I love God. I trust Christ. I obey the word. But it seems I have more struggles than before I was a Christian. Why? Have you ever asked this question?  Are you asking this question now? The question is based on the false assumption that being saved ends your struggles. You will face struggles you would not have if you were not in Christ. But there is strength for the struggle. Ephesians 6:10 says, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.”  Ephesians 6:10-20 is the final section of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. It may be considered a third section of the letter. Chapters 1-3 present the doctrine we...

In King Henry VIII’s devotional primer, Psalm 95 is called “a song stirring to the praise of God.” That is a fitting description of Psalm 95. We do not know the author or occasion of this psalm. Its message is clear, compelling, and convicting. It is a call to worship God, or else. The psalm divides into two sections.  Verses 1-7b is a call to worship the Lord.  Verses 7b-11 is a warning to non-worshipers.  Verses 1-7 bid us to “come” three times – using different Hebrew terms. Psalm 95 is called the “Venite,” the Latin word for “come.” Worship is our sacred duty. Yet this call to worship reads as a gracious invitation. It is a privilege to worship God. Psalm 95 is about how to worship God. It records seven acts of worship: singing, joyful noise, thanksgiving, songs...

The church needs a revival. I am not referring to a series of services with an evangelistic emphasis. I am talking about a sovereign and supernatural move of God that causes us to fall in love with Jesus again. Unbelievers need evangelism; believers need revival.  The church is a body, not a building. The church is a people, not a place.  The church is an organism, not an organization.   The church needs a revival because we who make up the church need a revival. The church today is preoccupied with reaching the culture. Much of our outreach and evangelism is unfruitful. We are ineffective because when the world looks at the church, they see the world. Worse, when the Lord looks at the church, he...

Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord! May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth! - Psalm 134 Two Stanford University students struggled to pay their expenses. But they had a plan. They invited the Polish composer and pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski to perform a concert. He agreed to a $2,000 fee. The concert only raised $1,600. The young men gave it to him with an IOU for $400. Paderewski...

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. - Psalm 133 In The Parable of the Spoons, a man saw a vision of heaven and hell. In hell, he saw a long table with delicious food. The people at the table starved because they had long...

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end...

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. - 1 John 2:3-6 A flight attendant told her pastor about the harrowing events of a recent flight. Severe weather required...

And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. - Revelation 12:1 Chapter 12 is the most pivotal chapter of this book.  Verse 11 is the most crucial verse of this chapter. Revelation 12 records a panoramic view of redemptive history that spans the past, present, and future. John wrote Revelation in signs and symbols. The details are debated. But if you identify the three main characters, the meaning and message of the chapter become clear.  Verses 1-2 introduce the first character: “And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of...

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. - 1 John 2:1-2 President Calvin Coolidge was a man of few words. His abstinence from unnecessary words was famously illustrated when he returned from church on Sunday. The president was asked what the pastor preached on. Coolidge answered, “Sin.” What did he say about it?” was...

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of...

By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in...

And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty haws put in everything she had, all she had to live on. -...