Sometimes how something is done is just as important, or even more important, than what is done. Take baking for example. I am not an expert baker by any stretch of the imagination, but I dabble with baking and can do OK. One of the things that I have learned is that sometimes the baker’s technique can make all...

Paul expressed how much joy the Philippian believers’ gospel partnership brought him and reminded them that their sovereign and faithful God would keep them to the end (1:3-6). He prayed that God would cause their love to increase so they would stay pure and blameless, full of the fruit of righteousness (vv. 9-11). That’s what the Holy Spirit does...

I have never been a farmer or a soldier. I imagine I am not alone. Because of this, when the Bible uses these as metaphors for living in faith, I can understand them, but only to a point. I can understand them conceptually, but not experientially. But when Paul talks about an athlete training or running a race—now, that’s...

After a brief greeting, Paul in Ephesians 1 praised God for all He accomplished through Christ for our redemption and restoration (vv. 3-4). Paul thanked God for the believer’s maturity in faith in Christ. By His glorious grace, people chosen from before the foundation of the world have come together in praise of His glory in Christ (vv. 6,12,14)....

We love to find ways to separate ourselves as people. We are so good at finding reasons, almost all of which are pretty poor and many even sinful, to divide ourselves. We relish an “us against them” posture, one which is manifested in countless forms of “us” and “them.” Let’s be clear: none of this is biblical, in fact...

God had a plan for Paul, and what God decrees will always come to pass (see Isa. 46:9-10; Eph. 1:10). As we see Acts 23, Roman soldiers protected Paul from harm and death, but God is the One who sends protection. He also is the One who reveals His plan in His time. Cutting through the chaos, the Lord...