm makes a beautiful prayer of submission. “My life I give, henceforth to live, O Christ, for Thee alone.” Amen. 1 Living for Jesus a life that is true, striving to please him in all that I do, yielding allegiance glad-hearted and free this…
This is another verse that must be carefully examined to avoid misinterpretation. We can’t run around demanding things “in Jesus’s name” for our own pleasure. Jesus came to bring glory to the Father; as His followers, our goal should be to glorify the Father in the things we say and…
When I was a kid, this verse made me stumble a bit. Jesus did such miraculous things—brought people back to life, healed the sick, made the blind see and the deaf hear… Did that mean if I wasn’t able to do those things, I didn’t really believe in Him? Now…
People try to water down the Bible to suit their own needs, but one cannot refute this bold statement by Christ: HE is the only way to reach the Father. Those who say God loves everyone and therefore won’t condemn anyone to a hell are well-meaning, but they’re wrong. It’s…
Jesus had to go away. It was part of the Father’s plan, and without Jesus’s willingness to go to the cross we’d all still be burning sacrifices on altars and seeking to adhere to an impossible-to-achieve list of laws. He left, but He didn’t leave us hopeless. He didn’t leave…
HYMN DAY! The story behind “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” is a sad one—Thomas Dorsey wrote it in the 1930’s after his wife died in childbirth and the baby died only a short time after. The lyrics speak of an aching heart reaching out for comfort. When we reach to…
There are many promises in the Bible, and the older I get, the more this one means to me. There is a place reserved for me where my God and Savior reside. Jesus secured my place by going to the cross. So many I love have already gone there, and…
Jesus knew He would face the cross and His disciples would be left behind, lost, heartsore, and confused. Consequently, He did His utmost to prepare and encourage them. His statement, “Your heart must not be troubled,” is so powerful and requires so much faith to receive. We all know what…
Jesus heard Peter’s proclamation and recognized the sincerity of the promise, but He also knew that Peter wouldn’t follow through. He let Peter know He knew, too! But Jesus didn’t threaten Peter by saying something like, “You deny me, and I’ll forever deny you.” Jesus would forgive Peter, He would…
