The Bible Speaks to You: Think, Pray, Love like Jesus

It's Freedom Friday What if you could think and pray like Jesus did?  What if you could love the way Jesus did? Does that even seem possible? What keeps us from doing that? Sometimes you might think there’s no way you could of be like Jesus and that it’s not even worth trying. Or maybe you’re afraid to love as much as he did. It’s just too much to commit to.  But Jesus wanted and expected eve...

351 – What do you ask for in your prayers? A new job, a good relationship, to be healed of an emotional problem or physical disease?  What about asking God for guidance in what to do with your life and how to fulfill your purpose? Sometimes we ask God for small things and sometimes our prayers have a broader scope.  But all too often we don’t go as broad and as deep as we could in what we ask for...

350 – Do you know your spiritual identity? It's FREEDOM FRIDAY How often do you really stop and ponder that you are a child of God? All too often we identify ourselves based on what we have done or not done, the accomplishments or the failures we’ve had. And it’s very easy to fall into identifying yourself with the sins and mistakes you’ve made over the years.  But the way you see yourself, t...

349 – Are you praying for your government? If you take an unbiased look at the government of countries all over the world, you’ll often find some degree of corruption.  Sometimes it doesn’t run very deep but other times senior leaders and the heads of government themselves are the source of corruption. This has been going on since governments began. Is there a solution? Even when politicians claim...

348 – What defines your spiritual identity? Do you ever struggle to find freedom from guilt over things that happened in the past?  You’re trying to follow Christ and live your life in obedience to all Jesus says, but sometimes it’s hard to let go of the guilt from things you did years ago, or maybe even just yesterday. You know that God has forgiven you, but once in a while, those past sins and m...

347 – What do you do when no one understands you? Have you ever been with a group of close friends and you share some pretty deep ideas you’ve been thinking about, but then everyone looks at you like you’re crazy.  They have no idea what you’re talking about.  You try to explain, but they’re still clueless, their eyes glaze over, and they go back to discussing with great enthusiasm, something that...

346 – Freedom Friday! Have you ever found it hard to accept God’s forgiveness?  The mistakes you’ve made and the sins you’ve committed just seem too much for God to wink at, much less forgive? When you carry around the guilt, along with the feeling you don’t deserve God’s love and forgiveness, it can be a terrible burden that keeps you from living the life of joy and freedom God has in store for y...

345 – Is Christian unity possible? Ever been disillusioned by people from different Christian denominations arguing about who is right theologically, and in the process sending everyone who disagrees with them to hell? So many churches today think they are the only true followers of Christ and dogmatically insist you must agree with their theology to be a Christian.  This attitude doesn’t bring fe...

344 – Freedom Friday What's your first thought when you hear the word, repentance?  It doesn’t always have a positive connotation does it? Can’t you just hear an angry preacher shouting from the pulpit that you need to repent of your sins? Sometimes it seems like they are trying to rub your nose in all the sins you’ve committed and make you feel really bad about yourself. But when Jesus said...

343 – Understanding the Lord's Prayer How often do you say the Lord’s Prayer. Now, what I really want to know is how often you pray the Lord’s Prayer. They’re not always the same thing. Have you ever been at church and it seems like when you get to the Lord’s Prayer it’s a race to see how fast you can say it?  Jesus didn’t want us just to repeat words. He wanted this prayer to be a guide to u...

342 – Bad motives versus good motives Have you ever kept making the same mistakes and committing the same sin, even though you’ve tried to stop?  You’ve tried to do what’s right but you keep slipping back into old patterns of thinking and acting. Sometimes, trying to change one behavior by a different behavior doesn’t really get at the root of the problem.  We need to go a little deeper and deal w...

341 – What are your hopes for 2026? Who do you want to be? At the beginning of a new year a lot of people set goals and make resolutions of what they want to accomplish or stop doing during the next 12 months.  The focus is usually on achievements and results, changing behavior, establishing new habits, things like that. Other people like to pick out a phrase or a word as a theme for the year. But...

