Posts with the category “christian-growth”

“... having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” — John 13:1, NKJVI could read John 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 every day for the rest of my life. Seeing Jesus and hearing His wor...  Read More

“Love never fails” — 1 Corinthians 13:8, NKJVMaybe you are a person who picks up on things quickly. Perhaps you can pick up a sport you have never played, and in an afternoon you are able to hold your...  Read More

“Love suffers long and is kind” — 1 Corinthians 13:4, NKJVIt's interesting that Paul mentions both patience and kindness when he describes love. The two are closely related because to be kind to someo...  Read More

“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all toge...  Read More

“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.” —1 John 3:18, NLTLove means acting in the best interest of other people. It is not just a feeling o...  Read More

“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you... For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?”...  Read More

“By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” — 1 John 3:16, NKJVWhen we hear the phrase “laying down your life for someone,” ...  Read More

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” — John 3:16, NKJVI grew up as an atheist, and I remained an a...  Read More

“God is love” — 1 John 4:8, NKJVGod is love. It's a simple statement, but it holds deep theological truths that we often overlook. Love is not just something that God does. It is who He is. Love is on...  Read More

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” — Romans 15:13, NKJVThis verse has always jumped off the page at me...  Read More

“For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.”— Romans 15:4, NIVThe Bible is not ...  Read More

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.” — Proverbs 13:12, NLTThis verse shows the strength of hope and the joy experienced when our dreams and hopes are fulfille...  Read More

“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” — Psalm 42:5 NIV Biblical hope is a firm belief in the future that ...  Read More

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope.” — Psalm 130:5 NKJV Waiting can be difficult, frustrating, and even discouraging. We live in a world of instant gratification, where wai...  Read More

“Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” — 1 Peter 1:13 NKJV As Christians, we place...  Read More

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul” — Hebrews 6:19 NKJV According to the author of Hebrews, we have an anchor for our souls that is secure in God's very presence. An anchor is a beautiful and...  Read More

“...we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” — 1 John 3:2-3 NKJV This passage...  Read More

“The Lord Jesus Christ, our hope” — 1 Timothy 1:1 NKJV Our hope in Christ is not a fleeting or uncertain hope. It is a hope that is anchored in the unchanging character and promises of God. When we pl...  Read More

“And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” — Romans 5:5 (NLT)Have you ever felt dis...  Read More

“Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” — Hebrews 6:12 NKJVIf while I was preaching, I shouted, “It is only through faith that we inherit the promises of God!,” I would li...  Read More

“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have w...  Read More

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” —Romans 10:17 NKJVIn the Gospels and the Book of Revelation, Jesus says repeatedly, "He who has an ear to hear, let him hear.” This ex...  Read More

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” — Romans 10:17 NKJVHave you ever noticed that when you go without food for a long time, your body becomes weak and your mind becomes f...  Read More

“And not being weak in faith... [Abraham] did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised ...  Read More

“By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” — Hebrews 11:3 NKJVIf you are familiar with the Bi...  Read More

“Now faith is... the evidence of things not seen.”— Hebrews 11:1 NKJVTo live by faith is to see the invisible. It is seeing into the heavenly realm and putting more trust in what you see with the eyes...  Read More

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”— Hebrews 11:1 NKJVFaith is not a feeling; faith is a substance. Faith is not wishful thinking; it is based on somethin...  Read More

“For we walk by faith, not by sight” — 2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJVYou are surely familiar with the first verse of the Bible: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1 NKJV). Wi...  Read More

“I have come… to do the will of him who sent me. — John 6:38 ESV   This entry may be unexpected. You may wonder why we would look to Jesus as an example of what it is to have relationship and encounte...  Read More

“[Barnabas] was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.” — Acts 11:24 ESV   When you die, you will be remembered by something. When I first st...  Read More

“Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go… and he rose and went.” — Acts 8:26-27 ESV    In Acts 8, Philip the Evangelist goes to Samaria and preaches Christ there. Crowds listened, and pe...  Read More

Peter had a rapid transformation. There is a world of difference between Peter the fallible fisherman in the Gospels, and Peter the Pentecostal preacher in the Book of Acts. In the Gospels, Peter deni...  Read More

“But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God....  Read More

“One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side” — John 13:23 ESV   The Apostle John referred to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23; 19:26; 21:7).Jes...  Read More

“He was a burning and shining lamp” — John 5:35 ESV   Jesus described John the Baptist as “a burning and shining lamp.” He burned with fire. He was such a fiery preacher that people came out to the mi...  Read More

“[Anna was] worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day… and [began] to speak of him to all…” — Luke 2:37-38 ESVThere is a pattern in the Bible of ministry coming from intimacy. Jesus went to the...  Read More

“And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” — Luke 1:38 ESV   When Mary had an encounter in which she was called to give birth to Jesus, she receive...  Read More

“The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart” — 1 Samuel 13:14 ESV   David is a very lovable Bible character. Even though he had his failures that seem to us to be rather extreme, David is still...  Read More

“O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you” — Daniel 10:11 ESV   When Daniel was in Babylonian captivity, there was an event that became pivotal in his life and in Israel’s...  Read More

“… he did not know that the Lord had left him” — Judges 16:20 ESV   In examining people who lived before the Lord in the Bible, it is essential to not only look to people who fought the fight and ende...  Read More