Many people think that by trying to live a good life, they are guaranteed a ticket to heaven. They may say things like, “I’m a good person; I don’t steal, lie, cheat, or commit adultery, as other people do. I’ve never been to prison, and I always work hard and contribute to society. So why shouldn’t I deserve to go to heaven?” Notice that the focus is on “what I do.”
A testimony is one person’s profession of faith in Jesus. However, our declaration of belief is much more than the story we tell. A good witness for the Lord consists of three parts: character, conduct, and conversation.
When do you most need the assurance of God’s love? Isn’t it usually when you are experiencing the deepest pain? If you are suffering rejection, failure, or any circumstance that is testing your faith, you need to know the Lord still cares and will never stop loving you. This is exactly what we see in Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman:
In the midst of suffering, we may question whether God cares or even knows what we’re going through. However, the problem isn’t with the Lord—it’s with our perception. We tend to judge God by our circumstances, but we should judge circumstances by the Lord’s character and the power He demonstrated in Scripture.
Our heavenly Father knows what our income is and how He would like us to spend it. He also desires that we demonstrate certain heart attitudes in our giving. These include faith, compassion, and generosity.
Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church praises the Macedonian believers for their generosity. Despite deep poverty and great troubles, they desired to bless others materially. From their example, we know that our Father is pleased when we give ...
A disappointing friendship is one area of life that causes great distress. Companionship is one of our essential needs, and when friends fail us, we feel wounded, rejected, and alone. We’ve probably all experienced this to one degree or another, and the apostle Paul was no exception.
Have you ever considered what a wonderful gift speech is? When God created us, He gave us a voice and a language so we could communicate. With our tongues we can praise and glorify God, teach His Word, pray, and express encouragement and loving devotion to one another.
In our culture, Bibles are so plentiful that we often take them for granted. This was not the case in Ezra’s day. After being exiled from Israel for many years, the Jews had finally returned to their land, and today’s passage describes their reaction to hearing the Scriptures. We may have easy access to Bibles today, but we’d do well to learn to approach God’s Word in the same manner as these Israelites did.