Your Daily Bible

When you hear the word “resolve” what comes to mind? Maybe you pictured a determined athlete, the 2-year-old that doesn’t want to back down, or the health battle we will do everything to fight.  The dictionary explains resolve as “fixity of purpose” or “firm determination.” We easily associate resolve with reaching the highest level in a sport or persevering through a diagnosis. But it also takes...

The church building was small, hardly what we might consider structurally sound. Light shone through cracks in the cement walls. There was no floor but the dusty ground. Gabonese church members filled the rows of rickety wooden benches and service began. Unlike us visiting missionaries, the people didn’t drive or take a bus to get there. They left early that morning and walked for miles to reach t...

When the desire for money and the pursuit of money is greater than our desire or pursuit to be more like Jesus, it breeds greed and discontent in our lives. This was the case in Timothy’s day. False teachers were implying that godliness is a means to financial gain ( 1 Timothy 6:5 ). Paul warns Timothy to stay away from such teaching. He reminds Timothy that true wealth is found in knowing Jesus a...

When the word “church” comes up in conversation, the first thing we think of is a building. We have this mindset that church is a place we go to on Sundays. As we get our family dressed, fight through traffic and get a good seat, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that we aren’t just going to church; we are the church. In 1 Timothy 5 , Paul describes the church as people dedicated to doing whatev...

1 Timothy 4:12-16 (NLT) 12 Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. 13 Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them. 14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecy spoken over you w...

Running a marathon isn’t something we just wake up and do. To build the endurance to finish a 26.2-mile race takes months of strict, physical training. To get up every morning and run, whether or not you feel like it, takes commitment and discipline. While there are physical benefits to this kind of training — strong legs, a healthy heart, there’s a spiritual benefit to learning discipline as well...

Pretend for a moment that you’re standing outside in a blizzard with only a T-shirt on. Would you refuse a jacket if one were offered to you? In the midst of freezing temperatures and billowing snows, the warmth a jacket provides would be more than desirable. Not many of us would stand bare armed in a blizzard and refuse a jacket. We do, however, often refuse refuge from an even harsher environmen...

1 Timothy 3:14-16 (NLT) The Truths of Our Faith 14 I am writing these things to you now, even though I hope to be with you soon, 15 so that if I am delayed, you will know how people must conduct themselves in the household of God. This is the church of the living God, which is the pillar and foundation of the truth. 16 Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed i...

Every decision we make reveals standards we set for our lives. Giving in to the pressures of purity, buying what we can’t pay for, talking about someone we think we are better than all reveal our character. How we act will be determined by whether we are allowing the values of the world or the Bible to set the standards of our lives.  When our standards are dictated by people rather than God, we a...

1 Timothy 2:9-10 New Living Translation (NLT) 9 And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. 10 For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do. This is one of those teachi...

In 1 Timothy 2:1-2 , Paul says, “I urge then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” As Christians, we are called to pray for those in authority: pastors, bosses, supervisors, managers, parents, school teachers, administrators, politic...

If you have a pulse, you have a past. We all have things in our past we would rather not remember because remembering makes us uncomfortable. Maybe it was the names you called a classmate behind his back, or the girl you pursued just to get in her pants or the failed marriage you pretend never happened. Paul, in his first letter to a young leader named Timothy, shows us how remembering the past he...

Too often, Christians believe everything should be easy because we are God’s people. But if you’ve followed Jesus for any length of time, you know that’s not always the case. Sometimes, things don’t go our way. And while it’s easy to turn our backs on God when life gets chaotic, Habakkuk shows us there is another way. Habakkuk saw God unleash His wrath on the world. Confused and upset, he asked Go...

Have you ever pulled into your parking spot at work or school and realized you can’t remember a single moment of the drive? When we see and do the same things every day, it’s easy to go into autopilot. As our familiarity with our surroundings increases, our awareness of their specialness decreases. This is true, not just in our morning commutes, but in our spiritual lives as well. In Habakkuk 2:14...

You pull into the dump with your final load of trash. The cleanup was a success, and you are ready to bask in the neatness of your newly-organized garage. But as you leave, you notice the rusted remnants of a gas grill, decayed fragments of some outdoor furniture, and a tattered old couch among the dumpsters. The piles of discarded goods provide a tangible reminder of the temporary nature of life...

We don’t have the luxury of ignoring ISIS with the news tracking every tragedy. As the violence against Christians escalates, we wonder why hasn’t someone intervened? Riots and protests reported on the news remind us of the anger and injustice, frustration and brutality that exist in communities across America. Where is the hope here? Extremists protest and shout intolerance and hatred in Jesus’ n...

Habakkuk 2  (NLT) 2 I will climb up to my watchtower      and stand at my guard post.  There I will wait to see what the Lord says      and how he will answer my complaint.   Today, banks make it pretty easy to order a new debit or credit card when yours has been compromised or lost. Back in the day, people had to go into the bank to get a new card. These days, one phone call and it’s headed strai...

It’s been a month — maybe two — since it all started going south. The debt was manageable in the beginning. There was one pile of student loans, the car payments, and the credit card bills you swore were “emergencies.” But then came the medical bills you weren’t expecting, and the tuition bill that was twice what you thought it would be. The pile got bigger, overwhelming you. You, who didn’t deser...

Cancer steals the ones we love. Babies die before they get a chance to live. Police officers are charged with murder. People riot in the streets and burn cities. Wildfires chase people from their homes.  If God is a good God who wants good things for His children, why do bad things happen? Where is the justice? When devastating circumstances rock our lives, even the most faithful among us can be s...

In the midst of hard circumstances or anxiety, it can be difficult to see past the problem in front of us, much less present our requests rationally, clearly or with thanksgiving. What is there to be thankful for when you’re facing bankruptcy, or divorce, or Cancer? Shouldn’t you be anxious when the relationship you thought would last forever suddenly falls apart? What is there to rejoice about wh...

As we grow older, the need to be good is continually reinforced. We justify ourselves with how good we are, whether it’s as an employee, spouse or person. The way we describe each other confirms it. “He’s such a good person.” “She has a good heart.” At the beginning of Philippians 3 , Paul points out the flaws in this kind of thinking. If we’re chasing goodness, we’re chasing a moving target. If a...

Life never seems to go the way we imagine it will in our heads.  No matter the effort we put into preparing our day-to-day lives, unforeseen circumstances can leave us feeling frustrated. Many of us have believed the lie that Christians won’t have troubles.  But Jesus tells us plainly in John 16:33 , “... In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” We will have...

Are you chained to a secret addiction? Trapped in a dark depression? Feeling the weight of past mistakes or the effects of a failing marriage? When everything seems to be falling apart, and we are certain we have let God down, grace intervenes and reminds us the story isn’t over yet. It’s only an intermission. Paul’s life was certainly not going the way he had planned when he found himself alone i...

Our world has perfected the art of performance-based love. It is exhausting to feel like you’re only as valuable as you are expendable. The good news is that our performance does not determine Jesus’ love for us. It can be difficult to wrap our minds around how Jesus loves. We easily fall into the habit of performance, viewing Jesus’ commands as rules to follow instead of a means to intimacy with...

What if God was not love? What if He existed as all-powerful and all-knowing but lacked the attribute of love? Love sets our God apart from the gods of every other religion. Other religions say strive, our God says, “Love.” Everything He made and everything He’s done was an act of love for us. When we see love in the world, it’s a reminder that we were made in His image. Love exists among us becau...