“So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless” (1 Corinthians 15:58 NLT).

August 24, 2022

DON’T DIG UP IN DOUBT WHAT YOU PLANTED BY FAITH Be strong, immovable, always work with enthusiasm for the Lord. Why? Because of the resurrection and because whatever you plant in faith will grow and produce a harvest. The promise of eternal life should make us fearless in our focus. It should make us immovable

“I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day…” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4 NLT).

August 23, 2022

PASSING ON THE GOOD NEWS Paul made it clear to the Corinthians that the gospel he passed on to them was the same one that had also been passed on to him. This is the gospel by which he was saved and by which they too would be saved, if only they would believe. This

“What are people, that you should make so much of us, that you should think of us so often?” (Job 7:17 NLT).

August 22, 2022

WHO ARE WE THAT GOD MAKES SO MUCH OF US? Job doesn’t accuse God of being absent, but of being too present. He doesn’t blame his suffering on being forsaken by the Lord as most would do. No. He questions why God would be so interested in such weak, temporal things as man. Out of

“The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” (Psalm 37:23-24 NLT).

August 21, 2022

TAKE MY HAND, PRECIOUS LORD, LEAD ME ON David trusted the Lord to guide and direct him. He had no doubt that the God of the universe had interest in the details of his life. He had learned that God not only delighted in directing him, but the Lord was also always present to lift

“Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut, and you will stay out of trouble” (Proverbs 21:23 NLT).

August 20, 2022

WATCH YOUR WORDS How many have wished they could take back their words? Yet, once said, they linger on. If only there were a delete button to erase ill chosen words. Instead, the more poorly spoken words tend to linger the longest. Better to keep quiet and stay out of trouble. Begin to fill your

“Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14 NLT).

August 19, 2022

FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS Esther, whose name means, “star,” won King Xerxes’ beauty contest and was crowned as his queen. She went from being a Jewish orphan to a Persian queen. Her relative, Mordecai, who had raised her as his own when her parents died, asked her not to forget her people and

“That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup” (1 Corinthians 11:28 NLT).

August 18, 2022

SELF-EXAMINATION AND THE LORD’S SUPPER Paul rebuked the Corinthians for coming to the Lord’s table without treating one another as members of the Lord’s body. Their disunity and selfish behavior flew in the face of the sacrifice of Christ which the Lord’s Supper represents. He challenged them to first “examine” themselves before taking communion. Self

“With every bone in my body I will praise him” (Psalm 35:10 NLT).

August 17, 2022

TELL DEM BONES TO PRAISE THE LORD!  David declared his intent to praise the Lord “with every bone” in his body in anticipation of the Lord’s rescue. David would not offer the Lord half-hearted worship. He was a whole-hearted worshiper, and out of that came a commitment to whole-bodied praise. David would hold nothing back

“And the people commended everyone who volunteered to resettle in Jerusalem” (Nehemiah 11:2 NLT).

August 16, 2022

WHEN OTHERS RAN OUT THEY RAN IN After the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt, people were needed to repopulate the city, which had been destroyed some 70+ years earlier. It was a run-down and dangerous place where few wanted to live. So when certain men willingly volunteered to live in the city, the people blessed

“All of them ate the same spiritual food, and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:3-4 NLT).

August 15, 2022

CHRIST, OUR SPIRITUAL FOOD AND DRINK Paul reminded the Corinthian believers of the Exodus story. He recalled how all the Israelites ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual water, which in both cases, were typical of Christ. For as the manna was daily bread from heaven, so Christ is the “Bread of