We will all face the pain of suffering, but our response to that suffering is a choice.

 |  read more >

Have you ever found yourself wishing for a jetpack of sorts after you sin?

 |  read more >

God is not concerned with what we do alone. He cares about why we do good.

 |  read more >

What do we have, as disciples of Jesus, to offer the world that is different and separate and more?

 |  read more >

I believed the lie that if I was a better Christian, I wouldn't be single. But God is showing me the truth.

 |  read more >

When suffering sings beauty on the corner, it is hard not to be sober. It is even harder, perhaps, not to ask "why?"

 |  read more >

Legalism isn't the only problem area for us as Christians. Since we're under grace—since we have a relationship with God, and since our sins are forgiven—sometimes we can be careless about obedience. In fact, we can be pretty bold about it.

 |  read more >

Though we may pay lip-service to the idea of asking God for a hand of assistance, we typically feel the bulk of responsibility. We're left to deal with the day-to-day business of attacking our indwelling sin—and that business gets frustrating pretty fast as we keep falling back on our face in the same ugly sins. It's a constantly discouraging task. But praise God—white-knuckling our way into holiness isn't the way of the gospel.

 |  read more >

At the deepest level of who we are, we can hunger for praise and admiration for ourselves or we can hunger for God to be praised and admired through our lives. Even unbelievers have the first core desire, but only one who has been transformed by the gospel desires God to be front and center stage in their lives in all things.

 |  read more >

It is wise to stop from time to time and ask ourselves: What do I hunger for? Where do I turn for satisfaction? The answer reveals our treasure—that is where we invest our love.

 |  read more >

If I could time travel to drop a hint to my freshman self, I'd jab myself (gently) in the ribs and say, "Hey lady, take a chill pill—this college stuff isn't half as big as you think it is." Then I'd give myself a Jamba Juice and crack open the Bible.

 |  read more >

In Lindsey's first ever video blog she asks if secrecy should be a critical element in our life with Christ.

 |  read more >

I am learning something, and it is changing this Chihuahua heart—sitting at Jesus' feet like Mary, choosing the one necessity, is not meant to end with morning devotions. We can "sit" at His feet all day, even while we "run." In some strange twist, it is only when our souls are quietly alert to receive from Jesus that we can run at all. 

 |  read more >

I don't personally find myself often using the words "praise the Lord," but I'm sure that 2012 will bring me new opportunities to continue to thank Him excitedly. I'm also sure that this year will be strewn with heavy, hard days. I will cry—and I will probably cry hard. But I'm commanded to rejoice continually and give thanks in all circumstances.

 |  read more >

Some people get high blood pressure when they're stressed. That's too normal for me; my worry goes to my jaw.

 |  read more >

Your salvation doesn't depend on the strength of your faith; it depends on the strength of God's faithfulness to His promises.

 |  read more >

I don't know if I've ever met a believer who hasn't struggled with it at some point. Like the father of the boy with an unclean spirit, we exclaim, "I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24)

 |  read more >

God wants us to come to Him clingy and needy. Yes, it does bring to mind that annoying OCD type who latches onto victims like a burr, but I want to be latched onto Christ obsessively, too.

 |  read more >

It was always very clear to me that Christianity was not simply one facet of life to be dutifully attended to but the whole orb that everything else was somehow linked to. Life was about Jesus for my parents—and so it was for me too, externally. I prayed, obeyed my parents, memorized Scripture, shared the gospel ... and did it all because I loved myself. I was spiritually dead, but I thought I was alive.

 |  read more >

Understanding our union with Jesus motivates holiness and dispels guilt. It's also the only answer to any questions about how the gospel saves us.

 |  read more >

You know the basic plotline of salvation. God becomes a man. He lives a sinless life, teaches and performs miracles, is hung on a cross, dies in the place of sinners, and is raised to life three days later. The Bible informs us that He bore the wrath of God so we could become one with Christ-God's own children.