340 – Ever have trouble admitting your mistakes? Have you ever had a hard time accepting responsibility for the mistakes you’ve made and the sins you’ve committed? I know, it’s all too easy to blame someone else or circumstances, the way you were brought up, the way someone treated you, or whatever it may be. But if you really want to heal the burden of guilt you’re carrying around, you’ll accept...

339 – Thank You 2025! It's been a great year in many ways, but it had its challenges as well. There have been ups and downs for sure, but from all the people I talk to and interact with online, I feel a gradual and growing momentum in the way people’s hearts are reaching out for things of the Spirit.  Before we launch out into a new year, it can be really helpful to appreciate all the lessons...

338 - It's Freedom Friday How often to you compare yourself with others? How's that workin' for you? One of the things I’ve really had to work at over the years is not to compare myself with others. When I’ve seen someone who is more successful, is smarter, stronger, better looking than me, it’s easy to feel inferior to them.  I've felt guilty I didn’t work as hard as they did,...

337 – Let the light of Christmas shine bright One of the major themes at Christmas time is the light of Christ shining into a dark world. In fact the Christmas story has all kinds of light in it.  There’s the star that appears to the Wisemen from the East. There’s the glory of God shining on the shepherds as the angels talk to them.  And most important of all is the birth of Jesus, who came as the...

336 – What makes you want to obey God? People sometimes ask: "Is there a way to obey God from a place of love instead of from a sense of duty or fear of punishment?"  And my answer is always: Absolutely, Yes! It is totally possible to obey God from a place of love instead of duty or fear.  God doesn’t want you to obey Him because you’re afraid of Him. God wants a loving relationship with...

335 – Will you or anyone you know be alone for Christmas this year? An estimated 14 million Americans will spend Christmas alone in 2025.   That’s a lot of people! I don’t have numbers for other countries, but this really opened my eyes to a problem that’s a lot bigger than I realized. There’s a wide variety of reasons why people are alone at Christmas, and a small percentage of them actually pref...

334 – It's Freedom Friday How good are you at overcoming temptation? What do you do when you are tempted to do something you know you shouldn’t do? How do you resist the temptation? Or do you just give in to it? A question I get a lot is: How do I resist the temptations in my life? This is something we all have to deal with.  And at some point, as you grow spiritually, it’s not just about res...

333 – God still uses ordinary people to accomplish His purpose Christmas is just a few weeks away, and a lot of people I know are busy getting ready for this special time of year when we celebrate Christ’s coming. And I don’t just mean making all the preparations for holiday meals, gifts, and seasonal activities.  A lot of people take very seriously getting ready spiritually to be more receptive t...

332 – FREEDOM FRIDAY You are made in the image and likeness of God. The Bible makes this clear in the very first chapter of Genesis. But then the Bible tells story after story of how people have sinned and not been true to the way God created them.  Someone asked the other day: If I’m really made in the image and likeness of God, why do I keep sinning? That’s a pretty deep question and that's...

331 – What gives you a sense of self-worth? Over the years, I've met some people who are very, very wealthy.  I've also met people who probably didn’t have $20 to their name. And lots of people in between. Some of these very wealthy people, even though they have been incredibly successful in many areas of their life, have a very low sense of self-worth.  And a few of the homeless people...

330 – Does God ever tempt us? A lot of people are convinced God sends temptations to see if they are faithful. You’d be surprised how many Christians believe some version of this, that God tempts us or puts tempting things and thoughts in our path. But nothing could be further from the truth. God never tempts you. That's what we're talking about this week on FREEDOM FRIDAY. ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞ Show...

329 – Are you grateful when things don't go the way you want them to? A lot of folks I’ve been talking to lately are facing some pretty serious challenges. And they don't really think they have anything to be grateful for. They’re worried about the rising cost of living, if they can pay their bills and put food on the table for their families.  They’re worried about the rising costs of h...

328 – How do you quit being influenced by others? Have you ever worked hard to quit making the same mistakes or committing the same sins and finally got your life cleaned up and straightened out, when someone, maybe even an old friend, tries to pull you back into that old life style?  You feel negatively influenced by others to do things you don’t want to do. It can be a pretty hard s ituation to...