Do you want to be known as someone who is after God’s own heart? God the Father desires his children to be people after his own heart, the same as David. So what was so unique about David to be...

Have you ever played Consequences?  It goes like this: players take it in turns to write a phrase or a sentence in a story, then fold the paper so no one sees what they have written and pass it...

In courtrooms, judges sometimes dismiss charges. When a trial is over, the judge dismisses the jury. In the military, personnel are dismissed. Classes are dismissed for the day or the term. Other than...

As we learn about the happenings in this world, we mourn the cruelty and the mishaps. We long for a world without hate, crime, and disasters. We pray for those in need, that is the heart of God,...

Paul writes the words of our header scripture from a prison cell, and near the end of his life. In his final instructions to Timothy, his beloved child in the faith, Paul distils the message that has...

A couple of years back my son Gatlin proposed to his long-time sweetheart, Erin in a unique way. Under the guise of taking a family walk after dinner with mom, dad, brothers, sisters-in-law, and...

In the first chapter of the letter to the church at Colossae, Paul takes us to a very important passage (Colossians 1:15-28), where he not only speaks of who Jesus is, as he parades before his readers...

I recently heard a parent say to her child, ‘You are worthless. I asked you to do one little thing and you didn’t do it.’ My heart sank as I know from personal experience the impact those words...

We all like the sound that the Lord will fight for us. Some people love a battle, a challenge, and some of us would rather back out if we could. I personally do not like conflict. I do not even...

Paul begins his second letter to Timothy by looking back at his past, ‘I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did’ (2 Timothy 1:3). Paul was a Jew, and there was genuine continuity, he says,...

Have you ever felt like you were not equal to a task you were given? You try your best, but it seems like you come up short? It is especially tough when you feel inadequate in ministry. Perhaps you...

I had been a Christian for years, but the truth was that I had grown judgmental, self-righteous, and blind to the suffering around me. I remember driving through downtown Los Angeles and seeing the...

As we read the Bible we often come across the word, ‘therefore’. So, you must ask yourself what this word is pointing us to. We are told that Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice to make us his own...

Over the years there have been many wise words spoken about contentment:  Socrates said, ‘He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.’...

They were known as the Roaring 20s in American history. It was a time of unprecedented prosperity. Unemployment rates were nearly non-existent, loan rates were unbelievably low, and the American...

On the eve of his crucifixion, we overhear Jesus reporting to the Father that those entrusted to him would receive eternal life. But eternal life, according to Jesus, is not just about a distant...

In my last study, I mentioned Jesus is a servant-listener. I became acquainted with this term in a book by Jan Johnson, Invitation to the Jesus Life, Experiments in Christlikeness. We...

Our five little kittens have reached the stage where they need to explore and become familiar with the world outside, and so they have been allowed some morning time to learn to climb the trees and...

Where is God when it hurts? It’s a question most of us have asked at least once as we’ve watched others struggle through unbearable pain or trial. For many believers, the hurt results in genuine...

Most of us have used the old saying, what you don’t know won’t hurt you. It means remaining ignorant of a situation relieves you of responsibility to worry or think about it...

Can I say that water comes in many forms? You have those ice cubes in your drinks, that water vapor in the sky we call clouds, ice cold water out of the tap or in the streams, but I love it just hot...

Saul, ‘who was also called Paul’ (Acts 13:9), was, before his conversion, an Orthodox Jew: a Pharisee with status in the Sanhedrin, which was the governmental board of Judea during the Roman...

There’s something powerful about receiving a letter from someone you admire, a mentor who has walked the path ahead of you, who knows the struggles, and who believes in the calling you carry....

An identity crisis is defined as a period of uncertainty or confusion in a person’s life. This crisis occurs when a person’s sense of identity becomes insecure and unstable. An identity crisis...

A recent development in the social media world is the abundance of influencers. Some of them have many followers, who apparently pay a lot of attention to what they say.  Historically, someone...

The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians was a response to concerns brought to his attention by Epaphras, who had established the fledgling church at Colossae. In chapter two, Paul outlines two...

There is nothing like laying down after an exhausting day of work and resting. I know my time of rest is over when the five kittens we have start jumping on me over and over again. They are like...