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1 Timothy 6:3-6 is a guidebook for identifying deceivers. Satan is invisible so we do not often sense his trickery. But we can see his tangible attacks and strategies. The passage says,

“If anyone advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men…  ( Click for more )

God very much cares about those who lead our nation and the nations around the world. When it came to the nation of Israel, the king had such great influence that, if he feared God, the people would often turn to God as well. Conversely, if he rebelled against God and turned to idols, the people would follow suit. Obviously, the faithfulness of our leaders or the lack thereof is of major consequence. Since God cares about the heart of the leader and the hearts of the people, God must also care about governments. Jesus believed in respecting earthly authorities and not believing…  ( Click for more )

God is perfect (Matthew 5:48), and His Word is perfect (James 1:25). Mankind, apart from Christ, is everything but (Romans 3:23). Yet the call for all people is given in Matthew 5:48 in which Jesus says, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” His challenge to the people of the day and to all who would come after them was to recognize their utter imperfection and their need for the holy cleansing of God Who alone is perfect. They needed to see just Who it was Who was speaking to them, so that they could see their utter failure in…  ( Click for more )

There is a prevailing misconception of the purpose of the first coming of Christ. This misunderstanding and spurious view of Jesus can lead to developing a wrong view of the Father, a view which ignores or negates the justice and holiness of God. It is easy to only view Jesus as simply a tender, loving, gracious, forgiving, and gentle figure. He is all of those things, but He is not just full of grace but full of truth as well (John 1:14). The grace part is not a tough message to preach or to receive until it is combined with the truth that all men have sinned and will suffer eternity…  ( Click for more )

Christlike love is truly a unique and distinct thing from how the world speaks of love and understands love. It is more than a feeling, an experience, or a nice, charitable act. It is something that comes from the heart, and only those whose hearts are indwelt by Christ can truly love as Christ does (1 John 4:7-8). There are nice people who do nice things, but, because they do not know Christ, they cannot love as He loved. This is why Christlike love is a distinguishing mark of the believer (John 13:34-35). In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul makes a most significant point…  ( Click for more )

There is a lot of confusion surrounding the concept of repentance in terms of what defines genuine repentance versus a mere regret over the consequences of poor choices. Scripture is clear, however, as to what leads us to repent, what repentance is, and how we can know if our repentance is, in fact, genuine.

After we have sinned, we are quickly made aware that we are guilty. The Holy Spirit will be active in convicting our hearts of sin and making us feel our guilt and shame acutely. But we can resist, grieve, and quench the Spirit’s loving conviction in our hearts if…  ( Click for more )

There is a lot of teaching on how to find and know the will of God for our lives, but we really need not make it over-complicated. Here are five truths from Scripture to help guide us so that we can make wise choices and honor God with our lives.

1. God leads us according to and never in contradiction to His Word.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” If we want to be sanctified,…  ( Click for more )

James 4:6 says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” The proud set themselves in opposition to God, glorifying in themselves rather than in Him. It is not a smart thing to be opposed to God, so we would do well to think through Biblically what it is to be humble so that we can continue operating as God would have us.

1. The humble heart understands dependence upon God.

John 15:5 makes it clear that apart from Jesus we cannot accomplish anything of eternal value. It is impossible to do God’s will and to store up treasure…  ( Click for more )

God is always looking for faithful men and women that He can support and empower to accomplish His will and purposes on this earth (2 Chronicles 16:9). He has given us a commission to be active in making disciples and to teach them all that He has commanded (Matthew 28:19-20). He wants workers, and He asks that we would pray for more workers to go out into the harvest (Luke 10:2). God’s method in building His kingdom is by using willing and obedient servants, people who avail themselves to God’s call upon their lives. For some, the call may be to foreign missions…  ( Click for more )

What is more important, the pleasures of sin in this life, or the riches of eternal life in Christ forever? Weighing these two options side by side should come out to be a no-brainer. The scale clearly tilts in the direction of eternity. After all, the eternal is quite a bit longer than life on earth, and God’s rewards are quite a bit nicer than any earthly prize. Plain and simply, the eternal weight of glory is far greater than anything this world has to offer.

The perspective that we need to have is given by Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 which says,

“Therefore…  ( Click for more )

Sometimes we might get worn down such that we could use a little encouragement to keep us going. As Isaiah 35:3 says, “Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble.” But it is not just those who have been exhausted who need encouragement, but encouragement should be a regular part of life among believers. Hebrews 3:13 says, “But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” There is not a day that goes by that we couldn’t benefit from…  ( Click for more )

Too often we experience a breakdown in communication. Marriages can fall apart because of cruel words spoken in an outburst of anger, business deals can be scrapped because of a failure to disclose information, workers can be fired for failing to understand their responsibilities, children can be emotionally traumatized by parents who never listen, and churches can decay without a pastor who is able to teach the Word. Communication is a significant part of who we are as human beings and as believers. In order for us to be able to maintain healthy relationships, we need to follow God’s…  ( Click for more )

