While most Christians know “The Golden Rule,” there are many of us who have a hard time living it consistently. Meditate on this paraphrase (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”), and ask yourself, “Is this my standard operating procedure?” What if God had said, “Think about others as you would have them think about you”? Do I…

The wise man Solomon warned about “difficult days” (NKJV), “evil days” (NASB) and “days of trouble” (NIV) in the closing verses of Ecclesiastes. Life has a way of flipping everything upside down, shaking everything really hard and then doing the Hulk-to-Loki smash until our world is completely spinning. The Bible doesn’t say that those days “could” come but that they are going…

Equations are funny things. They work every time the same way without fail and without exception. One plus one equals two every time without fail and without exception. Bible students know that  there are numerous divine “equations” in the Bible, which, as do all equations, work every time the same way without fail and without exception. One such “equation” is in Ephesians…

Anyone driving through rural central Florida will be inundated with billboards that have images of little babies and text that proclaims, “My heart is beating 18 days after conception!” I am so thankful for that stretch of highway every time we drive through it. But, right here in town, there is another billboard with a picture of child that says, “Every child…

When Abraham Lincoln died from that gunshot wound more than 150 years ago, he was carrying a number of things in his pockets. Inside his brown leather wallet was a Confederate five-dollar bill and as many as nine newspaper clippings, which contained complimentary things to say about the President who had just endured a very tough re-election campaign. Think about that. He…

When you read that title, please remember something: “prejudice” is not something that applies only to a certain group of people (but not any other), or something that is despicably wrong for one group to practice (but no big deal for another to practice). “Prejudice” is defined as  “preconceived judgment or unreasonable opinion formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge.” NO…

It is one of the most comforting verses in all of the Bible. After receiving two imperatives from the Lord–“Be anxious for nothing” and “let your requests be made known unto God” (Phil. 4:6)–there is this promising reassurance, which has helped many of us to “go on” when we didn’t think that we could: “…and the peace of God, which surpasses all…

God’s Word has much to say about what we say (and what we shouldn’t say). Consider this direct command, “Do not speak evil of one another, brethren” (Jas. 4:11). Other translations have, “Do not speak against” (NASB), and, “Do not speak evil against” (ESV) “one another.” This is sometimes one of the easiest traps in which to fall, but let us be…