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

Good morning! Every year, I read this verse on this day knowing how important it is to my own story. Twenty four years ago today, I was working in a sandpaper manufacturing plant near Alliance, OH, when about three in the afternoon, I had an industrial accident that changed my life forever. While trying to wrap up finished sandpaper on winder machine, at the start of a new roll, my left hand became trapped between the roll and the sandpaper. It began wrapping my arm around th

Good morning! I used to struggle with the love of God. I couldn't believe He could love me. Once I knew He did, then I had to believe He did. But my revelation of His love was found when I had a revelation of Him. I had to understand who He is before I could understand the why behind His love. Once I understood that God is love, I accepted that He loved me. It is because love is what He is so love is what He does. He didn't love me because I was worthy of love or somehow earn

Good morning! Much like 1 Peter, the Apostle Paul uses a connecting word to make an important point about how we should treat each other as believers. "Therefore" is a word that connects everything before it to everything after it. In Ch. 1, Paul is thankful for the Philippian church. He moves from that into focusing and living for Christ. He encourages them about suffering and that it is not for nothing, but for the cause of Christ. That brings everything into focus of being

Good morning! "Finally" is a word that connects everything before it to the next thing going to be said. It is a word that is telling us to pay attention because everything before this is pointing to what is important. Context matters. 1 Peter is about encouraging suffering saints in Asia Minor who are facing persecution and feeling displaced in a foreign land and culture that is not native to them. Peter encourages them and tries to bring their focus back to Jesus and taking

Good morning! Rejoicing isn't a spiritual gift, but a spiritual discipline. You have to teach and train yourself to rejoice in all things at all times. It takes work and intentional change. I work on it every day. It takes a change in mindset and attitude to make it a reality. Complaining is easy. Humans are full of biases, preferences, and desire for comfort. We must surrender our own desires for the ways of God. How do we start? With a willingness to lay down ourselves befo

Good morning! Sometimes, you can feel alone and helpless. When you're tired and weary, drained and out of strength, you can feel like giving up. But our strength doesn't come just from within ourselves. As believers, we tap into the source of strength that helps us endure hardship. Our help comes from the Lord. When you're feeling down, look up. When you feel weak, look up. When you're tired and weary, look up. Your help is nearer than you think. The Lord is close to those wh

Good morning! God is not a seasonal God. He doesn't show up for a specific time frame and then leave us. He sticks with us even when the world says we are too old to useful. We are never too old or outdated for God to love, use or value. He always cares. When our strength is drying up, He carries us. He is never weak and never runs out of strength. He is the everlasting God. He made us in our mother's womb and He will bear us all the way to the tomb if He should tarry. He wil

Good morning! Titus 2 is all about the teaching grace of God that teaches us how to live holy, dedicated lives that please God and glorify Christ. It is missing in our society and culture of America today. It needs revived in the church, the home and society as a whole. Instead of honor, there is dishonor. Instead of respect, there is disrespect. Pride is keeping people in bondage and ignorance. Older men and women should be teaching the younger generations how to conduct the

Good morning! A true sign of humility is a willingness to learn. Being teachable is a great quality to maintain throughout your life. Pride keeps people from learning necessary lessons for a prosperous life. So, being humble opens the door for God's goodness to be active in your life. When you ask God to teach you, He delights in those prayers and answers them. If you seek to do His will, He will help you to do His will. He will give you the desire to walk in His ways and hel

Good morning! Many people are preaching about all kinds of people they follow claiming them to be the savior. There is only one Jesus who is truly Lord, God, and King. Christ Jesus is the only Messiah and every other is just a counterfeit. No other claim can be backed up like Jesus. No onther has risen from the dead. You can find their tombs, their remains, and show they had sin. Jesus never sinned and is the only one to resurrect after dying. It's a fact with provable eviden

Good morning! I just celebrated my twenty-third wedding anniversary with my wife a couple days ago. We both vowed to love each other for the rest of our lives. That alone did not prove our love for each other. It has been how we treated each other over those years that has made our marriage last. Love is not just words or emotional feelings. Love is shown by actions. Anyone can say they love someone, but it is proven by the actions you take to show that love to be genuine. Je