Moses was having lots of trouble from the people God had called him to lead. Even though God was feeding them every day with manna, miraculous bread from Heaven, they were not satisfied. Instead, they longed for the earthly food they had in Egypt – even though as slaves, they…

For much of Joseph’s life, he must have had a hard time believing that God was in charge of everything. After all, when he was just a teenager, his brothers had sold him as a slave to a group of Ishmaelites because they were jealous of their father’s favoritism towards…

Sin shows up in the most surprising of places. We are accustomed to thinking of sin as certain bad things that we do. And because of this we sometimes imagine that if we avoid these behaviors, if we just don’t actively harm anyone else, we can avoid sin. But at…

Self-improvement is not a do-it-yourself project. Oh, most of the world’s religions believe that we all just need to try a little harder, but by this time in the cycle of New Year’s resolutions and disappointments, our inherent weakness should be obvious to all of us. But that’s the good…

What do you long for? What do you thirst for? What is your greatest desire? Chances are, that’s really your god, whatever your profession of faith may be. In the first 5 verses, the psalmist reveals that God is really the One Who is most important to him. For whatever…

In this era of increasingly violent disagreement, Jesus reminds us that seeking reconciliation is not optional for Christians. This is especially true if we are the guilty party, if someone has accused us of wrongdoing. In this case, Jesus insists in verses 25 and 26 that it is our responsibility…

Why is it so hard for us to love one another? Many times it is because of our differences – we don’t see the world the same way, we don’t have the same preferences, and we aren’t working toward the same ends. Differences often lead to conflicts, not just in…

With so many different preachers out there making all sorts of different claims, how do we know whom we can trust? Jesus gives us some good indicators in today’s passage. First, we should only trust those who avoid the sin of hypocrisy. Jesus said that the scribes and the Pharisees…

Paul isn’t much like so many of those TV preachers, constantly begging for money, is he? Instead, he reminds the Thessalonians that when he was living and preaching among them he practiced his trade as a tentmaker so that he wouldn’t have to rely on donations from the congregation. This…

What is Paul’s greatest desire for his friends in Thessalonica? While we tend to pray for health, happiness and prosperity for one another, Paul doesn’t mention any of these things. Instead, in verse 13, he is most thankful that his friends have been saved from their sins. Spiritual blessings are…