Oh friends! Don’t miss out! Get involved in your local church’s Bible study. And if your church doesn’t have one, print out one of my studies, try it out, and then take a group through it. Don’t settle for reading about someone else’s study, study God’s Word yourself. You’ll be hooked! But more importantly, you’ll be changed as you behold the Lord’s glory through His Word (2 Corinthians 3:18)!

How not to get the most out of Bible study—really? What a topic! Sometimes we don’t mean to undercut our commitment to going to Bible study, but we end up doing it anyway. What are some ways we hinder our own blessing in studying God’s Word and attending Bible study?

I love going to my father’s home. As I turn down the long drive to his log cabin out in the country, it’s like my heart sighs with contentment. His home is a place of rest and comfort for me. Jesus loved His Father’s house too. Can you imagine the longing He must have felt to be in His Father’s home while He lived as the sinless One in a world of sin? Oh, how He must have anticipated that day when He would go to His Father’s house once again!

Band-aid solutions aside, the Hallmark Christmas movies do have one thing absolutely right. Love can be found at Christmas. In fact, Christmas is the first place God wants us to look when it comes to understanding His love for us. It’s at Christmas that God’s love is put on display in a real and tangible way so we can grasp it and be transformed by it. God intended from the very beginning that we see the connection between His love for us and Jesus coming to earth to be born as a baby.

I wrote a whole book about giving God glory when life and circumstances take an unexpected turn. I was at the crossroads of decision and response—Would I trust the Lord’s goodness and wisdom? Or would I turn inward, focusing on myself, giving way to self-pity and pessimism? The second choice just didn’t seem like the best option, which left me with choosing to trust the Lord’s goodness and wisdom. But how to get there?

Losing a pastor to confinement for a short time or even longer has profound consequences for a congregation. Yet a faithful pastor’s biblical preparation can help his flock respond with sound wisdom and grace-filled faith in unexpected and fearful circumstances. Thankfully, whether our churches are large or small, whether we’ve had much teaching or only a little, God has given us everything we need in His Word to “keep calm and carry on” in a God-honoring way in difficult and trying circumstances.

If your pastor is thrown in jail, what should you do?

What would you do if you knew today would be your last day? It’s important for us to understand that faithfulness and obedience to God’s Word matters, all the way up to the last moment we live and breathe on earth. We are indeed living in the last days (James 5:8; 1 John 2:18), as all believers have done since the New Testament era began after Jesus’ death. The Bible also tells us that as the day of Christ’s return draws near, life will grow increasingly more difficult, especially for believers, as the world the world grows more openly hateful of God and His people (2 Timothy 3:1). Yet, we can gain courage by searching the Scriptures for God’s focused, narrowed down, “do the most important stuff” instruction for living well to the very end.

At its essence, a quiet time is the private time you spend with your Savior, talking with Him in prayer, and hearing from Him through His Word. The time you spend with the Lord each day is essential to your spiritual health and growth. No Christian can maintain spiritual health and vitality or grow in grace, knowledge, and understanding if they omit time with the Lord. It is not even possible.

In John 15:11, Jesus told His followers, “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” Jesus desired to prepare His followers for the distresses and suffering they would soon experience, yet preparation wasn’t His goal—joy was.

Jesus teaches us that we can live joyfully in the midst of trial, uncertainty, sorrow, even persecution, if we think rightly. If we aren’t careful to monitor our thoughts or fill our minds with the truths of Scripture, we will not find the joy that Jesus desires us to have.

One passage that provides essential training for our hearts and minds is 1 Corinthians 16:13-14. The soul-strengthening truths it contains, prepare us for any contingency that may unfold in the midst of the upheaval and distresses going on around us. Our text is basically a string of commands that provide 5 ways for us to prepare for uncertainty and difficulties, so we’ll respond in a God-glorifying way.

Our faith is strengthened and built up when we reflect upon the Lord, His character, and His life-changing Word—and don’t we need it! Someone commented that “2020” will become synonymous with “crazy.” I agree! Our world is seriously “2020” right now! Never could we have predicted the events that have unfolded in these last months—from the lockdowns to the riots and all the in-between. If we aren’t immersing ourselves in the Word of God, we will flounder in the midst of these unfamiliar, bewildering, and discouraging times.

Sometimes, it can feel daunting to think about how to talk to someone about their need for salvation. We can get stalled out wondering, “Where should I start? What should I say? What Bible verses should I use?” I like to keep things simple—and easy to find and remember, especially when I’m talking with someone about God’s plan of salvation. Showing them from the Bible what God says, so they can look it up again later, lays the foundation that the Scriptures are our “go-to” for the Christian life. 

