Jesus Boils It Down to Two Commands The Ten Commandments are listed in Deuteronomy 5:6-21 (and Exodus 20:3-23. Interestingly, neither of these passages calls this list the “Ten Commandments” (although the phrase is used elsewhere). The Ten Commandments 1. Do not have any other gods.2. Do not worship idols (“other gods”)3. Do not use God’s […]
People Too Often Make Unreasonable Demands of Their Church Leaders Surveys confirm that many ministers are overwhelmed, burnt out, and unhappy with their work. Many of them think about leaving the ministry, and some do. They reason that there are better ways to earn a living, and they’re probably right. A big reason for this […]
Make God Your Number One Priority When asked which commandment was the greatest, Jesus said we’re to love God with all our heart, our soul, and our strength (Mark 12:29-31, quoting Deuteronomy 6:4-5). We’re to love him more than anything else, to make him our number one priority. And when we understand God as referring […]
The Depth of Love is Revealed by How Much We are Willing to Give Up It is easy to say we love others. It is harder to show it, to prove our words through action. Despite what I may profess, I fear I may be more selfish than I care to admit. I may not […]
How We View God Impacts What We Allow Ourselves to Receive from Him I never liked the idea of mindset. It seemed a little too woo woo for me. It was as though I was depending on a positive attitude or self-fulfilling prophecy instead of relying on God to provide what I needed each day, […]
Shun Division, Disunity, and Denominations in the Name of Jesus Just as church member status divides the church body into two groups, so does our doctrine. Instead of obeying Jesus’s instruction to love God and love others, we make a lengthy list of what we should do and shouldn’t do. We judge others according to […]
Today’s passage: John 13:18–38 Focus verse: “A new command I give you: Love one another.” (John 13:34) Though love is a common theme throughout Scripture, Jesus places an even greater emphasis on it. So does John. John often writes about love. Except for Psalms, John’s biography of Jesus mentions love more than any other book […]
We Should Praise God for the Many Ways He Loves Us Love is a recurring theme in Scripture (686 verses). It shows up in most every book of the Bible (60 out of 66). The word is most common in Psalms (157 verses). Psalm 136 leads the way with 26 mentions of love, all in […]
Some Psalms Ask God to Punish Our Enemies and Those Who Do Evil Many people enjoy reading the Psalms. They appreciate the poetic nature of its words. They find encouragement to persevere and inspiration to strengthen their faith. Many Psalms also lead us into our worship of God. These are some of the best. However, […]
The Tongue Is a Dangerous Tool that We Must Tame In one of his Psalms, David writes that he will be careful in what he says so that he doesn’t sin. He talks about putting a muzzle on his mouth (Psalms 39:1). He says nothing about having freedom of speech. James is clear about the […]