We see frequent examples in Scripture of why we should rejoice over the results versus the motivation. When other men began to prophesy Joshua was concerned, but Moses rejoiced (Numbers 11:26-29). Whe

What leads to repentance? Romans 2:4 says, "God's kindness is meant to lead [us] to repentance." When we are thinking of repenting, we wonder, "Will God really forgive me? Have I done too much for Him

We are prone to wandering from God the Father. Generally, when we have sin in our lives we want to be as far away from God as possible. We don’t wander physically like the son in the parable, but we d

When God says, “Obey their voice,” it doesn’t always go the way we expect. In 1 Samuel 8 God told Samuel to obey the people’s voices and give them a king to their own detriment. In our lives, when we

Settling outside the Promised Land is problematic. The Promised Land’s physical rest prefigures the Christian’s spiritual rest in Christ. Two-and-a-half tribes stayed on the east side of the Jordan, o

Some people have a mistaken notion about God. They think that if God doesn’t want them doing something, that He will prevent them. But it doesn’t work like this. God might give us what we want to our

Romans 4:25 says, “[Jesus Christ] was delivered up for our trespasses and raised to life for our justification.” The first half looks back to Good Friday when Jesus died for our sins. The second half

When we say, “Father give me my share,” as the rebellious younger son did in Luke 15:11, we set ourselves up for problems. We always want to have soft, teachable, receptive hearts that are submissive

In Luke 15, verses eight and 10, Jesus said, “There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.” Because there are so many people, it is easy to feel like we are not special to God: we are one of wh

Jesus said of Himself, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). The Parable of the Lost Sheep, better than any place else in the Gospels, reveals Christ’s heart to seek and to