As Jesus began teaching, He went to a mountaintop and with His disciples around Him, He startled those who heard Him by the way He preached. “When Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matt. 7:28-29). So much of what He taught was so…

The church at Thessalonica had a very special place in the heart of Paul. He arrived in that city from his prison experience in Philippi, and, as his custom was, he entered the synagogue to tell them about the risen Christ. Many of the Gentiles who were part of the synagogue audience became believers. However, the popular reception of the gospel was…

One of the unseen blessings of memorizing Scripture is that doing this opens the door to our souls. Solomon showed this when he said that a man is what he thinks in his heart (Prov. 23:7). What is perhaps even more remarkable is that what we memorized when we were children is so much a part of what we are today. We…

There are many words which describe our salvation. Each one emphasizes a particular aspect of that salvation. We talk about forgiveness, regeneration, justification, redemption and sanctification. The word we least understand is the word atonement. We know about the Jewish Day of Atonement and believe in our atonement, but we have little understanding of the meaning of this word. Illustrations of Atonement…

Spiritual lives are not always characterized by “mountaintop experiences.” It was wonderful for Moses to be in the presence of God on Mount Sinai, but eventually he had to leave the mountain and return to the reality of dealing with the Jewish rebellion in worshiping the golden calf. In the same way, Peter, James and John were at the Mount of Transfiguration…

Our experiences in life teach us one thing—very few things in our lives work out as we plan them. In fact,  few of the plans for a single day become reality. This can be so frustrating, but take a look at the life of Paul. Look as his plans, and then look at what happened. Then, consider how Paul’s faith made it…

It might seem strange to learn that the word providence occurs only one time in the Bible, and there it is not referring to the providence of God (Acts 24:2). In fact, this word is not found in most translations. Yet, the truth is that the concept of God’s providence is found throughout the Scriptures. One cannot read the Bible without knowing…

His invitation to come to Him had to be some of the most refreshing words ever spoken. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you…for My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30). The world in which those words were spoken had little rest. There…