How should Christians handle authority? Well, Paul tells masters to treat their slaves with justice and fairness, and although slavery has been illegal in the United States since 1865, this principle can just as easily apply to anyone who has people who answer to him. Whenever Christians are in charge,…

“Do not judge” – that has to be modern America’s favorite Bible verse. But while we naturally resist other people sitting in judgment on us, it is possible to take this idea too far, to imagine that anything we might want to have or to do is in fact good….

Believe in Christ and you will be saved. That’s true, as long as we understand what it means to believe in Christ. After all, everyone in this passage believed in Jesus in one way or another. Thinik about the unclean spirits, the demons in verse 11. They had the most…

What really makes you happy? That’s the root meaning of the word blessed, you know. Is it material things? Human relationships? A fulfilling career? Popularity? Whatever is on your list, Jesus has some challenging words for you. If you compare this passage with Jesus’ similar teaching in Matthew chapter 5,…

Let’s face it – lots of people claim to be filled with the Spirit of Christ, but their words don’t really match up with what Jesus said. Some who claim to follow Christ insist that He wasn’t really the Son of God – He was just a wise teacher who…

How do we keep trusting God when everything in our lives seems to be going wrong? That was the challenge for David, who was on the run from King Saul, who was his own father-in-law. Even though years earlier God had promised David would one day be king, at the…

Bible Reading for June 22 – Colossians 2:16-23 The human tendency to legalism seems endless. It’s easy to scoff at ancient pagan practices – bowing down to statues or offering animal sacrifices to them and imagining that such rituals would guarantee good fortune. We can even look down on the…

What is it costing you to tell the good news? In order for Paul to proclaim the mystery of God’s grace to the Gentiles (vv. 26-27), he had to turn his back on many of his own people, the Jews who refused to believe that God would save anyone who…

Why do we worship Jesus? It’s easy for us to focus on what He has done for us. Verse 20 recalls the marvelous truth that He has made peace between God and man by offering the perfect sacrifice for us on the cross. Moreover, because He shed His blood for…

Have you ever wondered if God could possibly love you? Maybe you’re living with the shame of having hurt yourself or others in the past. Maybe you find yourself attracted to all sorts of things or people that only cause you more pain. Maybe when you look in the mirror,…