One Verse Can Carry You All Week How much Bible should you read a day? Scripture sets no quota, but it does set a focus "How much Bible should I read a day?" It's a question a lot of people type into a search bar, and I think there are two main reasons behind it. The first is the wish to tick a box. You want to reach a point where you can close your Bible and say, "Okay, I've done my bit for today." That comes from a religious place. Christianity isn't a religion in itself, though we do have...
about 20 hours ago • 5 min read
Are You Praying to the Right Subject? Eight kinds of prayer, who each one is addressed to, and why some prayers never seem to land Have you ever prayed and nothing happened? I mean nothing at all. You prayed, you waited, and the situation looked exactly the same. I've taught before about praying amiss, and about the plumb lines that keep our prayers straight. Today I want to look at the same problem from a different angle. One of the reasons prayers don't produce results is that we address...
6 days ago • 5 min read
Three Plumb Lines for Your Prayers How to know you're not asking amiss: love, faith and walking in the Spirit, with peace and contentment as your daily check James wrote something that every praying believer has to face sooner or later: "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts" (James 4:3). That verse used to trouble me. How do I know whether what I'm asking for is in line with God's Word, or whether it's just my flesh dressed up in prayer...
7 days ago • 6 min read
God Has a Daily Budget for You What the Bible really says about abundance, contentment and asking with the right motive When Jesus stood up in the synagogue in Nazareth and read from the scroll of Isaiah, He said something I keep coming back to: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor" (Luke 4:18). The gospel, the good tidings, preached to the poor. I've often asked myself, what would be good news to a poor person, if not abundance? If...
8 days ago • 6 min read
"According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue" (2 Peter 1:3, KJV). Notice the tense. Hath given. Not "will give if you pray hard enough." Not "might give if you are good enough." God has already given us everything that pertains to life and godliness, and all of it comes to us through the eternal life we received in Christ Jesus. In my last teaching I said that inside that...
11 days ago • 5 min read
Jesus made us a promise that is hard to misunderstand: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matthew 7:7, KJV). And we know that God never lies. Whatever He says, He brings to pass. So why is it that sometimes we pray and we don't see the result? I want to be honest with you about this, because many believers quietly carry this question. Some have even walked away from God over it. But I believe that once you settle a few things in...
12 days ago • 5 min read
Have you ever wondered how something that happened over 2,000 years ago can forgive a sin you committed this morning? Or how Jesus could tell people "your sins are forgiven" before He had even gone to the cross? To answer that, I want to show you a simple picture. When I taught this, I drew it on my whiteboard, and I believe it will help you understand what kind of life you've received as a Christian and how you can walk in it. Picture Eternity as a Line Imagine a long line with no beginning...
13 days ago • 5 min read
A lot of people carry a quiet worry about purpose. They wonder if they've missed it. They wonder why God hasn't spoken. Some are waiting for a dramatic moment, the heavens opening and a voice announcing, "This is why I made you." I want to take that pressure off you today. Discovering your purpose is not complicated. You don't have to force it, and you don't have to be anxious about it. There is a very simple way, and it's the same way you began your walk with God in the first place. It's...
14 days ago • 5 min read
In my last teaching, I talked about why every one of us needs to discover our purpose. Today I want to give you practical tips on how to actually discover it. But first, let me take some pressure off you. Finding your purpose is not as difficult as many people make it sound. You don't have to force it. You don't have to worry about it or get agitated. You just start. And when you start in the right place, you will naturally find yourself walking in it. Two Things We Must Settle First Before...
16 days ago • 6 min read