Category: Prayers

“John had told Herod, ‘It is not right for you to live with your brother’s wife.’ Herodias harbored a grudge against him for this and wanted to kill him.” –Mark 6:18-19 Many of us have accepted God’s grace to be sexually pure. Many have also told their Christian friends about the importance of having victory over sexual temptations. In talking with our Christian friends, we have probably decried the breakdown of sexual morality. Yet are we proclaiming the truth and freedom of sexual purity to the Herodiases and Herods of our time? This does not mean that we gossip about...

“On the question of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him…” –2 Thessalonians 2:1 The Thessalonians had been seduced into becoming agitated and terrified because they thought the world was about to end (2 Thes 2:2). Some Thessalonians even quit their jobs because they thought they had only a few days left on the earth (2 Thes 3:7ff). Also, some of the Corinthians divorced their unbelieving spouses, possibly because they expected the Lord to come and the world to end at any minute (1 Cor 7:12ff). These early Christians were wrong in their reaction...

“It is no more than right that we thank God unceasingly for you, brothers, because your faith grows apace and your mutual love increases.” –2 Thessalonians 1:3 Paul thanked the Lord unceasingly for the Thessalonian Christians because their faith and mutual love grew. Paul expected the early Christians to grow in holiness and for their growth to be clearly recognizable. Thus, Paul could thank the Lord for their growth. If someone asked us whether our faith has grown in the last twelve months, many of us would be at a loss to answer. We probably have an ambiguous idea that...

“Jesus was fully aware that His disciples were murmuring in protest at what He had said. ‘Does it shake your faith?’ He asked them.” –John 6:61 Jesus challenges us to believe His mysterious statement: “The bread I will give is My flesh, for the life of the world” (Jn 6:51). A typical reaction to this challenge is to ask the question: “How can He give us His flesh to eat?” (Jn 6:52) Jesus does not directly answer this question. Rather, He extends an even more puzzling challenge by repeatedly insisting that we eat His Flesh and drink His Blood (Jn...

“Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, but whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.” –Matthew 23:12 If we don’t humble ourselves, the Lord will do it for us. We can either start off humbled and end up exalted, or start off exalted and end up humbled. Obviously, it behooves us to humble ourselves now. Yet to do this we must know what humility is. Humility is not humiliation. True humility is not putting ourselves down but facing reality. The word “humility” derives from the root word meaning “earth.” Humility is being “down-to-earth,” realistic. Reality is that we are “earthen vessels” (2...