To walk with God during the day, all day, every day means being right with Him. Fellowship with God is interrupted when we sin. If I want to walk with the Lord all day long then what do I need to know so I can do that well? Three verses contain what we need to know and apply to live closely with the Lord.

Did you know that it’s natural and expected that we grow as Christians? When we repent and place our faith in Jesus, we are born again—new babies in the Lord. We would never expect or want babies to stay babies their whole lives, but often people don’t realize God wants every one of His children to grow from babyhood into mature adulthood. God, being the perfect Father, provides everything we need to grow from baby believers into strong, steadfast believers.

I’m new to everything. Can you tell me how I can know God? In a nutshell, you need to know that Jesus is the means God has given for salvation. In fact, He is the only way you can be saved. Salvation is only in and through Jesus.

Losing a pastor to confinement for a short time or even longer has profound consequences for a congregation. Yet a faithful pastor’s biblical preparation can help his flock respond with sound wisdom and grace-filled faith in unexpected and fearful circumstances. Thankfully, whether our churches are large or small, whether we’ve had much teaching or only a little, God has given us everything we need in His Word to “keep calm and carry on” in a God-honoring way in difficult and trying circumstances.

If your pastor is thrown in jail, what should you do?

What would you do if you knew today would be your last day? It’s important for us to understand that faithfulness and obedience to God’s Word matters, all the way up to the last moment we live and breathe on earth. We are indeed living in the last days (James 5:8; 1 John 2:18), as all believers have done since the New Testament era began after Jesus’ death. The Bible also tells us that as the day of Christ’s return draws near, life will grow increasingly more difficult, especially for believers, as the world the world grows more openly hateful of God and His people (2 Timothy 3:1). Yet, we can gain courage by searching the Scriptures for God’s focused, narrowed down, “do the most important stuff” instruction for living well to the very end.

In John 15:11, Jesus told His followers, “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” Jesus desired to prepare His followers for the distresses and suffering they would soon experience, yet preparation wasn’t His goal—joy was.

Jesus teaches us that we can live joyfully in the midst of trial, uncertainty, sorrow, even persecution, if we think rightly. If we aren’t careful to monitor our thoughts or fill our minds with the truths of Scripture, we will not find the joy that Jesus desires us to have.

One passage that provides essential training for our hearts and minds is 1 Corinthians 16:13-14. The soul-strengthening truths it contains, prepare us for any contingency that may unfold in the midst of the upheaval and distresses going on around us. Our text is basically a string of commands that provide 5 ways for us to prepare for uncertainty and difficulties, so we’ll respond in a God-glorifying way.

Right now, as the whole world experiences the tucked away training that takes place in “mom life” living, God is building something deeper and longer lasting. Psalm 16:5-6 forms the foundation for a contented spirit in any chicken coop.

Oh, wouldn’t it be just lovely when we are experiencing our own northeaster storms and our hearts are tempted to despair that all hope is lost, we could, like Paul, have a direct messenger from God, telling us not to be afraid? Such a message would be so particular and tailored for us that we immediately take heart. Yes, it might be tempting to somewhat envy Paul’s personal encouragement from the Lord. Yet, there really is no need for envy on our part, for we have received just such a kindness from the Lord, in fact, even better, for the multiplied promises of deliverance contained in the Scriptures cover every circumstance we might ever undergo.

He never failed us. Not once. Not once in 3 ½ years of joblessness; not once in 3 ½ years of waiting; not once in 3 ½ years of testing did God fail us. His Word has been the bedrock of our faith. 

God cannot be sovereign in creation and yet impotent concerning the circumstances of our lives. He is all the way, completely sovereign and powerful over every detail in the universe. As one preacher said, “There are no maverick molecules.”

Some days you just need to know that Jesus cares. Maybe today is that day for you. If so, I think you’ll be encouraged as we take a look at the compassion and sensitivity Jesus showed when Mary and Martha were grieving over the death of their brother Lazarus. I know this story has frequently bolstered my heart.

The end result of tribulations is hope—emphasis on end result. Often, when we’re gasping for air, trying to wrestle down hope to gain some relief, we create a short bridge in our minds from verse 3 “we exult in our tribulations” to verse 5 and the “hope that doesn’t disappoint.” I think it’s safe to say most in-the-midst-of-trials people are “hope challenged.” It’s why we so quickly make the jump in our minds from “tribulations” to “hope that doesn’t disappoint.” There’s just one problem. We miss the means God uses to grant us that non-disappointing hope.