Posts with the tag “christian-living”

I was blessed and helped in our study Sunday as we walked through the end of this wonderful Gospel of John. Prominent in these final passages were familiar terms for us at Calvary. Our vision statemen...  Read More

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”1 Peter 5:5b–6 (ESV) I find it fascinating to study these accounts of the death and resurrection of Jesus found in John’s Gospel. The death and re...  Read More

Our salvation, forgiveness, and spiritual blessings, are “not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit! says the Lord of Hosts” (Zephaniah 4:6 ESV).Last Sunday, at the darkest moment of Jesus arrest d...  Read More

His disciples asked Jesus a critical question, “How should we pray?” And His answer began with, “Pray this way, Our Father…” (Matthew 6:9 ESV).In the most important area of communication in our whole ...  Read More

As we behold the glory of Christ, we grow a distaste for all other glories. We are bornwith a heart that hates the glory of God and craves the praise of man (John 5:44). It isthe nature of our flesh t...  Read More

“We must not conceive of prayer as though it were an overcoming of God’s reluctance; when in fact it is a laying hold of His highest willingness.”—Richard Trench, 1807-1886 All believers have probably...  Read More

So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. John 16:22 Jesus continues to love and shepherd His followers right up to t...  Read More

I don’t know who coined that phrase, but we have all felt it from time to time.And it is a terrible feeling.If anyone in history should have felt impending doom, it was Jesus, during John 16 and his f...  Read More

The steadfast love of the Lord is better than life, but is it better than money? In the abundance of our worldly goods, sometimes it can seem that we value our money more than our lives: when the mark...  Read More

Our study last Sunday in John 15:12–17 introduced an old theme of “loving one another” along with a newer theme that Jesus calls us His friends. We saw that this word friend He uses means “an affectio...  Read More

You sit across from your spouse, looking at and listening to them. Eyes are focused. Ears are engaged. Yet, in your mind, you are not engaged. Silently, perhaps you are planning your day, or fixing so...  Read More

"[E]very branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." John 15:2 (ESV) I find it fascinating and counterintuitive that Jesus teaches us here that, if we’re growing spiritually, ...  Read More

"Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it."John 14:13–14 (ESV) Jesus made these remarkable statements j...  Read More

"Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.... Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul." Psalm 66:5, 16 (ESV) I lo...  Read More

In our study Sunday, we saw how God reveals Himself first with simply the name God and, from here on, mostly with the name Father.In the context of having troubled hearts, understanding that our God i...  Read More

Peter's conversation with Jesus in John 13:36–38 is both touching and convicting—for Peter and for us.On one hand, Jesus takes time allowing Peter to interrupt Jesus' discourse on love to address Pete...  Read More

A new commandment I give to you,      that you love one another: just as I have loved you,      you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples,      if you ha...  Read More

As Christians, we favor the statement that we are committed.In a general sense, this seems to be a very good thing. “Our world needs more commitment,” we hear often with an affirmative nod.But as we l...  Read More

In our passage Sunday we saw Jesus calling the people to believe in the Light while He was there (John 12:36).This is really the grand theme of the Gospel of John, as it states in John 20:31: "[B]ut t...  Read More

It can be a wearisome toil to figure out life. It has been in the heart of man since the beginning of time to determine why things happen, what we can do to make things better, who is to blame when th...  Read More

John 8 has taken us a few Sundays to get through and includes some high statements about who it is that’s talking to the group of Pharisees in the treasury of the temple.The one of highest worth (Jesu...  Read More

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."John 8:31–32 (ESV) Sunday’s study was...  Read More