So how does the innocent Man's death make us righteous before the Father? Jesus is punished instead of me—and I'm somehow forgiven. God dies so we can live with Him. How is that even ... right?

 |  read more >

Marriage, like everything else, is an "empty box" in the end. It wasn't meant to satisfy our heart's greatest longings.

 |  read more >

God created us to be drawn to the opposite sex, and marriage is an incredible covenant designed for our holiness and God's glory. But the catechism does not say that the chief end of man is marriage. It says that our goal should be to glorify God and enjoy Him forever—and yet we often operate exactly as if the former were true.

 |  read more >

Are you living "true" to your new Christ-nature, or are you denying who you really are by acting like your old self is still alive and kicking?

 |  read more >

Are we still sinners at the deepest part of who we are? Or does our new identity in Christ make us saints who continue to struggle with sin?

 |  read more >

But what if covetousness goes far deeper than a surface desire for flashy, expensive things in a store? What if covetousness is the root of anger, fighting, bitterness, and all unkind speech as well?

 |  read more >

It's easy to acknowledge that a girl who flaunts her drop-dead-gorgeous looks has a problem in the area of pride, but am I really saying that a girl who thinks she's completely unattractive and untalented may struggle with the very same issue?

 |  read more >

If the effect of encouragement upon me is so profound, why aren't I utilizing this power more in the lives of others?

 |  read more >

When it comes to prayer, what does it mean to "ask in His name"?

 |  read more >

God's will—every time, in every request—is for you to become like His Son by bearing much fruit.

 |  read more >

We tend to hone in on the "ask whatever you wish" phrase of John 15:7 first, but we can't even start to think about applying the second part if we're ignoring the first part—the command to abide.

 |  read more >

What's the point of prayer? Is it to get what we ask for? If not, what is the purpose of making requests?

 |  read more >

What's going on with all this griping and moaning? Why are so many Christians filtering in and out of Bible studies and still feeling defeated by sin day in and out?

 |  read more >

What if we lived in imminent expectation and excitement for Jesus' return? What if we said "Come Lord Jesus" every day—and meant it? How would it change the way we spoke and thought and used our time if we were counting down?

 |  read more >

When I was about ten or eleven years old, I stopped being able to fall asleep easily at night. I’d on my bunk-bed instead, staring at the ceiling and thinking about hell. Where would I go when I died? I said my own version of ‘the sinner’s prayer’ every night, but it didn’t shake my fear. Maybe you can relate.

Many of you have raised questions about your own salvation. How can you tell if you’ve been saved?

 |  read more >

We all have noble intentions of reforming our ways-- it's just that our efforts tend to crumble quickly. (Producing discouragement, then more failure, then hopelessness, then more failure... it doesn't seem to end.) How can we change when all our previous attempts have only landed us flat on our faces?

 |  read more >

Confessing to habits of “procrastination” and “bad time management” is common enough. In those terms, it can almost sound like a mild (and sometimes even amusing) fault. But there’s nothing funny about sin.

 |  read more >

As I’ve been taking the time to be quiet before God yesterday and today, the motives I’ve had behind many things are being exposed. Even while I’m praising Him in words, I’m often so much more concerned with making my name look good than Christ’s

 |  read more >

If Avatar has inadvertently helped someone recognize the vanity of life apart from Christ, I'm grateful. Restlessness about this world is good. Satisfaction in Pandora, however—or any other fictitious "alternate reality"—is not.

 |  read more >

If Avatar has inadvertently helped someone recognize the vanity of life apart from Christ, I'm grateful. Restlessness about this world is good. Satisfaction in Pandora, however—or any other fictitious "alternate reality"—is not.

 |  read more >

In spite of massive amounts of Hallmark cards purchased yearly on Mother's Day, it's a cultural taboo if you want to be "a mom" when you grow up—unless you also "do something with your life" in the corporate world first and continue to get on with your career afterward. 

 |  read more >

We can read the Bible every day of our lives, but if we're just processing the letters into words, it won't make any difference. We need to adopt a new method of reading.

 |  read more >

How can we shift habits from neglecting the Bible to immersing ourselves in it? Here are a few pointers that I've been learning and benefitting from.

 |  read more >

Do your eyelids have a tendency to grow heavy during church or maybe your prayers have been drying up if they last longer than a few minutes? As I remember falling asleep in His presence, I'm forced to ask myself: What's going on here? How do we become so bored with Christ?

 |  read more >