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Drifting away from God is so easy yet so dangerous. How do we know when we’re drifting? When we neglect the Word of God, lose our dependance on the Lord, and cease communion, we drift! If we’re too busy for God, then we are too busy. He should always be our first priority. By the grace of God, let’s be intentional about not drifting spiritually.

Why was Jesus betrayed by someone close to Him? Jesus knew that Judas would be the one to betray Him. Yet He chose Judas anyway. This exchange reveals to us how each of us is totally responsible for our own actions. God knows everything and set everything in motion—but He gave us free will. Let’s use that to serve and follow Him today rather than go our own way.

In one biblical account, Jesus told His disciples the where, when, and who of what was about to happen. How could He have known all that beforehand? Because He was God in the flesh. God knows every detail of our lives. When we keep this in mind, it becomes easier to rest in His knowledge and be led by the Spirit, wherever that may take us.

Swimmers at the beach must always be wary of the undertow. If they don’t stay close to the shore and pay attention to where they are, they can get swept away! The same is true for our daily spiritual lives. If we don’t stay close to Jesus, we can be pulled away into the world. As long as we draw near to God, nothing can snatch us from Him. Let’s stay close to Jesus every day.

How often do we hear that “everything happens for a reason”? Well, according to Scripture, that’s true! God has this wonderful way of taking things that are negative in our lives and working them out. No matter how much we think we’ve missed the mark or failed God, His grace is more. The love of God is unchanging. May we never forget that He works all things for good.

The Bible doesn't tell us to be busybodies. Unless someone is asking for guidance, we should mind our own business and do what we can for the Lord. God isn’t calling us to climb the Andes Mountains or monitor the actions of everyone in the church. All He's asking us to do is what we can.

To really serve the Lord the right way, we have to not care about ourselves. We must be totally taken up with Jesus. We can certainly learn a lot from those believers who were willing to die for their faith. May we be like them and like Paul and say, “If I live, I live to the Lord. If I die, I die for the Lord. Either way, it's Jesus all the way.”

God will guide us to the very end, just as He led the people of Israel with the cloud and the pillar of fire in the wilderness. All we have to do is look up and then have the faith to follow where He leads. Let's not follow the influences around us but instead be led by Jesus every day.

Jesus is not a subject to be studied; He is a person to be experienced. He came to earth like an undercover boss, fully God yet fully man, so that we could draw near to Him. He spent thirty years preparing for ministry, modeling for us how God wants to grow us for service. The more we know Jesus, the better we can articulate Him to a badly broken world.

As Paul wrote his last words to Timothy, he warned against “godless chatter”—arguing over words, peripheral issues, doctrinal views. Instead, Paul wrote, “Rightly divide the Word of God.” Many today are leaving the faith, ignoring this warning. Paul closed, “Come before winter”—before it would be too late to see him again. Let’s be rooted in God’s Word “before winter,” while we have the chance

Many today are leaving the faith. So-called exvangelicals are deconstructing, pulling out of the race. But Paul, knowing he was soon to die, wrote to Timothy, “I remember your faith—it was the real deal. Fan into flame the gift of God.” In this letter Paul, writing his own epitaph, encouraged Timothy, and us, not just to start the race but to finish it, and to finish it well.

We can’t worship Jesus and be conscious about the opinions of others. We will always be criticized by carnal people. All that matters is what Jesus thinks. He wants us to draw near to Him with our hearts and worship Him with everything we have. Let’s go all in to worship God today!

Many Christians talk Jesus but live by old covenant law. That’s why it’s vital to understand the Old Testament. Rightly handling the Bible is mostly about knowing the difference between the old and new covenants. God’s plan to redeem mankind was not by law but by faith, as we see with Abraham and shining throughout Old Testament history. This is Christianity 101.

The Old Testament can be difficult to understand. But when we learn how to read it and how not to read it, it comes alive. The Old Testament is mostly a narrative of God’s story—how He created people in His name, how Satan came in to destroy His work, and how God set in motion His plan to redeem and restore us through “Christ in us, the hope of glory.”

Jesus wasn’t too high and mighty for anyone. He warned wealthy and well-known people that earthly goods will be worth nothing when we get to heaven. Only the true riches of knowing God can never be taken. When we live close to the Lord, we’re rich. Life becomes much more enjoyable when we live with eternity in view.

There are no secrets with God. The Bible tells us people do things in the dark and want to have secrets because they don't want anyone to know what they're doing. But everything will be brought to light when Christ returns. It's a good habit for us not to have secrets!

In a world full of anxiety and anger, many of us find ourselves bracing for impact—waiting for the next blow of bad news or frustration. A wonderful thing about being a child of God is that we do not have to live this way! We don’t have to hold on to fear and defensiveness, we can simply rest at Jesus’ feet. God is moving even in our times of uncertainty. It’s so sweet to trust in Jesus!

