In one of their notable interactions with Jesus, He admonished them for tithing so literally they tithed exactly 10% of the leaves on their mint plants, but did not extend love to others, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and

What Does This Story Mean for Us?The fig tree was behaving like it was fruiting, but was not actually obeying the rhythms that most fig trees followed. It was putting out leaves too quickly, but not yielding nourishment. It was not fulfilling its purpose, but it was portraying a false image that it was – much like the Temple.There are also people w

When it comes to someone who has definitely experienced every definition of the word overwhelmed, Job is the one who comes to mind. A man of great wealth and prestige, he experienced the ultimate reversal of fortune when animals, riches, and even some children died one right after the other. His friends believed Job caused his own demise; his wife

Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. (John 2:23)Should We Keep Seeking Signs and Wonders Today?Let’s address this question directly because there are many desiring to see God move as he did during the times of Jesus and the apostles. While there is nothing wron

What Does the Bible Say about Guilt? In Psalm 32 David speaks of his experience of “keeping silent” and as a result his “bones wasted away.” But then he says “I acknowledged my sin to you and I did not cover my iniquity” and as a result he walked in forgiveness and it is implied that this “heaviness” was removed from his spirit. This, I believe, is

“Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.” (Proverbs 3:9–10)If we can trust God with the first of our wealth, we’re truly showing how much we depend on Him. Handing over the first part of our paycheck takes a huge amount of fai

Read More Bible Verses about Church UnityBible Verses about Our Ultimate AllegianceNot only do we ultimately find our identity in Christ, but we also know we ultimately give our allegiance to him. God’s ways are not the world’s ways (Isaiah 55:8-9), and whether we experience strife with worldly authorities as the first Christians did, we know who w

Jesus needed the Holy Spirit. In fact, His whole ministry was dependent on the anointing of power He received from the Holy Spirit after coming out from the wilderness (Luke 4:4; Acts 10:38). And clearly, if Jesus needed to rely on the Holy Spirit, so do we!Always Having Jesus Here“And I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another Helper,

Preparation for the Journey The Hebrew verb nasa can mean to set out on the beginning of a journey. The verb is used primarily in this way in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. It refers to the journey of the Israelites — the start of their journey from Egypt, and the different stages of the journey when the pillar of cloud or fire

Here we have a man who is in prison, guarded and way outnumbered. He is chained between two strong soldiers and guarded by others. However, an angel of God appears in his cell. He wakes up Peter, instructs him, and frees him from his chains. Wow! God heard the prayers of the people and freed Peter.Afterwards, the angel has Peter put on his clothes

We lay it all down at your feet, every burden, every care. Believing that is the safest place for it to be.We love you, Lord, we need your fresh grace.In the Powerful Name of Jesus, Amen. (by Debbie McDaniel)A Prayer for Those in GriefLord, you know those who are hurting right now. We know you care because you are our Heavenly Father. God, I thank

Eve’s Response to a Fallen AngelLucifer, the fallen angel who became the devil, came to Eve in the form of a serpent. He used words the Creator said, but he inserted the element of doubt in the conversation.He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1b NIV)Eve wasn’t present when God told

1. Adam, Eve, and the Fall - Genesis 1-3God created the world in seven days, and created Adam and Eve to be in His image. They worked in the Garden of Eden, a beautiful place where they walked and talked with their Creator. They were allowed to eat any fruit or vegetable in the Garden, except for the food from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and

In fact, the first verses of Matthew 26 describe the impact these sermons had on Jesus and the religious leaders. After giving these parables, Jesus told his followers that he would be crucified when the Passover came; meanwhile, “Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,

Jesus’s mission on earth was to glorify God through what He did on the earth and through the grave to bring people back to God. Good in Jesus’s eyes was someone untouched by sin and unmoved by the powers of man. Though He was God incarnate, Jesus made sure everything that He did, said, and believed pointed everything back to God as the true One who

What Can We Learn From Polycarp?Modern-day Christians can learn a lot from the life of this champion of the faith known as Bishop Polycarp of Smyrna.1. Be faithful even in times of hardship: During the last years of Polycarp’s bishopric, persecution of Christians grew and became intense. Polycarp never flinched during the hardest times of persecuti

God knows this — He knows us completely. Indeed, the statement in Jeremiah 17:10, that God searches the heart and examines the mind, is a direct response to Jeremiah’s previous verses. In 11:20 and 12:3, Jeremiah talks about how God Almighty judges us righteously. He sees us truly and perfectly. He also sees and knows Jeremiah himself truly and per

What Is Joy and How Is It Different from Happiness? As stated earlier from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, joy is an emotion brought on by success, good fortune or even the knowledge that something you have been hoping for will be yours.Many might see that definition and think that happiness is synonymous with joy, which can be true in some sense,

Jesus told the woman at the well and the man by the pool to take action. Jesus came to both of them in their broken state. They had been living that way for so long—thirty-eight years for the man and enough time for the woman to go through five husbands. We could argue they couldn’t overcome their pain on their own. Something kept the woman in a de

Amen.Prayer for Deliverance from SicknessHoly Father,Thank you for being the Great Physician, who knows the existence of all disease, and has the ability to heal. Your Word says You give sight to the blind, lift up those who love You and love righteousness. Lord, I am currently unwell. This temporary, earthly body of mine is under attack from disea