The Bible in a Year It is easy to look at a small beginning and decide that it does not count. A room has only a few people in it. A habit of prayer lasts five minutes. A strained relationship improves through one careful conversation, but the distance between two people remains. We can seeContinue reading “Faithful in the Small Things”
Tag Archives: spiritual growth
Becoming What God Has Begun
As the Day Begins “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.” — Romans 8:29, NIV. (Bible App) Paul’s words give us a steady answer to a morning question: What is God doing in my life? In Romans 8, he speaks to people who know weakness, suffering,Continue reading “Becoming What God Has Begun”
The Friends Who Help Us Become Faithful
On Second Thought “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” — Proverbs 27:17 Loneliness can make almost any open door look like the right entrance. When someone has gone too long without companionship, the desire to be accepted may become stronger than the wisdom to ask where a relationship is leading. That doesContinue reading “The Friends Who Help Us Become Faithful”
The Gift We Learn to Live
By His Word “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” — Philippians 2:12 When a child receives a complicated gift, opening the package is only the beginning. The gift may belongContinue reading “The Gift We Learn to Live”
When Another Person’s Blessing Feels Like Your Loss
On Second Thought Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 18:10–16 Key Verse: Proverbs 6:34 “For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.” —Proverbs 6:34 Jealousy rarely introduces itself honestly. It does not normally announce, “I resent the good that God has given someone else.” Instead, it disguisesContinue reading “When Another Person’s Blessing Feels Like Your Loss”
Don’t Stop Halfway Up the Mountain
As the Day Begins “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.” —John 12:26 The word “mediocre” comes through Latin roots suggesting something situated halfway up a mountain. It is a fitting picture of a ChristianContinue reading “Don’t Stop Halfway Up the Mountain”
God Is at Work in the In-Between
DID YOU KNOW Life rarely moves in straight lines. We pass through beginnings and endings, joy and disappointment, certainty and confusion. Some seasons feel like winter, others like spring, and many of the most difficult days are the ones between the two. We know where we have been, but we cannot yet see where GodContinue reading “God Is at Work in the In-Between”
Keep Pressing Toward More of God
As the Day Begins “That ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.” — Ephesians 3:19 There is a dangerous kind of contentment that can creep into the Christian life. It does not look like rebellion. It looks like settling. We begin to think that because we have trusted Christ, learned some Scripture,Continue reading “Keep Pressing Toward More of God”
There Are No Shortcuts to Knowing Christ
As the Day Ends “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 3:14 There is something reassuring about Paul’s words because they remind us that spiritual growth is not automatic. Even the apostle who had encountered the risen Christ still described himself as pressingContinue reading “There Are No Shortcuts to Knowing Christ”
When the Word Becomes Part of You
The Bible in a Year “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart; for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.” — Jeremiah 15:16 Jeremiah gives us one of the most vivid pictures in Scripture of whatContinue reading “When the Word Becomes Part of You”