Identity Security

The Evil One lied to us about where true life was found...and we believed him. God gave us the wondrous world as our playground, and he told us to enjoy it fully and freely. Yet despite his extravagant generosity, we had to reach for the one forbidden thing. And at that moment something in our hearts shifted. We reached, and in our reaching we fell from grace. So Helen betrayed Menelaus and her native Greece, and ran off to Troy with her lover. So Edmund betrayed his…

Where would we be today if Abraham had carefully weighed the pros and cons of God’s invitation and decided that he’d rather hang on to his medical benefits, three weeks paid vacation, and retirement plan in Ur? What would have happened if Moses had listened to his mother’s advice to “never play with matches” and lived a careful, cautious life steering clear of all burning bushes? You wouldn’t have the gospel if Paul had concluded that the…

Australia’s regent honeyeater bird is in trouble—it’s losing its song. Though once an abundant species, just three hundred birds now remain; and with so few others to learn from, the males are forgetting their unique song and failing to attract mates. Thankfully, conservationists plan to rescue the honeyeaters by singing to them. Or, more precisely, play them recordings of other honeyeaters singing so they can relearn their heart song. As the males pick up…

Charles Spurgeon said, “I will never have it that God created any man, especially any Christian man, to be a blank and a nothing. He made you for an end. Find out what that end is. Find out your niche and fill it. Do something in this great battle for God and Truth.” Mark Twain proclaimed a serious truth in the following statement. “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” Wow. Perfect. Everyone…

Jesus’ freedom is a difficult thing to teach on for many reasons; let me name two. First, there are certain types who will hear this and find it an excuse to live as they please. Many characters in our irreverent age “don’t care what others think.” Their freedom is abrasive and unholy. The freedom Jesus models is not a crass “giving the finger to the world.” Or the church, for that matter. Others will dismiss the freedom Jesus offers out…

Four bullets hit Pope John Paul II – two of them lodging in his lower intestine, the others hitting his left hand and right arm. This assassination attempt on the Pope in May 1981 left him severely wounded and with considerable blood loss – his health was never the same again. In July 1981, the perpetrator, Ali Ağca, was sentenced to life imprisonment. Pope John Paul II asked people to pray ‘for my brother Ağca, whom I have sincerely forgiven’. Two…

When someone repeatedly wrongs us, we often try to draw a line at the number of times we’ll accept apologies. In other situations, we may attempt to categorize which offenses we’ll pardon. But Jesus drew no such lines at the cross. God’s unconditional pardon of our sins means that our forgiveness toward others should likewise have no limitations—even when certain behaviors can’t be allowed to continue. Another issue is the temptation to hang on…

We live in a culture inundated with anxiety and fear, where people make a habit of worrying because it provides a false sense of control. But Christians don’t have to give in to these feelings, as we have a Savior who has promised us His peace, “which surpasses all comprehension” (Phil. 4:7). Thankfully, there are a couple of practices we can employ to guard against worry. First, we must be careful about what we allow to fill our mind—listening to…

Most believers experience feelings of doubt at one time or another, and when they do, it affects their ability to receive the Lord’s wisdom. Doubting God means not trusting Him completely—and trust is how the Lord “will make your paths straight” (Prov. 3:5-6). God’s wisdom in your life may be clouded if you struggle to believe the following truths: God loves you all the time. When we’re “good,” most of us believe God loves us&mdash…