Only the Accuser Gains in Condemning

Job (rhymes with “robe”) in the Bible was trying to be as righteous before God as he could be. Yet when sudden calamity struck his life none of this counted as his friends gathered around him and condemned him, saying that it must have happened because of sin in his life. But Jesus said, “Judge…

Persevere to Shun Complacent Faith

How often we believers in Christ easily become spiritually complacent in our walk with God. Throughout the Old Testament we find many examples of complacency where the Israelites took God for granted. As a result, God would withdraw and let them find out that they were operating on their own. Through defeat in a battle,…

A Clean Heart by Our Own Efforts Will Fail

Do you realize that God sees each one of us as a perfect, sparkling, precious jewel? We usually see ourselves as dirty and blemished, constantly trying by our own efforts to make ourselves shine, as we will see in the following narrative. And we go through all kinds of programs and rituals, yet in the…

When Doing Good Works Has No Reward

This world is filled with people trying to make it in this life without God mostly through doing good works of some kind. Some physically work themselves to the point of death in an effort to live comfortably when they retire. Others put on a front that leads many to believe they have prospered and…

Many Efforts But Still No Results

At the beginning of each year, we always seem determined to make ourselves better than we were the year before. What great endeavors we make to fulfill whatever resolutions we think will improve our life; yet, for so many, these efforts yield little or no results. Why can’t we accomplish all we set out to…

Loving Our Self Over God Is Foolish

Stan just stood there, staring at the edge of the lake with a gaze of uncertainty, almost to the point of daydreaming. “Hey, Stan!” he heard his friend shout, “The bus is coming just up the road.” “Uh, yeah,” Stan replied, with some hesitancy. “I’ll be right there!” He reluctantly wandered back to the bus…

Does Favoritism Fulfill God’s Plan?

Did you ever have that one person (or group of people) in your life who seemed to be treated better than everyone else, someone who often left you in teeth-gritting anger? It would seem like, no matter how hard you tried, you could never get the special recognition you felt you deserved—whether at work, at…

Our Best Ambitions Are as Useless as Wet Sand

Have you ever thought about the fact that our own ambitions we do for God are much like building fine castles with handfuls of wet sand? They ultimately prove to be futile, without any lasting merit. It doesn’t matter how much work we do on our own to try to make ourselves right before God….