Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus
What if Jesus treated us as we treated Him? Would we still be in love with Him? Would we be willing to sacrifice anything, much less everything, to follow someone who treated us as we treat Jesus? Relationships are two way streets, and our relationship with Christ often teeters dangerously close to dysfunctional.
Photo courtesy of Alex Bruda
Ours is a relationship that is heavily one-sided, yet He continues to love us still. Do you ever wonder why? [Read more…] about Relationship Check
I remember as a kid how daunting Psalm 119 was. Weighing in at an impressive 176 verses, it is the longest chapter in the Bible, so you knew it was going to take some time to work through it. Because of this, I remember avoiding it and focusing on the much shorter psalms that surrounded it. My mother, on the other hand, absolutely loved this Psalm. In fact she committed it to memory, which to me (even today) seemed somewhat unfathomable!
However, as I read through the Bible chronologically this year, today was the day that Psalm 119’s number came up. Actually, according to my reading plan, I was only required to read half of it. However, like a tall glass of Pepsi or a mouth watering chocolate chip cookie, you can’t stop half-way through and save the rest for later; you have to devour the whole thing. Psalm 119 is a beautiful reading filled with longing for God. I found myself praying that I would have half the desire of the author to seek after my Creator. [Read more…] about Psalm 119
We read much in scripture about zeal. In Psalm 69, David speaks of the zeal of God consuming him despite all the calamities that were being inflicted upon him. Psalm 119 finds the author literally worn out by his zeal; he is exhausted by a righteous anger over those who have forsaken the teachings of the Lord. In the New Testament, Paul writes in Galatians that it is good to be zealous for the right things (Galatians 4:18).
The book of Titus states that God’s people will be zealous to do good works. Finally, in the book of Revelation, Jesus Himself tells us to be zealous and repent. Different versions of the Bible translate the word zealous as earnest, eager or committed. The point is that we should diligently strive to do the good works that Christ has given us to do.