Order matters. In Jewish history, Passover came before the feast of unleavened bread. For us today, this represents salvation first, since Jesus our Passover lamb saved us, and then dealing with the leaven—sin—in our lives. We don’t deal with sin to get saved, we do it because we’re saved. Praise God, we don’t have to earn salvation.

People throughout the years have tried to predict when Jesus will return, but the Bible plainly tells us that no one knows. And if no one knows the day or hour that it will happen, that means no one knows when it won’t happen—so we’d better stay alert! May the Lord help us to keep an attitude of watching for Him every day.

"Born again." The term is hard to understand—unless we realize that Jesus was talking about spiritual rebirth. The only way we can be saved and spend eternity with God is to be born again. That means having a new spiritual life, with the Holy Spirit coming to live inside us. This incredible new birth gives us a living hope. Let’s be alive in Christ today, knowing that we have a heavenly inheritance in Him that can never be shaken!

We don’t need to have prophetic calendars or understand all the verses on the end times. We actually should have a little latitude on secondary matters. There has never been total agreement on every portion of Scripture. But there is one thing we can unite around: Jesus is the Savior of the world.

Almost everyone has an opinion how to interpret verses about the end times. Some people hold strongly to their personal beliefs about when Jesus will return and what the apocalypse will look like. But why do we have to argue over nuances that we’re not sure of? Let’s focus on what matters: Jesus is coming again!

Jesus warned us, in the midst of our evangelizing, fellowshipping, praying, and worshiping, “Be on your guard.” The enemy can take on the form of an angel of light to deceive people who are used to light. Praise God, the Holy Spirit will warn us about that false presence! Let’s stay in the Word so we can sort out heresy and false teaching.

The difficulty you’re facing right now is an opportunity to draw near to God. He said His power is perfected in our weaknesses. We fail when we try to get strength on our own—like Uzziah, the Old Testament king, who saw firsthand the destruction of not drawing on God’s strength. Instead, let’s be like Paul, who prayed to God and fully depended on His power.

As Christians, we can easily get caught up in the interpretations of Bible prophecy. But we have to remember that the prophecies are there to remind us of God’s faithfulness—that His Word is sure. If God says something is going to happen, we can rest assured that it will!

The age of social media sometimes feels like a hostile environment. When we stand up for our faith, we can be labeled as haters and radicals. Though that's nothing compared to what Jesus faced, it is the form of persecution many of us identify with. We have to be encouraged by Jesus’s words, “The one who endures to the end will be saved.”

The most beautiful moments in life tend to be when we are worshiping Jesus. Worship is pouring out what is inside of our hearts, not repeating words we’ve heard. There’s no casual worship in the Bible. It should be a sweet and powerful time with Jesus. We were created to worship God. Let’s tell Him how much we love Him today!

Some teachers claim that we don’t have fancy blessings because we lack faith. What does that mean for the suffering Christians in third-world countries? Jesus disproved this message in the Gospel of Mark when He said that some believers will experience great trials. Difficulties don’t show a lack of faith—mature Christians see that they create opportunities to witness for the Lord!

Many of us have heard a lot about the end times—the end is near, prophecies are being fulfilled, this next war is “it.” Yet here we are, and the world still hasn’t ended! Jesus made it very clear that there will be wars and rumors of wars. But we don’t need to worry about that. God has the whole world in His hands! Shake off the anxiety, and trust Him today!

Diligently search the Scriptures and compare everything you hear to the Word of God. Why? We need to watch out for false teachers! Everywhere, every day, there are people who claim to have a word from above, and we must stay clear of any false teachings. When we draw close to God daily, the Spirit will show us the truth. Let’s stay on guard!

How often do we realize that God doesn’t care about the beauty of buildings? Even stunning cathedrals and magnificent churches aren’t His focus. He said heaven and earth will pass away before He replaces them with perfection. We must shift our focus from the earthly things the world is impressed by to what actually pleases God.

As Christians, we often try to be Christlike through our own effort. But no matter how hard we try, we can't defeat our sinful tendencies on our own. When we walk in the Spirit, though, the grace of God teaches us to say no to our sinful human natures so we can live in victory. Let’s say no to sin today and yes to Jesus and His grace!

Nobody thinks that five cents is greater than five hundred dollars—except God! To Him, what matters most is the sacrifice and honor. Anything we do for the Lord that costs us something is honorable and pleasing to Him. Jesus sacrificed His life for us—surely we can give to Him our tithes and offerings, knowing all the while that He blesses those who trust in Him.

