For a person to give up his or her life for another is sometimes referred to as the ultimate sacrifice for good reason. There is no greater sacrifice a person could make for another. Paul wrote about those who would be less than willing to die for someone they knew, but then he pointed out a contrast. Jesus was willing to die for enemies, for sinners (Romans 5:6–8). Consider what one accomplishes by forfeiting one’s life for another person. What would make someone do this for an opponent? Sometimes the sacrifice is balanced with what benefit it provides. Saving a life by one’s life is certainly the ultimate sacrifice made by that individual. However, consider how many lives (souls) that will be eternally saved by the sacrifice of Jesus. So, Jesus’ sacrifice was the ultimate sacrifice in at least two ways. First, He gave up His life. Second, He gave up His life so all may have the opportunity for eternal life. Without taking away from those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice, how would one classify the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made for all who will obey Him?

Let’s be logical in our thinking. God appointed Moses to be a lawgiver, and with the laws God gave a punishment for violation of His laws. We are also taught that those who are appointed to rule over us are appointed or ordained by God to execute judgment regarding our violation of those laws. A government is not a terror to those who obey the law, but the violators of those laws are subject to punishment for their violation of the laws. We have laws that state we are not to exceed speed limits when operating our cars. If we violate those laws, we can be brought to judgement and be fined for our violations. These laws are not only for your own good but for the safety of other drivers and pedestrians in your path. We may not like the speed limit laws, but they must be obeyed or we suffer consequences, which could be injury or death for ourselves or others. Seatbelt laws require that all persons in a vehicle be belted in. A violation of this law can also lead to a citation and fine. Seatbelts are to keep you from being ejected and possibly killed in the event you are struck by another driver. These laws are not just a way of controlling you. If, however, you are stubborn and willfully disobey these laws, then you or your family or perhaps an innocent bystander may pay for your disobedience with his life. People today want to …

“I am going fishing,” said Simon Peter. Nothing startling here. Before meeting Jesus, Peter was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee. He was no novice. Catching fish was second nature to him; no one had to explain to him the best procedure to follow. It had been his lifetime work. Therefore, when Peter announced his intention to go fishing, several of the disciples said, “We are going with you also” (John 21:3). Have you ever been on a fishing trip that was unsuccessful? You’re not alone. It happened to Peter and his friends. They stayed out all night and caught nothing. Weary and ready to give up, they heard a man on the beach shout, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some” (John 21:6). Some? They were not able to haul the net in because there were so many. John sensed the truth first, “It is the Lord!” (John 21:7). In a moment, Peter was out of the boat and swimming to the Lord. It had been some three years since Peter and his brothers heard the call of Jesus, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). Then, sitting around a charcoal fire and enjoying the breakfast Jesus had prepared, Peter was given another commission: “Feed my sheep” (John 21:15–17). The business of the kingdom involves both catching fish and feeding sheep. Jesus plainly said before He ascended into Heaven, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been …

It doesn’t happen very often for me, but every now and then I get a good idea. You know the kind of idea—one that comes into your mind, and you know that it would improve something that you’re doing. I’ve had a few of those over the last several weeks, but I really haven’t put any of them into practice yet. It’s not that I don’t think they are good ideas anymore, but it’s just that I’ve found a lot of other things to do instead of implementing the new stuff. That happens a lot, doesn’t it? We have things that we know we should be doing (maybe a card, a call or a visit to someone who needs encouragement), but we have other things that seem to always get in the way. “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17). Today, decide that you won’t let things get in the way anymore. Will you resolve to do what you know you need to do? “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice” (Romans 7:19).

And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6–7 NKJV) “Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked.” (Exodus 23:7) These verses underscore the truth that God, in His perfect justice, does not declare the guilty innocent. While merciful and patient, the Lord will not compromise His righteousness by justifying (acquitting) the unrepentant wicked. When considering God’s nature, we are faced with the imperfections of human society and our culture. God’s character and nature make it impossible for Him to acquit the guilty. This does not negate God’s mercy or His longsuffering, but it recognizes that God will hold those accountable who do not reconcile their guilt before time runs out. The passages in Exodus 23 deal specifically with the daily concerns of the Israelite nation. God insisted that the Israelites guard themselves against being associated with a false matter, a person defrauding his brother, associate or neighbor. If we assist in bringing harm to someone, God will hold us accountable for those actions, even if no human judge ever does. Furthermore, if we bring harm against the innocent or the righteous, God assures us that …

Did you ever hear anyone say, “Well, God talked to me in a dream” or another say, “I had a vision” or someone declare, “Well, God talked to me while I was driving my car down the highway” or maybe, someone vows that God spoke to him and forgave his sins while he laid his hand on the radio? When you hear someone making such claims, you may be sure they are mistaken. Did you know that God tells us plainly, in His Word, how He speaks to us today? Would you really like to know how God speaks to us? If we do not know how He speaks to us today, we will not know when or what He speaks. “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:1–2 NKJV). In this inspired text, the writer declared that God has spoken. The question is, how does He speak to us today? Yes, there was a time when God spoke to man directly from Heaven, and man heard the voice of God. God talked with Adam in the Garden of Eden. Later, God revealed His Word to the prophets, who, in turn, spoke to the people. God told Moses that the time would come when He would no longer speak through the …

