Being Christian Without Losing Your Mind
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; don’t rely on your own intelligence. Know him in all your paths, and he will keep your ways straight. Don’t consider yourself wise. — Proverbs 3:5-7a I have an annoying habit, and wonder if you share it with me. When faced with a major project or event, my mind …
“Now the one who had received one valuable coin came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man. You harvest grain where you haven’t sown. You gather crops where you haven’t spread seed. So I was afraid. And I hid my valuable coin in the ground. Here, you have what’s yours.’” — Matthew …
If your enemies are starving, feed them some bread; if they are thirsty, give them water to drink. By doing this, you will heap burning coals on their heads, and the Lord will reward you. — Proverbs 25:21-22 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who harass you. — Matthew 5:44 The old proverb …
So many are talking about me: “Even God won’t help him!” — Psalm 3:2 This was what an old Hebrew songwriter heard when he was suffering. His enemies taunted him with it. It was as if they were saying that God was an absentee landlord: provided everything, but nowhere to be found when something broke. …
Elijah and Moses appeared and were talking with Jesus. Peter reacted to all of this by saying to Jesus, “Rabbi, it’s good that we’re here. Let’s make three shrines…” — Mark 9:4-5a Good old Peter. He gets right to the point. The Transfiguration, where Jesus radiates while talking to Elijah and Moses, took place atop a …
When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, reason like a child, think like a child. But now that I have become a man, I’ve put an end to childish things. — 1 Corinthians 13:11 The Christian faith is not a smooth trajectory upward. Rather, it’s an upward trajectory characterized by drops and …
He enacts justice for orphans and widows, and he loves immigrants, giving them food and clothing. That means you must also love immigrants because you were immigrants in Egypt. — Deuteronomy 10:18-18 I grew up believing that “divinely inspired” meant that God controlled the writing hand of the biblical writer. He could be snacking on …
Lord, I have so many enemies! So many are standing against me. So many are talking about me. — Psalm 3:1-2a Having enemies is a recurring theme throughout the psalms. And when we read it, we often understand “enemies” to be tacky, wicked people who’ve mistreated you in some fashion. Or, at least that’s the …
Glory to God, who is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine by his power at work within us. — Ephesians 3:20 John Lennon’s beautiful song by this title dreams of a world where we will all live together “as one.” Important to him was imagining “no religion” because, rightly, he saw …
The goal of instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. — 1 Timothy 1:5 What is a “conscience”? It’s a biblical term that runs throughout Scripture, especially used in the “Pastoral Letters” (1st and 2nd Timothy, Titus), which contain instructions for church leaders. It refers to the inner …