But the peace that comes from God does not come from us straining to make our plans happen. This doesn’t mean we don’t plan or dream, but we do so open-handedly.
Continue ReadingIn Isaiah 58, God, through his prophet, calls out the people of Israel for their false piety. It’s true they were fasting and acting penitent, but it was all a show.
Continue ReadingOur challenge is to live up to the expectations of sacrificial, selfless love that God has commanded of those who call him Father.
Continue ReadingThe love of Jesus is a given for us, at least cognitively. We are so comfortable with the idea Jesus loves us we may even take it for granted.
Continue ReadingIn Christ’s most famous sermon, Jesus commands a concept that is oxymoronic for us: enemy love.
Continue ReadingIt is always easier to define a word not just by depending on a conceptual understanding but by showing an action. So it is with love.
Continue ReadingIn addition to being part of the fruit of the Spirit, joy is seen as a moral imperative – a command; to live contrary to this command is self-defeating.
Continue ReadingGod – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – delights himself in his children, and he takes joy in the setting free of the captives!
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