The concept of need is a very interesting one. We all have needs, though some feel them more severely and acutely than others. Some live with hunger, some live without a roof over their heads, and some live without a loving parent. Others are blessed with the basic necessities of life and yet are consumed with worry about other also valid needs such as harmony in family relationships, problems at work, health complications, etc. The fact of the matter is that even the wealthiest and most powerful people have needs. So why does God allow us to have needs, and why does it seem that…  ( Click for more )

We are to worship God in all aspects of our life, doing everything in a way that ascribes honor, glory, and worth to Him. One of the ways God has ordained for His people to worship Him is through music and through song. He has blessed people with musical talents for the express purpose of creating worshipful songs and leading His people in a worship experience through song (1 Corinthians 15:16). This can only happen, however, if the church heeds the principles that God has given in terms of what makes music worshipful. Some music is created expressly as an outlet for anger…  ( Click for more )

There is only one place to find wisdom, namely, in God’s Word. And there is only one way to find wisdom, that is, through Jesus Christ. Colossians 2:3 says, speaking of Christ, “In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” As we look for wise counsel in life, we need to look no further than Christ and the Scripture. Everything we need to know is contained in His Word. As Romans 15:4 says, “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might…  ( Click for more )

The Holy Spirit is not just some invisible, abstract being that plays a secondary or tertiary role when it comes to the Godhead. He is God, the third Person of the Trinity, and He is powerful and intimately involved in our lives as believers. We need to know just how involved He is lest we underestimate His power and provision in our lives. Here is a list of the many things that He is busy doing even this very moment: • Regenerating John 3:5-6 “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the…  ( Click for more )

In Proverbs 5-7, Solomon writes to his son to give him advice when it comes to sexual morality. This advice is from God, and it applies to young men of Solomon’s time and of our time. All men are vulnerable to being seduced into immorality, and over the course of time, many have fallen for the trap of sexual immorality and adultery. As Proverbs 7:26 says, speaking of the adulteress/prostitute, “For many are the victims she has cast down, and numerous are all her slain.” Men need to be wary of the seductress because this type of woman knows exactly how to work…  ( Click for more )

Christian mothers must never underestimate their calling. It is an extremely difficult, challenging, and tiring calling, but its rewards are in proportion to the tasks. God has given principles in His Word to guide mothers as they navigate through the challenges of raising children.

#1Godly mothers relish their young children and tenderly nurture them.

As 1 Thessalonians 2:7 says, “But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.” There is great comfort, rest, and security in a mother’s embrace.…  ( Click for more )

One of Satan’s great schemes is to make believers think that God has betrayed them or abandoned them. This technique works particularly well when we find ourselves in times of difficulty. God in His sovereign purposes may allow us to go through times of difficulty because He knows that trials can produce in us great character and perseverance (James 1:2-4). Satan wants us to believe, however, that our suffering is an indication that God is no longer faithful. He wants us to think that God doesn’t care, that God doesn’t know, or that God wants to make our lives…  ( Click for more )

In Exodus 12:5, God commanded each household in Israel to take an unblemished lamb and slaughter it on the Passover. The blood of the Lamb was to be put on the doorposts of their homes so that God would pass over them and not strike down their firstborn as He would do to the Egyptians. The picture of blood being shed for saving their children was a clear foreshadowing of Christ who would shed His innocent blood for us as the perfect Lamb of God. Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 1:19 that we have not been bought with perishable things such as silver and gold “but with precious…  ( Click for more )

Hebrews 4:15-16 says, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” There is great significance to the fact that Christ was born in the likeness of man and lived through adulthood on this earth. Sometimes we might think that God, being God, could not possibly relate to or understand our incessant needs and weaknesses. Yet…  ( Click for more )

Gentleness is not the most compelling of the fruit of the Spirit, especially for the men. It sounds wimpy, cowardly, and just too “feminine.” We know that a gentle spirit in women is precious to God (1 Peter 3:4), but the fact of the matter is that gentleness is also a godly trait for men (James 3:13, Titus 3:2). Indeed, we are not walking fully in the Spirit as followers of Christ if we are not gentle. Thus, it is important that we know what gentleness is and how to manifest it in our lives. The best way to understand gentleness is to look at our God, Who…  ( Click for more )

Exodus 18 provides us with a very important truth about the dangers of over-committing ourselves. On one side of the extreme, we can be prone to laziness and inactivity, and, at such times, we need some prodding to get more involved in life and in ministry. Yet there are other times when we can fall to the other extreme of constant activity and juggling too many responsibilities. This extreme is not any healthier because it leads to high stress for the over-committed individual and an inability on his or her part to be balanced and to give to others what they need. As Exodus…  ( Click for more )

What is your greatest fear, your worst case scenario? If it came true, how would you get by? How would you be sustained? How would you endure without compromising or cursing God?

Jesus faced a severe predicament, one of certain death. He knew that He had come to earth for this moment, but still He had a difficult choice to make. Can you imagine knowing the kind of pain that you would be about to experience in being crucified, and yet still going ahead and doing it? Can you imagine having hardly anyone in your court to support you and still making the right decision regardless?…  ( Click for more )