Have You Left Your First Love? (Greg Morse, Desiring God)
But the haunting question God asked his spiritually callous people shoots down all my excuses, “What wrong did you find in me that you went far from me?” (see Jeremiah 2:5). When we find ourselves far from God, he is never the one to blame.
Helping Children See Christ in Scripture (Nana Dolce, Risen Motherhood)
Translating Bible passages into behavior instructions might help kids to prize certain traits and values, but this kind of teaching will miss the intention of the scriptures themselves—which is to testify of Christ. Bible lessons devoid of Jesus might inadvertently present Christianity as some kind of “moralistic deism”—a belief in a god who is primarily interested in good behavior and effort.
The Fullness of Joy (R.C. Sproul, Ligonier Ministries)
He [God] distinguishes between His joy and our joy, and expresses the desire that our joy should be full: “And that your joy may be full.” Isn’t that what we want? We do not want a partial cup of the fruit of the Spirit. We do not want just a little bit of joy. We want all of the joy that the Father has stored up for His people. That fullness of joy comes from Christ.
Reading This Article Will Make You Deeply Uncomfortable (Stephen Um, The Good Book Blog)
If we all obeyed this command on Sunday mornings our churches would empty out. God is essentially saying, The sacrifice can wait. But this absolutely cannot wait. You can’t neatly compartmentalize your vertical relationship with me from your horizontal relationships with others.
Our Only Boast: a 3-Part Plan to Brag in Christ (Anthony Kidd, The Master’s Seminary Blog)
Christ is the performer of our salvation. To add any works, even good works, to our justification, as though that’s the merit by which we gain acceptance from God, makes it a different gospel.
How to Intentionally Communicate the Gospel to Your Kids (Angie Ryg, Unlocking the Bible)
So read God’s Word to your kids — both encouraging verses, and those that show our sin and our need for forgiveness. Without knowing Scripture (the law) and the depth of our sin, they will not realize their need for the Savior (Romans 3:20).
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