Are Christians in a war? If so, how do we fight in this war? These are important questions for every follower of Jesus to consider, because the Bible tells us that we are indeed engaged in a spiritual battle against the kingdom of darkness. This is...
Visit any church enough times and you’ll probably hear a sermon that spotlights Galatians 5:22–23—the “fruit of the Spirit” passage: “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness … ” Sound familiar? It’s a perennial favorite of many preachers, as it dives...
While serving in a small church plant during my first year of college, I remember being given for the first time something called a spiritual gifts test. I don’t remember the specific questions on the test, but I do remember the result. For the...
Can we, or can we not, pray to the Holy Spirit? Augustine (354–430) composed this prayer to the Holy Spirit: Breathe in me O Holy Spirit that my thoughts may all be holy; Act in me O Holy Spirit that my works, too, may be holy; Draw my heart O Holy...
Every morning and every evening I pray for my children. I pray the words God has placed over my children and over me. Because God’s Word interprets the world, these words are how God wants me to see my children. In baptism, God has given my...
Bible study is the practice—whether individually or within a group—of reading, interpreting, and applying Scripture to daily life. Christians don’t study the Bible simply to amass information they won’t use. The point of Bible study is to know God...
Family discipleship is hard work. The days are long with small children: a messy home, a litany of whys, and a gaggle of shouts of joy and frustration over the big and the small. In the midst of all this, you might ask yourself: Am I up for fighting...
Soon it will be Valentine’s Day, a day on the greeting card calendar for celebrating romantic (or what the Greeks called eros) love. We’d like to twist this day a bit (though there’s nothing wrong with hearts, flowers, and chocolate) and turn our...
Is cursing a sin? Many Christians would instantly answer yes. But not so fast—it depends on what we mean by “cursing.” When you read the Bible, you’ll see that “cursing” and “swearing” mean something very...
There are 211 instances of “the practice of communicating with a deity” in the Bible, according to the Logos Bible app‘s Factbook . Such a list demonstrates the massive undertaking that is the study of prayer. So, when we approach the topic of...
A few years ago as I was exploring spiritual disciplines, I found myself surprised at how often fasting came up. Fasting wasn’t something I heard much talked about in the churches and communities I’d been a part of. But it kept coming up...
“Shh—I’m listening to your opinion of God!” If you, by some secretive means, were able to eavesdrop on the private conversations between my husband and me, you would get a pretty good gauge on the status of our marriage. Though it...
“The Bible says that our real problem is that every one of us is building our identity on something besides Jesus.”— Tim Keller Our identity in Christ may be simultaneously the most important and most ignored part of our spiritual growth...
If spiritual disciplines are those practices which form us spiritually, there can be none so important as prayer—our conversation with God, our Lord and Creator. Yet this most simple and most important of the disciplines can sometimes be the hardest...
In the final hours of a hectic day, sometimes it’s all we can do to get the kids to bed, or rinse the dinner dishes, or whisper a quick prayer before crawling under the covers. And then the alarm is set for tomorrow, when we’ll do it all over again...
The alarm chimes and our busy day begins. Our to-do list is ready and our phone is fully charged. But wait! Are we forgetting something important? Here’s a collection of morning prayers, collected both from Scripture and from the sermons or...
I was staring at the back of The Man Sitting in Front of Me, the one who killed my little brother. First my sister, then my niece, stood and told the man what his act had taken from us. The murder had been vicious. My not quite thirty-eight-year-old...
“I need to hear a voice from heaven.” That’s what Robert, an atheist, told me after we met together to read the Bible for most of an academic year. We had studied John, Romans, and selections of the Old Testament to examine both the claims of Christ...
I heard the word “discipleship” frequently growing up. My Bible teachers and pastors spoke on this topic, explaining how it bolsters the Christian life. However, not until recently did I hear the related phrase “spiritual formation.”...
I’m from Texas, the land of every type of weather. I’ve experienced tornadoes, flash floods, droughts, sub-zero, and temperatures above 110 degrees Fahrenheit. We even get the occasional sleet and snow. We all know it’s not real snow—a mere...
No church leader wants to admit it, but for many of us it’s true: we still don’t have a sustainable habit for personal Bible study and prayer. Here are five ways forward—true for anyone, church leader or not. 1. Know your why In Man’s Search for...
Admitting this makes me cringe: too often, I gallop through my Bible reading as if it’s another thing to mark off my to-do list. It’s better than not reading the Bible at all, but I’m missing out on so much as I rush by. To help with that, I tried...
Many of us read Luke 2 at Christmastime, but what Scriptures can we read at Thanksgiving? Here are 54 Bible verses about thanksgiving and gratitude to meditate on during the holiday season or take turns reading around the table on Thanksgiving Day...
At an early age, I began to experience anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Life started to feel unbearable. Each day was a battle. These challenges riddled me throughout my adolescent years, and I felt alone...
Easter Sunday is just around the corner. As you prepare for your service and meditate on the glory of the cross, take a look at these Easter worship songs and hymns. Some are traditional, some are contemporary, and some are somewhere in between—but...
The definition of spiritual endurance (or “steadfast endurance”) is this: the power to withstand hardship or stress; especially the inward fortitude necessary. This definition from Logos Bible Software (Bible app and Basic package available free) is...
“Is this something we do?” I remember asking when I first heard the word “Lent.” Even though my father is Catholic, I grew up in a Protestant house where Lent, Ash Wednesday, and fasting were as exotic as Rome, the pope, and crucifixes. It wasn’t...
Sometimes, it can feel like you need a seminary education to dig deep in the Word. But, thankfully, there’s an easier (and much cheaper) way. With Logos Bible Software, you can study the Bible in-depth without getting overwhelmed because...
Most of us desire to do deep and meaningful Bible study, but sometimes we get into a rut. Bible study can become more of a chore than an exciting time of learning and growing in your understanding of God’s Word and in your relationship with Jesus...
Family devotion time: sweet memories or absolute mayhem? For most families, it’s a little bit of both. We asked readers over social media—plus a few colleagues at Faithlife—to describe their family devotions and how they make the time meaningful and...
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