There is no point in trying to please the crowd. You cannot please sinners who are only pleased with themselves. Jesus was hedonistic and people criticized Him for it. John the Baptist was ascetic and people criticized him for it, too! In Luke 7:31-35, Jesus laments that people criticized Him for being a glutton and […]
Hebrews 11:15-16-If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. […]
When you want something really bad, can you leave it up to God whether you get your request or not? Or do you have to see to it that you get it no matter what? Our attitude toward God regarding things that truly matter to us show what or who is our priority. There was […]
Hebrews 11:9-10-By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. Think about what enables you to […]
It is harder for us middle class Americans to be happy than for someone living in a third-world country who is dirt poor. It is harder for us because it will take so much more for us to be happy. A house? Already got that. College education? Got that. A new car? Got that, too. […]
It is more important to obey than to sacrifice. For some of us, it is actually easier to sacrifice than to obey. We are used to the idea and the practice of hard work. We do not mind sacrificing ourselves at all. We actually take pleasure in it. We think we are doing something worthy […]
Numbers 14:33-35–And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness,until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. 34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you […]
I’ve been really stressed out the past week. Now that the school is starting back up, and I’m teaching a brand new class I’ve never taught before at the private school I’m a part-time employee of. It’s called ELL Bible. It’s a Bible class for international students, all of whom are Chinese high school students. Most of […]
Numbers 14:24-25–But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.” We probably […]
The book of Ruth is an amazing story. It is an amazing story of how God comes through for those who will choose Him and take risks relying on His favor. It starts with a tragedy. Ruth’s husband dies without giving her any children. But her life is dramatically turned around and God blesses her […]