Why Should We Understand Any Hebrew, if We Read the Bible in English? Thankfully, you, don’t have to understand Hebrew or be a scholar in order to read your Bible. But somebody does have to do this work. Someone has to sweat through the original languages and work with a team of others to bring the original into your native tongue.What this means i

3. God Loves Us in Spite of Our Weakness Because God is supreme, and because God created us, He knows us intimately. He knows our hearts and our desires, our strengths and our failures. He fights our battles with or without us. Sometimes He chooses not to do so, but that is a matter of choice, not ability. And even though we can be so weak and self

“Chronically Human” Humans “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).Every single person struggles with human tendencies such as doubt, pride and anger. Whether we’d admit it or not, we have a backlog of failures, half-baked commitments and things we are ashamed of. Even in our best moments we are chronically human, an

8. The Church Does Not Teach the Essentials for the Christian FaithIf the church does not support core beliefs such as the Trinity, Jesus as Savior (fully God and fully man), the virgin birth, the resurrection, the integrity of the Bible, and that we are saved by grace through faith alone, then run. A Christ-following church holds to the essentials

Defeating Pessimism and Hopelessness Remember the account of Thomas, also known as “doubting Thomas” (John 20:24-31)? The other disciples excitedly tried to tell him, Thomas, He’s risen! He’s risen! Just as He said He would – He’s risen from the dead!And Thomas, whose heart had been broken by recent events, had apparently decided that it was better

“So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’ Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilder

“Truly my soul finds rest in God: my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken” (Psalm 62:1-2).- Seek His strength“My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word” (Psalm 119:28).- Trust In His Care“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise

“For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe” (v. 3)We are tempted to think that we are on our own, but God’s word makes it clear that God is our refuge and source of protection. God will keep believers safe. You can go to Him who is your safe haven when you are struggling, when you feel unsafe, or need His protection. We can look b

That’s how we too develop a resolute and unwavering degree of trust in God. We build our awareness of who He is by acknowledging His acts. This means giving thanks for all He has done, for us and for others.We can’t trust God if we don’t know why He’s trustworthy. If God performed no miracles, had no love for us, who would offer up trust? There wou

In Biblically based approaches to the law, killing must be met with a firm hand of justice. The reason why God – and by extension the Law – takes this so seriously is because, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image” (Genesis 9:6). God gave man body, soul, and a will, a level of conscience

What Is a Martyr? The word martyr comes from the Greek word martys (μάρτυς). It means simply to witness. In secular Greek the word carried a specific legal connotation as “one who testifies before the court.” To testify is to be a martyr.To give you an example, in Acts 1:8 Jesus tells the disciples they will be his “martus (witnesses) in all Jerusa

What Is Wisdom? Amazon has clearly disrupted the retail space. They have changed the way we think about shipping, about purchasing products online, and a host of others changes. Jeff Bezos understands marketing, advertising, shipping, and online retail. He put together a great team of people to revolutionize the way we think about shopping. Jeff Be

What Is the Nicene Creed? The Nicene Creed, or more accurately, the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, is an overall statement expressing the most-important basics of the Christian doctrine. It is typically read aloud as a congregational body during church worship services as a way to affirm our collective and individual faith in Jesus Christ.The Nic

“Christ was going to be cast into a dreadful furnace of wrath, and it was not proper that he should plunge himself into it blindfold, as not knowing how dreadful the furnace was. Therefore that he might not do so, God first brought him and set him at the mouth of the furnace, that he might look in, and stand and view its fierce and raging flames, a

Where Do We Find This Parable, and What Is the Story? The Book of Matthew contains quite a few of Jesus’ parables, and some of them are found exclusively in this Gospel, including the Parable of the 10 Virgins. It is part of the Olivet Discourse, a sermon that Jesus gave about the End of Days, His return, and the Judgment.Before He went to Jerusale

It is only the women who bear the shame of an unplanned pregnancy although it took two bodies to create it.I pray for the women who are pregnant right now. No matter what stage they're in, what life circumstances that surround them, or the scenarios of their births. I pray they find peace and comfort in the Lord in the midst of this decision.For I

When we pray for someone, we have faith God will act in some way, whether His answer is yes, no, or wait, He still acts. We wait on Him, not on ourselves. What we have is not an expectation He will do what we ask. Instead, we have a confident expectancy He will act according to His character and in His time.Proverbs 15:29 says God hears the prayers

What Is the Opposite of Self-Righteousness, and How Can We Embrace It Daily?If we are to avoid being self-righteous, then what is the opposite attitude? That is the attitude or mindset toward humility – being humbled and thankful due to knowing where we were before Jesus saved us and where we are now.Instead of believing your salvation came through

Cheryl Gilbert is a loving wife, proud mom, cancer survivor, really loud laugher, sun-seeker, and - most important - Jesus follower, living in the Pacific Northwest. Cheryl has a degree in English, Writing & Rhetoric from Pepperdine University, and is a regular guest blogger at Hello Mornings. She has worked as a teacher, a personal trainer, a nutr

2. Unbelief.The second thing that will interrupt the flow of the Holy Spirit in your life is unbelief. By this I mean you simply don't believe the Holy Spirit can or wants to work in you. You reserve this work for other people who you think are more anointed. You think this is for more spiritual people. None of this is true. If you believe in Jesus