Philippians 3:7–14 There is a difference between knowing about someone and actually knowing them. That difference becomes even more important when we talk about Jesus Christ. We can know Bible stories, understand Christian beliefs, and be familiar with the language of the church, yet it is possible to know a great deal about Jesus without personally knowing Him. The Apostle Paul certainly knew Christ. His encounter with Jesus on the Damascus road had completely changed his li

Matthew 18:21–35 Peter came to Jesus with a question that is still very human: How many times do I have to forgive someone who keeps doing me wrong? Peter suggested seven times, probably thinking he was being exceptionally generous. But Jesus answered, “Until seventy times seven.” Jesus wasn’t giving Peter a new number to keep track of. He was teaching him that forgiveness cannot be reduced to keeping score. To explain, Jesus told the story of a servant who owed his king an e

Philippians 3:15–21 Most of us are comfortable with change, as long as we are the ones who thought of it. Yet Christianity is built around the reality of change. The gospel doesn’t come just to make a bad person a little better, or to add religion to a life that otherwise remains the same. When Christ comes into a life, something changes. The sinner is forgiven, the guilty heart is cleansed, old things pass away, and all things become new. In Philippians 3, Paul describes two

Deuteronomy 32:11–12 There are seasons when God allows life to become unsettled. Things that once felt secure begin to change. Doors close, circumstances shift, and the comfortable place we have grown accustomed to no longer feels quite as comfortable. In Deuteronomy 32, Moses gives us a beautiful picture of what God may be doing in those moments: “As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings…” An eagle’s nest is meant to b

James 1:2–4, 12–15; Job 23:10 The Bible speaks about temptation in two different ways. There is the temptation that comes from Satan, designed to draw us toward sin and spiritual defeat. But Scripture also speaks of the testing of our faith. Satan tempts us because he wants us to fall; God allows our faith to be tested because He wants us to stand. Job understood this kind of testing when he said, “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come fort

Life often feels like it moves at a relentless pace. Schedules are full, demands are constant, and it can seem as though no one notices the needs quietly carried by those around us. That was the world Bartimaeus knew as he sat beside the road outside Jericho. When Jesus passed by, Bartimaeus cried out, "Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me." The crowd tried to silence him, but he refused to stop calling. Then one of the most beautiful statements in Scripture appears: "J