The reason why God is good is because he continues to show us love, grace, mercy, generosity, and favor even when we don’t deserve it. This perfect God keeps demonstrating love to sinful people, which ties into what it means that God is good.

When you think about what sin is, you must recognize that sin looks to dominate a person’s life. Sin doesn’t come in to be nice, sin comes in to take control. Sin is a relentless master that looks to steer and direct every aspect of a person’s life.

You must get to the place of knowing God doesn’t make mistakes. If you never get there, then your faith will ultimately crumble. As we probe deeper into this thought let me share with you three things that can happen to you if you don’t come to the reality that God doesn’t make mistakes.

Imagine how the Father’s heart must break when he sees his children ripping each other apart, fighting and quarreling in the public space and then trying to preach Jesus. My brothers and sisters this simply will not work. We must begin to demonstrate our true love for God not just by how we engage with him, but also how we engage with each other.

If there is one book in the Bible that speaks to the realities of the human experience it is the book of Psalms. If you have never read them or seriously looked at them, let this article be an encouragement and motivation to do just that. There are several different types of Psalms that follow different themes and will speak directly to the seasons of life.

The Psalms represent the full gamut of human emotions. You will find just about every human emotion represented in the Psalms, and you will also discover many common questions about life are asked within the Psalms. The individuals who wrote them were using a vehicle to express what was going on in their hearts. Like a modern-day song writer or poet, the Psalms were just that – sacred songs or poems expressing the author’s thoughts and feelings at that moment in their life. They expressed thoughts about God, about life, literally about everything. Here is how R.E.O. White describes the Psalms, which I believe captures their essence.

“… what has endeared the psalms to every generation, and evoked most wonder, is their immense breadth of religious experience, of pious feeling, aspiration, complaint, struggle, protest, and regret. The psalms mirror the human soul in all its vicissitudes of faith and unbelief, joy and perplexity, rebellion and submission. And they do so with utmost honesty, freedom, and boldness, as individuals or congregations confess their sins, complain of man’s ill-treatment or of God’s silence, call down judgment on their enemies, plead piteously for longer life, healing, deliverance, or comfort. Bitter resentment at life’s unfairness, protest at God’s mysterious ways, his delay in helping, his anger or his inactivity, are balanced by joyous outbursts of praise, gladness, thanksgiving, and testimony to God’s faithfulness.”

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A love that will sum up 613 commandments is a love that says even if the outcome is different than what I want or what I know God is able to do, I will still worship him. I will still honor him. I will still obey him. I will still love him. This is love without condition that has no strings attached.

There is a slogan from Capital One Bank which says “What’s in your wallet?” I would like to take a simple play on that slogan and ask you “What’s in your heart?”

As followers of Christ, it makes sense that what is in our hearts should resemble what is in God’s heart. With that in mind I want to challenge you today to examine what is in your heart and see if it is reflecting the Father’s heart.

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Casting lots was a practice that was used in the ancient world to attempt to decipher what was the divine will in a particular matter. Because the outcome produced by casting lots was random, the result was seen as the divine answer to whatever question or situation they were considering.

Peter was comfortable enough to freely share his opinions with Jesus. The tendency is to look at this in the negative, not just because of what Peter said, but because of who he said it to. Yet, I believe this incident in some way can position Peter in a positive light, which we don’t often do when we read this part of the story.

You can rejoice when taking communion because your forgiveness, your redemption, your eternal life is all because of the great sacrifice Jesus made for you. Don’t let communion just be a solemn moment, let it be a celebratory moment because there are reasons to celebrate.

If you are like many people, this past year probably did not go as expected. Many people came into 2024 proclaiming it to be the year of vision. It has been a year of vision, I’m just not sure people have really liked what they have seen. If you are like many you are probably counting down the days until this year is over with the hope of next year being better than this year.

One of the beautiful things about a new year is that it offers new hope. People often think of it as a clean slate or a fresh start. Isn’t that what new year’s resolutions are about anyway? However, like any new year or any new day for that matter, no one knows (except God of course) what it will hold. 2025 will be no different.

The good news is that you know the Lord, or better yet he knows you. Regardless how the rest of this year goes as we look ahead, I would like to offer seven prayers to consider for the new year.

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God included these women as part of the genealogy leading to the birth of Christ. He worked in them and everyone else in spite of who they were. This all points back to God’s grace. God doesn’t just save us by grace, he uses us by grace. None of us were worthy before we got saved and none of us are worthy now. We are all simply usable vessels because of God’s grace.

As you consider your ways, I want to challenge you everyday to think about the choices you are going to make. Think about them before and not after, because then it could be too late. The best part is you don’t have to figure this out yourself. You can lean on a God who, if you allow him, will guide you every step of the way, leading you into the best possible choices you can make for your life.

Let’s face it, ministry has swallowed up its share of casualties over the years. The question is are you in line to be its next victim? It’s possible you could be, and you just don’t know it yet. 

Well, I have good news for you today – you don’t have to ever become a casualty of ministry. Yes, ministry can be demanding but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming or detrimental to you. If you are serving in ministry in any capacity, full-time or part-time, then here are five tips you can use to help you not only survive in ministry, but to also thrive in it as well.

Tip 1 - Keep Your Relationship with God as Your Top Priority 

Let me ask you a question. Why did you get saved?

Did you get saved so you could be a pastor or serve in some ministry capacity? The answer is no. While those are byproducts of your salvation, they are not the primary reason you were saved. The number one reason you were saved is so that you could be in relationship with God through Jesus Christ. This is more important than anything else that you do. If you forget this, then you are a prime candidate for ministry to overwhelm you.

With the many and sometimes always increasing demands of ministry, it is very easy for them to cause you to overlook your relationship with God. After all, you are too busy doing what he wants you to do. When this happens, you are setting yourself up for failure. Before God is ever concerned about the things you do for him, he is more concerned about your relationship with him.

Remember, before you are a pastor, ministry leader, musician, singer, usher, children’s worker, or whatever you do, you are a child of God. Your first and most important ministry is to maintain a healthy relationship with him. When you do, this will become the foundation for everything that flows out of your ministry.

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