What does that kind of worship look like during Christmastime? The Nativity story gives us a complete picture of “Spirit and truth” worship. And if we’re looking for God-honoring ways to commemorate Christ’s birthday, there’s no better place to look than scripture. The shepherds drew near to Jesus, they praised Him, and they spread the good news of

Debbie McDaniel writes that John’s vision in the book of Revelation has “glimpses of heaven.” McDaniel points this out in John's description of the city of heaven’s floor: The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass in Revelation 21:19-21. The firmament and its upper tier of waters may be the gateway to heaven.Peter J. Lei

What Does Judging Mean? The word judge means to draw a conclusion or opinion. The danger in judging others is that we may come to a wrong or negative conclusion about someone based on what we see rather than the whole truth. Judging others in this petty way that Jesus warned against leads to putting another person down.“You judge according to the f

First, our plans won’t work, as much as we love them. Our plans are temporary and won’t last. What will? God’s purposes. Back to James 4, the writer corrects us to what we should say. Instead of being confident in what we think, we should make it clear, “If God wills it, we will do this or that.” Proverbs 16:9 tells us that man makes his plans, but

Is It Sinful to Be Afraid?Everyone will experience fear at some point in their lives because we are human. Being afraid is a part of our sin nature. God even knows that we will be afraid sometimes. To be afraid or fearful is not a sin. The sin is what we do with the fear.I remember as a child hearing that I should have a healthy fear of my parents.

Crossing Over to the Other Side Let’s imagine for a moment that the Sea of Galilee is life, and that the sudden storm that hit Jesus and the disciples is the crazy things we have all experienced these last couple of years. The “other side” is the beginning of this next new, post-crisis season of life.In the story, Jesus was exhausted from all that

Ziba advised David that Mephibosheth was seeking to restore his grandfather’s land back to himself, so that he would become king of the land instead of David. This was while David was in hiding from enemies in Jerusalem (2 Sam. 15:14; 16:1-3).David had given Ziba Mephibosheth’s land for revealing this truth to him, but this created animosity betwee

There is no mention of aliens in Heaven: If aliens are out there in the universe, I would be under the impression that they are unredeemable because Jesus died for mankind since God so loved the world (John 3:16-17). There is no mention of aliens in Heaven, so again I would be hesitant to support their existence without biblical information. There

What Does True Restoration Mean?It is quite possible the person seeking restoration is simply looking to get back to the place they were in before they got caught in sin. It is important to realize that restoration involves much more than that. Getting back to the things you were doing before is a lower priority. Here is the order restoration shoul

What Christmas Is NotMaybe it’s the date, December 25, that gives Christmas meaning …However, if there is anything that we know for sure, it’s that Christ wasn’t born on December 25. Shepherds were abiding in the field keeping watch over the flocks by night (see Luke 2). Shepherds didn’t do that in December. They came out in the springtime. So, Jes

“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you” (Philippians 1:27-28).Hearing cr

Why Does God Say It Is Not Good for Man to Be Alone? The original Hebrew uses the words towb or tob, meaning “pleasing” or “good,” combined with lo, meaning “no” or “not,” as well as the Hebrew for alone, taken from the root word badad, which Strong’s Concordance defines as “to be separate, isolated.”The original Hebrew indicates God was not please

What Is the Context of Psalm 24:1-3?King David is the acknowledged author of Psalm 24 and begins his psalm with “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” (verse 1). Then David continues this praise song which is most often described as a processional song to be sung as people travel to the temple in J

When Joseph first meets the cupbearer, the cupbearer expresses anguish and sorrow over the dream he can't interpret. He fears for his life and what Pharaoh will do to him.Throughout the story, he seems focused on himself, until the Pharaoh has a bad dream. Those who suffer may focus so much on their own trials that they forget about the ones others

John Gill’s Bible Concordance provides more explanation of what James meant:“But as fire should be carefully watched, and kept, so should men take heed to their ways, that they sin not with their tongue, and keep their tongue from evil, and their lips from speaking guile; for as fire kindles and rises up into a flame, so unchaste, angry, and passio

What Can We Learn from This?A man in ministry once asked me if I ever tired of listening to sermons. His question startled me. Editing recorded sermons was part of his job. I got the idea he’d confused listening to what other people received from their Bible and walk with God with nurturing his own relationship with God. I thought of that years lat

2 Chronicles 19:6-9 gives an account from Jehoshaphat to the judges that they take care in what they do for “there is no injustice with the Lord, for He is not partial, nor does He take bribes.” He then charged them, “thus you shall do in the fear of the Lord, in faithfulness, and with your whole heart” (Italics added by this author).Everything Jes

In What Ways Does God Speak to Us?Sometimes God speaks to us through another person. It’s important to seek out godly friends who will pray for us and hold us accountable. Often God will surprise us and gently whisper to our hearts and remind us of something we’ve read in the Bible or of a biblical principle. He spoke this way to me or me at the ba

“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:14-15).While in the throes of sorrow and devastation we can rest as

“As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ‘Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’ Saul got up