Good morning! King David wrote about his deep thirst in his soul that was greater to him than the physical thirst he had in the dry desert of Judah. There is a thirst that water cannot satisfy. Sometimes, we get taken to dry places to reveal what we are really thristy for. David knew where true satisfaction for thirst came from. He sought the Lord, the source of true living waters. Not only did God make water burst forth from a rock for Moses, but He gives water to the thirst

Good morning! The verse before this says He will keep you in perfect peace when your mind is stayed on Him. This verse tells us why you can keep your mind on Him and why it's important. Let me break it down. We can follow the imperative command to trust when we see how trustworthy He is. "The Lord" combines two names of God, one in a shortened form, to describe Him as "the self-existent one." Everything that exists came out of Him. So all the things around us we tend to trust

Good morning! This verse reminds me of a saying I would hear growing up that says, "Make hay while the sun is shining." It means to take full advantage of a good situation, favorable conditions, or an opportunity before it disappears. Don't procrastinate, don't wait, don't hesitate. So it is with this verse and having a relationship with Jesus. Too often I hear people say they will wait until they are old to repent and get right with God after they've lived a full life and ha

Good morning! Because Jesus raised from the dead, we have a living hope of eternal life. We don't have to wonder if we are good enough. Jesus is good enough and we can trust His work to speak as a testimony to the Father. This is how Peter starts his letter to suffering Christians who are facing intense persecution in a foreign land. Instead of first addressing the suffering, he reminds them of their Savior. He reminds them of the hope we have as believers no matter what the

Good morning! Being afraid of man will have you compromising obedience to God. You will question whether or not you are obedient to God based on what others will think or say about you or what they will do to you if you choose to walk in obedience. This is a trap because people will hold you hostage. They will excpet you if you compromise, but much like kidnappers, they will change what they demand for acceptance. You will chase approval while losing your character, integrity

Good morning! The Sermon on the Mount is arguably Jesus' most well-known and greatest sermon He ever preached. He covered a lot of ground and this is near the beginning of it. He warned many times throughout His ministry about persecution. He said it would be there if you followed Him and lived in the truth. He also gave us instructions for how to handle it. First, understand suffering for the gospel is a blessing. It may not always feel that way, but our attitude needs to re

Good morning! As we see the evidence of the return of Christ becoming more eminent, I see the warning of Jesus talking about those days saying, "the love of many will grow cold." We have to be diligent to keep His love in our hearts and to make it grow in abundance and not get icy cold. We should be growing in our knowledge of our Savior and the word of truth in the Bible to help us recognize the times and the lies of the enemy. We need to operate in discernment to know the m

Good morning! True followers of Jesus will not continue to practice evil. They walk away from that which Christ died to free us from. They do not run from the light, but run to the light and shine it brightly into the darkness. True children of light do not run from the light. Those who are not in the light hate the light because it exposes their deeds. They avoid the light and even try to condemn the light as if it is the one that is evil. Do you run to the light or away fro

Good morning! It's one thing to know about Jesus and all things in the kingdom, but it's another to know Jesus personally and have citizenship in the kingdom. The devil knows the word of God probably better than most Christians, but he definitely is not in a personal relationship with Jesus. Many people in universities have degrees in theology and teach in seminaries. But they produce a lot of atheists from their doctrines. Just because someone has a degree and a license to t

Good morning! Sometimes, we can get so mindful of our needs that we forget who supplies them. We trust our job, our skills, our budgeting, side hustle, etc. to provide. Often, we fall short of having all we need not because we were not hard working, but we lost focus. If we remember that God is our ultimate provider, then everything else falls under prioritizing His kingdom and righteousness. Seek this first and everything we need will be added to us. If we seek to have integ

Good morning! In Hebrews 10, it starts wtih the superiority of Christ's sacrifice which is the theme of the book, that Jesus is better than everything. It then moves in the center section of ch. 10 to draw near and continue to draw near God and His people especially as we see the day of judgment approaching. In verse 26, it shifts into warning of the dangers of falling away and willfully sinning. It leaves you in a place of judgment because it removes the sacrifice for you fr

Good morning! God's grace is undeserved, but given to us freely in spite of our sin. We all need it and without it, we would have no hope of eternal life. We should not take His grace for granted or treat it as a cheap gift. We should all strive to never sin. Grace is not a license to sin, but the opportunity for us to repent of sin and be right with God through Jesus. But, if we do sin, we are not left to our own devices. We have an Advocate. Jesus is our Advocate with the F

Good morning! The word "confidence" in this verse doesn't mean what we normally think of when we hear it. It means freedom in speaking, unreservedness in speech. Are you fearless about talking about Jesus? In being a witness for Jesus, it involves us giving testimony to what and who we know. Sometimes, there's push back for witnessing for Jesus. We need confidence to be fearless about sharing Him with those who may not want to hear it. It takes endurance to carry out the will

Good morning! In the first line of this verse, it begs the question, "And not only what?" What is "that" referring too? The verses before it tell us we are justified by faith and given peace with God through Christ. We're given access to this justifying grace that saves us. We stand in this grace and rejoice with hope in the glory of God. Now, besides that, we also glory in the hard stuff like tribulations knowing what it produces in us. It produces a greater measure of faith

Good morning! In the first six verses on ch. 15, Paul lays out what this verse is talking about and who it is talking to. It is a message to the church to warn and guard against factions in the body based on the maturity level of belivers. Mature believers can often forget what it was like to be lost and what it was like being brand new in the faith. They can forget the journey that brought them to the place they are making it hard to relate to new believers. But the mature a

Good morning! Words are important, even small ones like "and". It makes a big difference. And includes things before it to things after it. In this verse, we see evidence for the Trinity; a word describing the three Persons of the Godhead. They are namely God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul names them all in this verse. He uses "and" between all of them to mean they are all separate persons in one being. He is careful to name them all w

Good morning! This passage is interesting to me because it uses three different words for rain. The former rain is translated early rain and also teacher. In the middle, it gives us rain and it just means rain or rain shower. Then, the latter rain means spring rains that occur in March and April in the Middle East. Chapter 2 is God's call for repentance and the assurance of His blessing in the response of repentance. He has used rain for judgment before, but put a rainbow in

Good morning! People can be very reckless with their words, especially when they disagree with a viewpoint, worldview, or belief of someone else. Words can cut deeper than a sword when used carelessly. We should be careful with what we say and how we say it. Our words should be thoughtful and used to build people up, not tear them down. It's not just the person being spoken to but those who may hear what is said that is effected by our speech. Does your speech glorify God? Do

Good morning! In a world that is so self-focused, these verses are controversial. It breaks the model of this world and says to look at others considering them better than yourself. Social media has taught everyone that you are the most important person in the world. Let me help you; you're not. I don't mean to sound harsh but reality is harsh. The truth can hurt but it will free you if you let it. We should not think of ourselves so highly that we are conceited and selfish w

Good morning! To imitate someone, you have to learn about them. You have to study them closely to watch, listen, and understand how they do everything. Children often watch their parents very closely and mimick what they learn. Are you able to do that with God? When Jesus asked His disciples to follow Him, He was asking them to into a relationship of ancient Rabbinic discipleship. It meant you followed the Rabbi so closely that you got covered in the dust of their feet. You l