Thyatira—Hardworking but allowed false teaching (Good & Bad) Ephesus—Doctrinally correct but not devoted (Good & Bad) Pergamos—Devoted but not doctrinally correct (Good & Bad) Smyrna—Poor in life but rich in spirit (All Good) Laodicea—Rich in life but poor in spirit (All Bad) Philadelphia—Little Strength but won’t quit (All Good) Sardis— Great reputation but are actually dead (All Bad) The characteristics of these churches represent many churches and individuals in the kingdom of the Lord. It is very important to be hardworking, doctrinally correct and devoted, and yet it is a must to be balanced, too! If we have one or more characteristics without the other, we are in trouble! It doesn’t matter how much work we do if we allow false teaching; we are wrong (Thyatira). It doesn’t matter how right we are if we aren’t devoted to God; we are wrong (Ephesus). It doesn’t matter how devoted we are if we teach bad doctrine; we are wrong (Pergamos). It doesn’t matter whether we have money or not; our dedication to God is the most important thing (Smyrna & Laodicea). It doesn’t matter what the world thinks of us; what God thinks of our service is what really matters (Philadelphia & Sardis). Which one are we? Which one am I?

Psalm 119 is the longest section of Scripture in the Bible. The Psalmist expressed joy, comfort and life found in learning God’s Word. He often asked God to teach or to show him His commandments, statutes and judgments. Let’s hear the psalmist. How would the love of God’s Word change our hearts, minds and attitudes? The Bible is often described as a love letter. God expressed His great love to us through the pages of His Word. A love of Scripture will help us weather any storm. It will also remind us of His work during our greatest joys. Today, may we read in order to understand God’s great will for us!

I don’t know about you, but sometimes it is really hard to be patient. Right now as you are reading this you might be thinking of something or someone that really tests your patience. Maybe it’s a coworker or a family member. Maybe it’s the line at the grocery store or the bank. Maybe it’s the local, state or federal government. I don’t know what tests your patience, and maybe you don’t struggle with patience at all, but throughout the Word of God, we can see the patience of God on display. Further, we can see how God wants us as His people to be patient. Have you ever looked into God’s Word and specifically looked at God’s patience? When God made mankind, He made us in His image (Genesis 1:27). At the completion of His creation, He said that we as part of His creation were “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Yet, just because we were made in the image of God and considered by God to be good, did not mean we would always make good decisions. In Genesis 3:6, we see that Adam and Eve both chose sin. If this was your creation or your child, how would you have responded? To make matters worse, like Adam and Eve, we all have chosen sin at times and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). So, God looks down upon His special creation that He made in His image and sees that we all have chosen sin. …

Someone once defined communication as “any modus operandi by or through which eventuates the reciprocal transposition of information between and among entities or groups via commonly understood systems of symbols, signs, or behavioral patterns of activity.” Got it? You may want to stop, go back and read it again. Or, you may be like most and simply stop reading altogether. Given the number of communication difficulties there are in the world, due a great deal to our tendency to be self-focused and prideful, one of the things that I am thankful for on a daily, if not hourly basis, is that the God who wants to know me personally has approached me in terms that I can readily understand. I think it has a lot to do with His nature. God is completely honest with nothing to hide. He has no problem telling us when we fail or when we succeed and why. He has no trouble telling you about His plans, designs and purposes. There are no surprises, hidden agendas and manipulations. That doesn’t sound much like the way we communicate, where the words and acts of others are filtered through our own experiences and thoughts. That may produce a twisted version of what someone may have originally intended, leaving us to sort out what went wrong and why. We assure ourselves that the reason for any lack of communication couldn’t possibly be us. We have bias and prejudice, and while some of that may be good, it can …

It is always a good time to be reminded that Christians are charged to handle the Word of truth “accurately” (2 Timothy 2:15 NASB). Handling accurately (“rightly dividing” KJV) the Word is something that takes time to learn to do and is something that should never be taken for granted. There have always been calls to ignore the Bible in favor of some other document or to just ignore it all together, supposedly because it is wrong or outdated. We cannot afford to fall in those traps, no matter who tries to lure us or for what reason someone tries to lure us. A person might try to lure us away to accept a doctrine not taught in Scripture or something that perhaps Scripture teaches against. Some may try to lure us into thinking that God really does not know best what is good for His creation today, trying to convince us that His laws are outdated. The reason for the call of diligence is that sometimes people will attempt to use the Bible to justify false teaching; this is why Bible study is so important. Keep studying so that you may handle the Word of truth accurately and to never be fooled by anyone with an agenda.

In a world overshadowed by confusion and moral decay, light is more than a symbol; it’s essential. When Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12 NKJV), He was doing more than offering comfort; He was issuing a call. His light exposes what is hidden, guides the lost and transforms the hearts of those who follow Him. The question we must all ask is this: “Are we walking in the light or merely standing near it?” The apostle John built on Jesus’ declaration in 1 John 1:5-7. “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Walking in the light means more than believing Jesus exists; it means living transparently before God and others. It means truth over hypocrisy, integrity over convenience and fellowship over isolation. It’s not a life of sinless perfection but one of humble direction—continually stepping into the light of Christ where forgiveness and fellowship abound. Jesus not only said that He is the light, but He also said, “You …