“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” – Romans 12:2. Most of us by nature are conformists. We tend to want…
“So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know…
“Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes. His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.” But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never…
“To just read the Bible, attend church, and avoid “big” sins—is this passionate, wholehearted love for God? —François Fénelon, The Seeking Heart In the movie based on the Charles Dickens novel, 9-year-old orphan Oliver Twist falls in with a group of street-urchin pickpockets led by the Artful Dodger and masterminded by the criminal Fagin. One of…
“No coward soul is mine, No trembler in the world’s storm-troubled sphere: I see Heaven’s glories shine, And faith shines equal, arming me from fear. —Emily Brontë” The Bible often speaks of the importance of faith in knowing God. For example, Ephesians 2:8 (ESV) teaches, “For by grace you have been saved through faith.” First…