Sometimes temptation shows up as the easy way out. After forty days of fasting in the wilderness, Jesus was starving when the Tempter came to Him. The suggestion seemed innocuous. Turn the stones into bread, eat them so you won’t be hungry. Solve the problem. End the hunger. Take the shortcut. But Jesus responded with … Read more
Sometimes it all seems lost. There is no hope at all. Only darkness seems to lie ahead. Two criminals were crucified beside Jesus. One joined the crowd in mocking him. The other saw something different. He admitted his own guilt and recognized that Jesus had done nothing wrong. In the middle of that hopelessness, he … Read more
Sometimes we just get tired of fighting. Conflict arises, and yeah, we could go at it again – but those times when we choose not to are the pinnacle of self-control and often where peace can be found. Isaac’s servants dug a well in the valley, and the local herdsmen immediately claimed it as their … Read more
We’ve all had a moment when doing the right thing costs us immediately. Joseph was a slave in the house of Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, when Potiphar’s wife began pressuring him day after day. Joseph could have done it in secret. No one would have ever known. No one would have stopped him. But … Read more
What do you do when everyone around you agrees…and you know they are wrong? There was a prophet named Micaiah who stood before King Ahab while four hundred other prophets promised victory in battle. The king wanted reassurance. The court wanted agreement. But Micaiah refused to adjust the message. He said, “If you ever return … Read more