Meaningful Sacrifice

2 Samuel 24:23-24 (NIV) “Your Majesty, Araunah gives all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the Lord your God accept you.” 24 But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them.

David was feeling good about himself after having conquered just about every nation around him an

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The Disowning of Jesus

John 13:38 (NIV) Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!”

One of the many tragic events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus was when all of the disciples ran and abandoned Him when He was arrested. Even sadder was the fact that Peter, arguably Jesus’ most outspoken and devoted disciple, disowned Jesus three times. He was questioned three separate times about whether

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He Is Good!

Psalm 139:1 (NKJV) Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

There are obviously many, many reasons to give thanks to our God, but there is one that the Word of God speaks about that perhaps we don’t give enough thought to, and that’s in the scripture verse above. Have you ever thanked God just because He is good?

Many people thank the Lord for things that He has done for them but if there is nothing currently that He has given them, they do

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He Finds a Way

2 Samuel 14:14 (NIV) Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him.

There is no one like our God...no one! He withholds the punishment that we deserve (that’s mercy) to lavish unmerited favor (that’s grace) on us that we don’t deserve. When we repent of our sins and turn our hearts to Him, He meets us where we are and showers u

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Doing Earthly Good

Colossians 3:1-2 (NIV) Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

There is a popular saying about Christians who, in some people’s opinion, tend to focus so much on their relationship with Jesus that they are of no use to the people around them. Of these Christians it is said that they are so heavenly-minded that they are no earthly g

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The god of Loneliness

1 John 5:21 (NIV) Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.

When we read warnings from the scriptures about idols, we think of ugly statues and monuments that people make with their hands. These idols and false gods were a huge problem for the Israelites in the Old Testament and they continue to be prominent among a vast number of people in the world today. But did you know that there are idols that we worship that are not seen? These are especially dangerous because you c

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Letting Peace Rule

Colossians 3:15 (NIV) Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Everyone wants to experience peace. Many people talk about their desire to see world peace. That is a lofty desire that I can confidently say we will never experience, at least not in this world. There will be absolute and complete peace one day, but it will be experienced when we are in eternity in heaven with the Lord Jesus. But can we

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The Folly of Thinking to Yourself

1 Samuel 27:1 (NIV) But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”

David had been running from Saul for a long time. He spent a lot of time in the wilderness and hiding in caves from King Saul. He had quite a few close calls, but the Lord always delivered him from King Sa

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A Work in Progress

Philippians 1:6 (NIV) Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

One of the things that I have said repeatedly when I am speaking publicly is that we are all “a piece of work.” What I mean by that is that in general, we as people are difficult and complicated. We can make mountains out of molehills and turn something positive into a negative very quickly. This is all due to our sinful nature, w

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A Godly Conscience

1 Samuel 24:5-6 (NIV) Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.”

King Saul had gotten it into his mind that he had to kill David, the man that the Lord had used to not only kill Goliath, but who was the one who had also won many victories for Saul and Israel as one of Israel’s

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Knowing God Better

Ephesians 1:17 (NIV) I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

One of the many wonderful things that God has blessed us with is relationships. God is a relational God and relationships are important to Him. It’s obvious how much He values our relationship with Him because of the price that He paid to restore the relationship that was shattered when our ancestor

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The Spirit of Sonship

Galatians 4:6-7 (NIV) Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

When I was a teenager living with my parents, they would allow me to invite my friends over to our home. While my parents did everything to make my friends feel at home, there was an obvious difference between me and them. As comfort

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Seeing Jesus

Luke 24:30-31 (NIV) When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.

When Jesus resurrected on the third day just as He said He would, it shook and confused a lot of people. The women who went to the tomb to put the spices on the body as was the custom were alarmed when they found the empty tomb. When they ran to tell the disciples,

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Keep Up With the Spirit

Galatians 5:25 (NIV) Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

When I was a young boy, I loved going on walks with my dad. He was obviously taller than I was and his walking strides were longer than mine. I remember trying to match his steps and in order to do so, I had to include a hop, skip and a jump to keep up. I even tried to match the order of his steps....left, right, left, right. It wasn’t easy to do, but I was determined and enjoyed the chal

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The God Who Counters Instinct

1 Samuel 6:7-9 (NIV) “Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. Take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the Lord has brought this great disaster on u

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