Some friendships can shake our world because we realize their motives were not pure. Even King David encountered false friendships like this in the Old Testament. He writes, “It is not an enemy who taunts me, I could bear that… Instead, it is you—my equal, my companion and close friend. What…
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.” Psalm 51:10-12 Renew – Restore…
And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.…
“Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those he wanted, and they came to him.” (Mark 3:13, CSB) What is it about a mountain that pulls people to reach its summit? The difficulty of the ascent doesn’t matter; they feel a compulsion to reach where others dare not tread. Mount…
“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:15-17, ESV) You may think a year is 365 days long,…
The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in…
“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14, ESV) We are now into the second month of the new year. By this time each year, about eighty percent have fallen behind on their resolutions and slipped back into…
Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him . . . And the LORD came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.” (I Samuel 3:7 and 10, ESV) I…
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5, ESV) Jeremiah, the Old Testament prophet with the longest book, won no popularity awards during his forty years of ministry. Few, if…