At this point you may be thinking, “That’s great for them, but Jesus is no longer walking the earth. How is God with us now that Jesus is gone?” Would you believe that there is something even better than Jesus dwelling WITH his people?The Word Tabernacles in UsListen to how Jesus comforts his disciples about his departure from them in John 14:16-17

Excerpted from My Journal, a monthly devotional magazine from Leading The Way with Dr. Michael Youssef.Please register today for a free trial subscription of My Journal, a monthly publication featuring biblical teaching from Michael Youssef and weekly devotionals to encourage you in your personal Christian walk. You'll also enjoy ministry updates,

Humility/patienceForgiveness/loveTo be a new creation is to step into a new self—to be transformed by the power of Christ’s blood. Colossians elaborates on this new self. Paul says that through Christ’s blood, we are able to put to death those things that keep our eyes downward and be renewed in the knowledge of Christ.What does it mean to die with

Don't be discouraged because God seems slow in his work... you have a sure and faithful word to rely upon. Promises, though they be for a time seemingly delayed, cannot be frustrated. Don't harbor such a thought within yourselves. The being of God may as well fail as the promise of God. That which does not come in your time, will come in his time,

Each quality is commended, inasmuch as each person who exhibits it is pronounced “blessed.” The Greek word makarios can and does mean “happy,” and several commentators have explained them as Jesus’ prescription for human happiness. There is no need to dismiss this interpretation as entirely fallacious. For nobody knows better than our Creator how w

1. Hannah“When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the Lord remembered her plea, and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, ‘I asked the Lord for him’” (1 Samuel 1:19-20).She wanted nothing more than to be a mom. For years she suffered with infertility, and her desire to have a child of her own affected her countenance. Her

The BrideGod's ultimate purpose for his people is like Boaz' ultimate purpose for Ruth: marriage and children. We see that at a great wedding at the end of Revelation. One gets the impression that God orchestrated the remarkable events of Ruth all along—across cultures, geographical boundaries, and adverse circumstances—in order to bring Boaz and R

Reading Scripture theologically starts from the truths reviewed above: (1) that the Bible is a God-given guide to sinners for their salvation, and for the life of grateful godliness to which salvation calls them; (2) that the Bible is equally the church's handbook for worship and service; (3) that it is a divinely inspired unity of narrative and as

Lesson #1: God has a plan for our livesEsther knew, of course, that going to the king unsolicited could be her death sentence. Anyone who came into the king’s presence without being summoned could be executed. So what does she do? Before making a life or death decision, she calls for the Jewish people to join her on a 3-day fast. Following the fast

"And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. And the man bowed down his head,

(Adapted from 1 Peter 1:1)A Thought to KeepIf we're busy practicing Peter's exhortation, we have less time to be offended when our brother inevitably stumbles. Likewise, grace will be there for us when we fall short of perfection in this life. 

In our society, we sometimes hear people say, "He's just the adopted son of that couple. He's not their real child." In other words, people mistakenly put too much emphasis on biology and not enough on love. They dismiss the adopted child as a second-class child, whose status is somehow not as valid as that of the biological child. That is faulty a

Those words, “Woman, here is your son,” and on the other side to him, “Here is your mother,” seem no other than as if he had said, “This man, from the time that you are now deprived of your son, shall be like a son to your, and shall cherish and provide for him”: and so, vice versa, to his disciple John.(Adapted from John Lightfoot’s A Commen

Perhaps part of our slowness to come to grips with this truth lies in the way the notion of moral imperative has dissipated in much recent Western thought. Did you see the film Titanic that was screened about a dozen years ago? The great ship is full of the richest people in the world, and, according to the film, as the ship sinks, the rich men sta

1. "I'll take this... and this... but not that."(Picking and choosing individual verses)You can find a verse to support nearly any opinion you want to express. But the truth is, this only works if you take the verses out of context—if you neglect to look at who the author of that passage was, who he was speaking to, and how the verse fits into the

Even if we want to go back, we can’t. And we can’t stay where we are. God’s call is always onward, forward, moving out by faith into the unknown future. This is not easy but it must be done. And when we do it, we will discover a well of joy springing up to refresh our souls as we march onward with the Lord.II. The Reason“Because you know that the t

It is at this point you realize that not even the best public relations department can help your image in the sight of God. You give up on failed attempts of promoting yourself. Instead, you are forced to look outside yourself. The good news is for those who look outside themselves for acceptance, who look to God’s provision in giving us His Son wh

The title of Christ here as "holding fast the seven stars (from Revelation 1:16), and walking in the midst of the seven candlesticks," accords with the beginning of His address to the seven churches representing the universal Church. Walking expresses His unwearied activity in the Church, guarding her from internal and external evils, as the high p

(Adapted from John Wesley's Explanatory Notes.)A Thought to KeepAlthough there are many temporary "elections" in this world, the one that matters is God's call to salvation. Seek God diligently this week in prayer.

Jesus (or Luke) gets the “recovery of sight to the blind” line from the Septuagint. The Septuagint also contains a line from the traditional Old Testament that isn’t in Luke’s record!This example shows that it’s worth our time to check cross references, especially in quotations. Do it yourself by comparing New Testament quotations both to translati