Let's Go Back to the Bible

Thought for the Day

Even Jesus made it about the Father

We get pretty enamored with ourselves sometimes and our ideas and our wishes, to the point that we often lose sight of others and even lose sight of our true focus on our Father in heaven. As you read through the life of Jesus, it’s interesting how often He diverted the focus from Himself to the Father in heaven. “Whoever receives Me, receives not…

Your pet issue

Do you have a “pet issue”? Probably most folks do. It’s that thing that you feel particularly strong about and will mention in conversations with certain folks quite often. For example, if you talk to some church members about the worship service, it probably won’t be long before they talk about their “pet issue”—the choice of songs, the choice of men to lead in…

What every man needs to hear

The man after God’s own heart was getting ready to die. The words in the first nine verses of 1 Kings 2 were his very last, and they were directed at his son, Solomon. If you were deeply in tune with the heart of God and had one last message to give your son, what would you say? Men, pay attention! David started off by saying,…

What language do your children speak?

I admire those children who are being trained by their parents to speak multiple languages. What a great way to expand their minds and give them potential opportunities in their future. But some children are not being trained in the language they desperately need for their future! In the days of Nehemiah, there were Jews who intermarried with the pagans in their land. As a…

Where is God when hope seems lost?

When Sarai “dealt harshly” with Hagar and ran her off into the wilderness, the Angel of the Lord came to Hagar to reassure her that “the Lord has heard your affliction” (Gen. 16:11) and would bless her child Ishmael. Hagar realized that “I have seen Him who sees me” (16:13). After the birth and weaning of Isaac (about 17 years later), Hagar and…

Do you “prey on” or “pray on” them more?

When the football team is on the field, who has it easier to make the plays just right? The quarterback on the field or the armchair quarterback at home? It’s a lot easier to sit at home and rail on the quarterback for missing the throw or misreading the defense than it is to actually be the quarterback on the field making the throws…

Is your love there or here?

There is very little known about Demas in the New Testament. We know that he was a Christian, who spent time with Paul in Rome, while Paul was imprisoned there for the first time (Col. 4:14; Phile. 24). But by the time Paul was imprisoned in Rome the second time (about 5-8 years later), something had changed in Demas’ life. He had lost his first…

Silly excuses aren’t so silly!

Kids! They know how to make excuses, don’t they! Whew! When they don’t want to do something, they can come up with “the best reasons” to explain their inactivity. “My foot hurts.” “I need to go to the bathroom.” “I’m tired.” As adults, we can see right through their excuses to just how pitiful their efforts to avoid action really are. It makes me wonder. If we can see right…