And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. - Matthew 14:28-29 Everyone knows it is impossible to walk on water. But what about when God commands it to be done? What is more fundamentally real: The laws of physics or the Word of God? Surely most people in the world would say the laws of physics are more real. But the child of God defines reality i

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand - Matthew 3:2 The word "repentance" is a polarizing word to say the least. To some people it is no more than a dry and dusty old religious term. To some it is a hateful and hurtful word mostly used to tear others down. And yet to others, repentance is like a note of heavenly music bringing joy to the ears. What is repentance? The Greek word in the Bible is metanoia - a word made up of the prefix meta and noia which comes from the w

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing - James 1:2-4 Imagine a battalion of soldiers commissioned by the king to go map uncharted territory of a newly conquered land. In order to create a detailed map, these soldiers would need to familiarize themselves with every part of the ter

If we have found favor in your eyes,” they said, “let this land be given to your servants as our possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan.” - Num 32:5 At this point, the children of Israel have been traveling in the wilderness for nearly 40 years. They have arrived at the Promised Land given to them by God Himself. All that is left to do is cross the Jordan River and take possession of the land. But three tribes out of the twelve tell Moses that they would rather inherit t

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you - John 15:7 (Originally posted 6/29, Re-posted 7/3 due to technical issues) What an amazing promise this is. It may even sound too good to be true. This is, in fact, why we should be confident that it is a promise of God. No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined the things God has prepared for those who love Him. This indeed is God's promise to us: that if we

Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours - Mark 11:23-24 This is certainly one of the most profound statements in all of the Bible. Many people have chalked this statement up to exaggeration on Jesus's part - but I t

The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one - John 17:22 Jesus says these words as part of His "high priestly prayer" in John 17. Only moments before Judas arrives to betray Him, He is speaking intimately with the Father about His disciples and the future of the Church. It can be easy to skim past these words in verse 22, but if we pause to meditate on them, I believe there is luscious, revelatory fruit just waiting to be plu

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. - Luke 14:33 Jesus says some pretty radical things in the Gospels. From "unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you" (John 6), to "unless you hate your parents, spouse, children, and your own life you cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14). Why does He use such strong and provocative language? It wasn't simply to offend people, and it certainly wasn't arbitrary. It was

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. - 1 John 3:16 Thank You Jesus for revealing what true love is. Your love is confirmed for us, not through our circumstances, but through the Cross. There You declared Your eternal love for the entire world once and for all. With Your arms stretched wide, You called forth all mankind to come find shelter in Your embrace. Even to this day Yo

Preserve me O God, for in you I take refuge - Psalm 16:1 God of all creation, You indeed are our refuge. You are like an impenetrable fortress in time of war. You are like the wings of a mother bird covering her chicks. You are like the strong arms of a loving Father wrapped around his son. We are at home in You, O God. Nothing can ultimately harm us when we abide in You, Jesus. There is safety in Your presence, and comfort under Your mighty rule. Your heavenly love casts out

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also - Matt 6:21 Our heart is our life. What we love is who we are. Life is not about accumulating material goods, or even about accumulating spiritual knowledge. Life is about the transformation of our hearts. It is about becoming men and women whose hearts love God and love like God. In the end, we will not be judged based upon how smart we were, how hardworking we were, or how many good deeds we did, but upon how well we

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. - Heb 11:6 According to the writer of Hebrews, there are two conditions that must be met before someone will seek after God. First: belief that He exists. If someone does not believe God exists, then they cannot possibly seek after Him. No one spends time investing into something they think is fake or illusory. Second:

But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. - Romans 14:23 Here Paul gives us a very interesting definition of sin. According to Paul in his letter to the Romans, sin is "whatever does not proceed from faith." The NLT renders this phrase, "If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning." Now this is not the only definition of sin, but it is an extremely valuable one. These

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me - Galatians 2:20 When Jesus died, He did not just die for us, but in a certain sense He died as us. His crucifixion is our crucifixion. His death is our death. And therefore, His life is now our life. The epitome of the Christian life is contained within this one verse, and there

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart - Psalm 91:4 We were not created to go through this life apart from the protection of God. Just as a baby chick was not created to leave the protection of its mother immediately upon birth, if we step outside of God's will for our lives, we should only expect danger and destruction. However, the difference between birds and us is that we never outgro

He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. - Matt 28:6 Each year on Easter, we celebrate the historical event of Jesus Christ's Resurrection. It was a tangible event that happened in real time and space almost two thousand years ago. But it is also an ongoing, ever-present reality. Today that very same Resurrection Power of Jesus Christ dwells within every person who believes in Him. But in most of us, most of the time, it lies dormant. Why? Becau

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself - John 12:32 Jesus spoke these words directly after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem only a few days before He would be handed over to crucifixion. Death by crucifixion was known in the Roman world as the most shameful and horrific of deaths, fit only for slaves and the worst of criminals. And yet Jesus - the Son of God, the King of kings, and the most innocent man who ever lived - was about to freely

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. - 2 Peter 3:9 The context surrounding this verse is that Peter is addressing some people's concerns that Jesus had not yet returned. Even in the first-century, people were having debates about whether the "end was near." The truth is that the end indeed was, and is, near, though not necessarily in Chronos tim

He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. - Isaiah 25:8 After He rose from the dead, Jesus walked the road to Emmaus with two disciples. At one point during this walk, Luke tells us that Jesus opened up the true meaning of the Scriptures to them – He revealed where the coming Messiah had been foretold throughout the Law and Prophets. Whil

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” John 11:40 Our world says I'll believe it when I see it. But Jesus says that you'll see it when you believe it. The world wants us to base our faith on what we can see, touch, prove, examine etc. Jesus wants us to base our faith on His faithfulness alone. He says that unless we become again like little children we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Most of us tend to overcomplicate thin