What Is the Bible? The Bible is a book of history, science, poetry, and human behavior. Most importantly, it is a love story that reveals the heart of God through the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible Is Unique The Bible was written over a period of fifteen hundred years by more than forty authors in three languages on three continents. Rather than contradicting one another, the writers maintained complete historical, moral, prophetical, and theological accuracy. The

Lord Jesus, you know how easily my heart gets distracted when things are going well. Forgive me for the times I take credit for your grace and start relying on my own strength instead of yours. Keep me tender, humble, and desperately in need of your presence whether I am walking through a valley or standing on a mountain top. Anchor my soul today so I never drift from your side. Amen! Reflection: Take a quiet moment to look at your current season. Where has life become comfor

“Jesus said to him, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’” (John 5:8 NKJV). The crippled man at the Pool of Bethesda had likely heard some of the stories about a man named Jesus healing people throughout the region. What he didn’t know was that Jesus knew about him too. He came to this poor man, lying by the pool in his misery and sorrow, and was moved with compassion. All Jesus asked was that the man believe his words and act on them. “Rise! Take up your bed. Walk away from this

As [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7 NKJV). Our mind fills with what we feed it. And what fills our mind changes how we live. The apostle Paul encouraged the Roman church to “be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2, ESV). Jesus prayed, “Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth” (John 17:17 NLT). It starts in our minds. So what should we do? Moses told future kings to hand-copy the Law (the Word of God), carry it,

“The Helper…will teach you all things.” Jn 14:26 NKJV Jesus said, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit…will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” So the Holy Spirit has these two functions: (1) He teaches you how to walk with God. (2) He reminds you to do it each day. As redeemed children of God, we constantly need to be taught how to walk with Him, and to be reminded of the blessings that await us when we do and the trouble we get into

A prayer to know God is a sincere request to move past knowing about Him in your mind to experiencing a real, close relationship with Him in your heart. A Prayer to Know God "Dear God, Thank You for making me and for loving me just as I am. I want to know You more than just by name or through what I have heard. Please open my eyes to see Your presence, open my ears to hear Your voice, and soften my heart to feel Your love. Help me to put aside my doubts, my busy days, and my

Mark 5, there was a woman that had been sick for 12 years with a bleeding disorder. And she had gone to the best doctors and spent all of her funds. But she continued to get worse. When we've been doing the right thing a long time and not seeing improvement, it's easy to get discouraged. The "never" lies will come. "You're never going to get well. Never be free from the addiction. Never see your business take off." Well, this lady was weak physically from all the bleeding and

Prayer for guidance: "Today I pray that you Holy Spirit, will come and dwell in me fully and completely. I know that I cannot change things on my own. I'm open and sensitive to Your promptings and sincerely invite You to get involved in every area of my life. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for comforting me, strengthening me, counseling me, standing by me and helping me with everything that I face and go through. I want you to be my chief Counselor, my main Teacher, my Helper, my Fr

“He burned the plowing equipment.” 1 Kings 19:21 NIV Elisha’s ministry begins with this Scripture: “He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people …Then he set out to follow Elijah.” He couldn’t go back to his old way of life because he had destroyed the time machine that would take him back. It was the end of Elisha the farmer, and the beginning of Elisha the prophet. It doesn’t matter whether you’r

He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. —Psalm 103:12 Often, people’s reputations precede them. Sometimes that’s a good thing. Sports heroes and other celebrities are welcomed and celebrated in most places. Sometimes, however, it’s not such a good thing. If you’ve ever been in a social setting in which everyone suddenly got quiet when a certain person walked in, you know what I’m talking about. Some people are doomed to be remembered for the lowes

I want to start with a prayer: Father, I'm so glad that you never gave up on us. And you love us. And you're working in our lives. And you have a plan for our lives that far exceeds perhaps even our wildest dreams. And that plan ultimately is good for your glory. So we pray now that as we open your Word, that you speak to us. Amen! One of those days, Jesus went to a mountainside to pray, and He spent the night praying to God. When morning came, He called His disciple to Him a

“So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Feed My lambs.’” John 21:15 (NKJV) When Jesus destroyed the power of the grave and death it was a glorious day. After rising from the dead, Jesus didn’t call only the perfect, the educated, or the elite. He called Peter, the one who denied Him three times. And what did He do? He prepared a

Every Christian Is Called to Evangelize There is a God-given gift of an evangelist, and Billy Graham had it. But, though some are gifted to be an evangelist, and some may not be called to be an evangelist per se, every Christian is called to evangelize. As Paul said to Timothy, “Do the work of an evangelist” (2 Timothy 4:5 NKJV). We’re all called to preach the gospel. We’ve been entrusted with the Great Commission—to go into all the world, preach the gospel, and make disciple

Peter was a highly visible disciple of Jesus. He was chosen by Christ Himself. Christ had big plans for him. God wanted to use His life. He saw potential in Peter that others didn't. Tragically, Peter made a wrong choice. The day Christ was arrested, Peter denied Christ three times. he went away and was disillusioned. In Scripture, Peter is an example to modern day Christians who can backslide in their faith. Backsliding is not just falling backward, but it is also failing to

“ A woman of Samaria came to draw water.” John 4:7 NKJV One day Jesus met a woman who’d come to draw water from a well. After five failed marriages, her trust in men was zero—and her self-esteem was minus zero! But after her encounter with Christ, she left the well radically changed. When it comes to sharing our faith, we learn three important lessons from her story: (1) Jesus sees the best in everybody. “The Pharisees…complained, saying, ‘This Man receives sinners’” (Luke 15

“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.” Luke 15:20 The prodigal son made a comeback. He jumped the fence of the hog pen and started back to his father’s house. While he was a great way off, when the old gray-headed father saw him from a distance, he took off running towards him. Then the dad fell on him and kissed him. Some of you are struggling to com

"The world is just full of hurting people. Be a blessing. Be an encouragement. Be compassionate. Love them in the name of Jesus." David Wilkerson. We went deep inside Satan's backyard where he peddles heroin, misery, shame, and fear, but we are presenting the great plan of salvation to countless people today and they are responding to His irresistible love. The greatest scripture that speaks to God's great rescue plan of salvation is John 3:16. It tells us that Christ came to

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2 This was my memory verse this week and it kept ringing in

“Pursue righteous living…Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.” 2 Timothy 2:22 If you want to be in...

“You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?” Galatians 5:7 (NIV) You were doing well. You were...