The Lord loves a cheerful giver. But fewer than 5 percent of Christians tithe! The love of money is the root of all kinds of problems. We can’t take money with us to heaven. We should give with joyful hearts, letting others see our love for and trust in God.

One look on social media shows us the lives of millionaires, the latest trends—even the next big evangelical product. The problem is, it’s all fake! Jesus tells us to watch out for hypocrites and legalists. If we claim to be believers, then we must be sincere and keep our eyes on Jesus alone. Let’s block out worldly distractions and just be real.

As Christians, we are called to love everyone. But that's not always so easy! We can put on appearances at church, but when we pray in secret to God, sometimes we tell Him how people rub us the wrong way instead of praying with gratefulness for them. Even in our private prayers, we are to love others—especially our church family.

Whether it’s for a new job, a good diagnosis, or a wayward family member to turn to God, we are all waiting for something. But Jesus Himself is waiting for God to right all the wickedness in the world! And God's going to be right on time. Periods of waiting can be so discouraging, but we can rest in our Father’s goodness while we wait.

The greatest commandment given to Christians is to love God and others. But many of us are guilty of being unloving when someone holds a different belief than we do. People interpret the Bible differently—but differing opinions shouldn't be used as fuel in a hateful fire. We ought to be imitators of God today and love one another.

We love because God first loved us. How amazing! Jesus said that the greatest commandment in the whole Bible is to love the Lord God with everything in us. Then, because of that immense love we have from God, we are called to love our neighbors. Sometimes it’s hard to love others. But we must remember Jesus’ command. It gets easier when we focus on God’s love for us.

Jesus didn’t say that God is the Lord of the dead—He is the God of the living! This is encouraging. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Heaven is a place full of life! When we keep this in mind, we can shift our focus from physical possessions to heavenly life. We should tell others about our living God so they can have eternal life too!

Which is more important: the Word of God or the power of the Holy Spirit? Neither! One is not higher in importance than the other—we are supposed to know and love both. Some churches focus only on one aspect, Word or power, and that kills their spiritual health. We can’t afford to live that way. Let’s know and love both, in Jesus’ name.

Why do we carry loads that God never intended us to carry? We shouldn't worry about anything. Instead, as the apostle Paul wrote, we must pray about everything. When we instill a routine of praying in a place where we are totally alone with God, the Lord meets us there. He takes our burdens. He turns around our situations. Let’s cultivate a private prayer life.

Tax season is approaching! Most of us don’t like paying the government. It was the same in Bible times. Even then, people avoided—and even cheated on!—taxes. Jesus called out the hypocrisy of the religious leaders who weren’t honest in their giving to the government or to God. We Christians are to do everything as unto the Lord, so we have to be honest in all of our exchanges.

If we truly care about people, then we need to tell them the truth. That’s easier said than done, right? It’s hard to confront wrong behavior in others. But with God’s grace, we can speak the truth in love and point the people in our lives toward righteousness. Let’s not simply tell others what they want to hear; let’s tell them the good news of Jesus!

Greed and the love of money can hinder us from seeing how desperately we need a Savior. Life is too precious to be wasted on greed and too short to not trust in Jesus for salvation—it is a vapor. Those of us who are saved, we have to share this good news with our loved ones! Let’s set aside our constant desire to gain more worldly possessions and focus rather on the eternal placement of others.

When a monumental building is being constructed, the most significant part is the cornerstone. Builders won’t pick just any old brick for this spot! Just like this important piece of a physical structure, Jesus should be the cornerstone of our lives. Yet He was rejected like a common rock by the religious teachers of His day! Let’s not make that same mistake—let’s give Jesus glory.

Jesus, God’s only Son, was the sacrifice for our sins. The only way for us to spend eternity in heaven with God is through repentance and faith in Him. Yet every day people reject Jesus. Even as saved Christians, we have to be careful not to turn away from our Savior. We need to live for Him every day and point others to salvation

Remember the phrase “Beware a wolf in sheep’s clothing”? Unfortunately, sometimes so-called spiritual leaders are those wolves. We have to hold anything someone says up to the Bible and find out if that person has an ulterior motive to his or her teaching. May we always be sincere in our sharing of Scripture and wary of false teachers.

When someone goes fishing and catches nothing, he probably won’t revisit the same spot soon. But when the disciples spent hours in the sea without a single bite and Jesus told them to go back into the deep—they caught so much that their boats started to sink! If Jesus says to go deeper, then we must obey. None of us has reached the depths God wants us to be at in our relationships with Him. Let’s launch out deeper today!

Instead of meditating on the Bible, many times we try to work up our own faith. It becomes a game of mental positivism—a denial of reality. But there's a gift of real faith that comes from God. Rather than rushing in and trying to believe in ourselves for things, we should spend more time in God’s Word. Faith comes from hearing the Word!