Read two free sample chapters from my newest book, Intertwined: Our Happiness Is Tied to God’s Glory (Two Free Sample Chapters PDF)
As children we imagined we would find the perfect spouse, the perfect job, buy the perfect house, go on perfect adventures, and well . . . have the perfect life. Somewhere along the way, however, we quickly realized we will experience many things on this earth, but perfection is certainly not one of them.
Hebrews 12:11
According to the Bible, God’s grace saves Christians from the punishment we deserve, but it does not always save us from the consequences of our actions and it never saves us from God’s discipline.
When it comes to leading, parenting, responding to offenses, or just having authority over people in all the varies roles that exist on earth, it is crucial to know the biblical differences between punishment, discipline, and consequences.
John 21:21-22
You are not going to find the term “personal boundaries” in the Bible. However, the Bible does talk about personal boundaries in principle.
2 Corinthians 1:11
As Christians, most of us have a general awareness that it is a good thing to pray for other people and to have other people praying for you. But perhaps praying for each other is more than “good,” perhaps it is crucial.
So why should we pray for others? What benefits are there to interceding for people? Why is it so important that we pray for each other?
Ephesians 5:31-32
As soon as my son was born, I wanted nothing else than to be a great dad. As all parents quickly realize, the pressure to raise our kids to the best of our ability can be immense. No one has kids with the hope of ruining them. We want them to grow up happy, healthy, and totally in love with Christ.
And so as new parents, my wife I made the subtle mistake most new parents make – we began to prioritize our parenting over our marriage. This seems like a natural, loving thing to do when you have kids. Ironically, however, as we realized the hard way, when we placed our parenting over our marriage, our parenting and our marriage both suffered.
1 John 3:1
Why did God create us?
Well of course anytime you ask a question that starts with, “Why does God . . . ?” you can always answer it with the right theological answer, “For his glory.” Everything God does, he always does for his glory.
But how did creating humans bring God glory? To answer that, we need to remember what the glory of God really is. In short, one basic definition of the glory of God is when the invisible qualities of God are made visible or knowable.
With this definition, it’s not hard to connect the dots: If God is glorified through making his qualities visible, he would then glorify himself by making beings in his image. Because we bear God’s image (Genesis 1:27), we thus glorify God (Isaiah 43:7). Sin has marred this image, and thus the more we sin the more we “fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The more we are sanctified and remade into the image of his Son, the more we glorify God as he originally intended (Romans 8:29-30).
But I’ve talked about all that before. Let’s take this a step further. How else did creating humans reveal God?
God revealed his love and fullness through creating humans just as a healthy marriage reveals its love and fullness through producing children. Let’s dig deeper into this idea.
John 12:3-6, Matthew 26:14, 16, Matthew 27:1-10
What does the Bible say about betrayal? What are some biblical examples of betrayal? And how can we avoid becoming a betrayer?
When answering questions like these, the name Judas is unavoidable. Judas will be forever remembered as “the betrayer.” So here are 3 biblical lessons we can learn from Judas that will help us be faithful disciples. If we want to avoid betrayal with God, in our marriages, and in all of our relationships, the Bible gives us the truth we need.
And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. – Acts 11:26
The word “Christian” is nowhere used in the Bible as anything other than a noun. However, in American culture we constantly use “Christian” as an adjective or adverb to describe things such as music, movies, books, character, charitable acts, and so many other things. The great danger in this is the temptation to replace our genuine faith in Christ with traditions steeped in culture rather than God’s everlasting truth.
Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.-Luke 12:48
In a broken world, there are endless needs. So how do we decide who to support, who to serve, who to lead, and who to give our time and resources to?
There is no hard and fast rule about such things in the Bible. We are told to take care of our families (1 Timothy 5:8), we are told to help support other Christians (Romans 12:13), and we are also told to show hospitality to strangers (Hebrews 13:2). But to what degree should we offer the help since the needs of the world can be endless?
“Who are you—Esau or Jacob?”- Genesis 27:18 (NLT)
What is my identity in Christ? Every Christian has asked it. It seems basic, like we all should know what our identity in Christ is.
But when answering the question, “What’s my identity in Christ?” we have to first start with what we were so we can better understand what we are now through putting
our faith in Jesus.
Before My Identity Was in Christ, My Identity Was Found in the Family of Liars (Sinful Man)
Abraham pretended to be Sarah’s brother (Genesis 12, 20), Isaac did the same thing to his wife Rebekah, Jacob pretended to be Esau (Genesis 27), and on Jacob’s wedding night Leah pretended to be Rachel.
Out of this family of lies, to highlight God’s amazing grace, came the whole nation of Israel, and out of the nation of Israel came the Savior, thus fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham that “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3).
Abraham and his family was such a fitting choice for God to bring about redemption through because the whole human race sins just like them. We all lie about ourselves. We try to survive on this planet by adapting our identities to the present situation around us.
If it is more fitting to be a womanizer at work so we will fit it with the guys, we adapt into that. If a man you desire to date likes women who dress provocatively, your wardrobe changes. If the woman you desire to date wants a well mannered man, you put on a different face than you have when with the guys at the gym.
All sin is a marring of God’s original image for you. God made man in his likeness, with a godly, holy, and pure identity. Sin occurs when we change who we are to protect ourselves from earthly threats rather than obeying and trusting God.
So before my identity was in Christ, my identity was rooted in lies.
Christ’s Identity Never Changed Like Mine
