King David found himself in a tempting situation with Bathsheba—he should have walked away, but he walked into sin. Balaam intentionally put himself in a tempting situation to gratify the king—he should have never been there. Joseph was in his workplace but found himself alone with a woman who was not his wife, who was enticing him—he fled and ran outside. Christian friends, our…

Have you ever read a book and thought, “So-and-so would really like this”? Have you ever gone to an event and thought, “So-and-so should have come—they would have loved this”? Or, maybe you’ve thought, “I wish so-and-so was here—this would have been really enjoyable together”? As Christians, we, no doubt, think something like that often about our friends. In 1969, Kurt F. Kaiser wrote a hymn…

The old Yellow Pages. Some remember them well. Some have no idea what a “Phone Book” even was. The Yellow Pages were a printed telephone directory of businesses in a local area, which was organized by categories and provided their addresses and phone numbers. The slogan, “Let your fingers do the walking,” was created to encourage residents to flip through the directory (provided free of charge)…

When you set out to resolve a conflict with a brother or sister in Christ (i.e., to be “reconciled,” as Jesus instructed in Matthew 5:23-24), you should have a clear goal in mind and even seek to communicate that goal. The goal should not be oriented toward “selfish ambition” (Phil. 2:3), but it should be focused on the health of long-term Christian relationships…

The Lord sent the sheepbreeder Amos to warn the northern kingdom of Israel of their impending captivity. Israel had long been in rebellion against their Lord, and the consequences were nigh. Still, in a “lamentation” against them, Jehovah pleads with them to return. It’s not too late, if they will come back. Three times in chapter 5, the Lord pleads through Amos with these parallel…

When “the wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,” they asked for the location of the “King of the Jews” (Matt. 2:2). When Pilate had Jesus crucified, he “put up over His head the accusation written against Him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS” (Matt. 27:37). Was Jesus “the King of the Jews”? Well, yes. But so much more! In the grand scheme,…

Has someone ever started telling you something and you either (1) thought you knew what they were going to say or (2) hoped they were going to say something, but then (3) they said something completely different? Did you try to change what they actually said into what you thought or hoped they would say? Or did you just accept what they said? So…

Do you have some good friends? Do you have the kind of friend that you can call or text any time and you know you’ll get a quick response? Someone you pretty much can reach out to any time of the day or night? But, even that friend has other things to do—right? There are times that he/she needs to focus on “his/her own things”—right? And, you…