
Royal Priests
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9 If you are a Christian, you are a priest, chosen by God. As a member of the royal priesthood you have constant access to the King. If there is ever a need in your life, you don’t have to find an intermediary or enlist another priest in order to gain a hearing from the King. You

Discipleship Is Christ in You
To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27 The heavenly Father’s plan from the beginning of time was to place His eternal Son in every believer. If you are a Christian, all the fullness of God dwells in you. Christ’s life becomes your life. When Christ lives in you, He brings every divine resource with Him. Every time you face a need, you meet it with the pres

New Life
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 You do not become a Christian by asking Jesus into your heart. You become a Christian when you are born again. Jesus said, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Saying a prayer or making a public commitment or signing a decision card will not save you. Only being born again will do that. The apostle Pau

Be Reconciled!
Leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:24 It is useless to give offerings to God while you are at enmity with your brother. Jesus said that His followers should be reconciled with anyone who has something against them. The world seeks reconciliation on limited terms. Christians are to be reconciled, whatever it takes. You say, “But you don’t know how deeply he hurt me! It’s unr

God’s Eternal Perspective
I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. Genesis 12:2 Big assignments require big characters. God will give you a responsibility in proportion to the size of your character. In Bible times, a person’s name represented his character; to know someone’s name was to know what the person was like. That’s why God changed the name of some when He transformed their character. For example, the Lord wanted to bless all the

Compelled to Serve
Your people shall be volunteers In the day of Your power. Psalms 110:3 One mark of revival, during which God comes to His people in power, is that God’s people are compelled to offer their lives for His service. Many churches lack people who are willing to get involved in carrying out God’s redemptive work. The mission fields are crying out for Christians to go and share the gospel with those who’ve never heard it. What we need is not more pleas for volunteers, but an outpour

Warfare . . . or Discipline?
For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives. Hebrews 12:6 There is a tendency among Christians to view anything unpleasant that happens to them as the result of “spiritual warfare.” When a difficulty arises, many immediately ask God to remove their distress. The problem is that their predicament may have nothing to do with Satan or with spiritual warfare. It may appear far more glorious for us to explain our hardships as Satan’s determined at

The Penetrating Word of God
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 Does God’s word ever cause you discomfort? When you read the Bible does what you read make you uneasy? Do you find when you listen to sermons, that the Scripture seems aimed directly at you? You are experiencing the reality that the word of God is

The Key to God’s Redemptive Mission
That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. John 17:21 God often speaks of human relationships as a part of His mission to redeem a lost world (John 13:20; Matt. 25:40). One reason He gives for a husband and wife to live in unity is so they can produce a “godly seed,” that is, children who love and obey God, who can be used in God’s mission to bring redemption to a lost world

Sowing Seeds of Righteousness
But he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward. Proverbs 11:18b There are many ways to invest our lives, but none offers greater reward than devoting ourselves to the pursuit of righteousness. Every area of our lives should reflect the holiness of God that is ours by salvation: our thoughts, so that nothing we think about would be inappropriate for a child of God; our actions, so that our lives demonstrate that we serve a holy God; our integrity, so that we are above r