Years ago, when I took classes to teach preschoolers, an instructor told us, “Catch’em being good.” Kids want attention; if you give them attention for good behavior, they’re much less likely to seek your focus by misbehaving. Every choice of life comes with consequences. I much prefer good consequences—in other…
The conjunction “but” tells us this verse builds on another. That another is James 1: 21, which ends, “…humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save you.” Sound advice for all of us! Once we receive the Word, we have a responsibility: to do. When my girls were…
When I was a little girl, television husband-and-wife teams weren’t even shown sleeping in the same bed. There was a moral standard the stations sought to attain. Today, I can’t turn on the TV without cringing (which is why it’s seldom on). The moral standard has all but disappeared. Moral…
When I read this verse, I can’t resist shaking my head. I see so many examples in the media of NOT following the instruction here! Can you imagine what a different world we would have if all people everywhere did what this says? We live in a fallen world. We…
HYMN DAY! I’ve probably already shared the words to “Take Time to Be Holy” by William D. Longstaff, but they fit this scripture so well, I had to share them again. Holy…set apart for His righteousness. It’s a true privilege, isn’t it? 1. Take time to be holy, speak oft…
God created man in His own image, knowing even as He did so we would disappoint Him and reject Him and rebel against Him. Even so, He made grace available through the Word—His own Son, Jesus Christ. Anyone who believes in the Son receives spiritual rebirth. Sins are washed away,…
I am so grateful that God does not change! Everything else does, which can leave a person feeling uncertain or insecure. Knowing that He is unchangeable—that what He says stands for all time, that His promises endure for all time, that whatever He does is just and right and good—gives…
Oh, how the deceiver has a heyday stirring things up between Christian brothers and sisters. How the deceiver glories when a minister falls from grace. How the demons of hell celebrate when their trickery and deception convinces a soul that God does not exist. James tells us, “Don’t be deceived.”…
Isn’t it the pits to be born with a sin nature? As the Apostle Paul put it in Romans 7, “For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil…
HYMN DAY! When we sang “Yield Not to Temptation” by Horatio Richmond Palmer in the Mennonite church of my childhood, I don’t recall ever singing the refrain. But I’ve included it here since the author must have intended it to be sung. The lyrics are so powerful! They could be…
