Have you ever had a prized possession broken, lost, or destroyed? Our reactions to those kinds of losses reveals much about what our hearts treasure most. How foolish of us to think that the things of this world offer any sort of lasting fulfillment in comparison with the unending life God provides. Paul reminded Timothy that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Tim 6:10), and Jesus taught that we can’t serve money and God (Matt 6:19-24), but our hearts are so easily deceived. We quickly make money our master and things ultimate at the expense of people and our relationship with God. May God grant us the grace to imitate the generosity of Christ instead of hoarding disintegrating wealth for ourselves. Read More

Who controls your life? Most of humanity lives trying to grasp for control of our lives. We see evidence of this in our safety conscious culture or in our germ-aphobia. We can also see evidence in our meticulous planning and dreaming. But we demonstrate arrogance if we think that by following every safety guideline, always washing our hands, or detailing our futures, that we are actually controlling things. God is sovereign; He controls our lives. The vapor of our life is quickly evaporated. It vanishes whether we take every precaution or not. Surely, in God’s sovereignty, He uses our wisdom in safety, cleanliness, and planning, but make no mistake; He sits on the throne. The only question that remains is whether or not we will submit. Read More

Where does wisdom come from? In James 3, we are told that wisdom comes from above; that means we are dependent on God to give us wisdom. In fact, it seems synonymous with the fruit of the Spirit and our transformation into Christlikeness. So, wisdom is all of grace, but we frequently fail in our submission to grace. Instead of allowing the Spirit to humble us, we exalt ourselves. Instead of resisting the flesh, the world, and the devil, we pursue all three. Instead of mourning our sin, we shrug it off. And instead of examining our own hearts, we blame others for our problems. But God gives more grace. Thankfully, we can never out-sin the grace of God. Join us Sunday as we consider God's grace and our submission to it. Read More