You don't need to be a football fan to understand this truth: the mere fact that we're living and breathing makes us "eligible receivers" of God's mercy and love. The entirety of the Gospel is centered around God offering us the gift of salvation, free of charge. Instead of trying so hard to pay for it ourselves, we simply need to open our hands an…

We all make mistakes. But the goal of leading a spirit-filled life is to make more right turns than wrong ones. And the good news is this: no matter how many wrong turns we've taken before, Jesus is always inviting us to walk a different path where we can start making better choices as we follow His lead.…

When we look back on our lives in playback mode, the most significant clips might not have been the happy times, but the moments we chose to be faithful to God even in the midst of trial and pain. The Bible tells story after story of people who stayed close to God and chose to obey Him no matter their circumstances -- and in return, God honored the…

We can only see a part of the work God's doing, but we have to trust that there are others who see the big picture. We'll never be able to lead well until we first learn to follow and obey. When we submit to the authorities God put over us within His Church, we're better able to work together as one Body -- the Body of Christ.…

The Bible reminds us that we all have wicked hearts -- and that we all struggle with sin. Because God is a loving Father, He allows for us to experience the consequences of our sin in order for us to repent and submit to Him instead. And when we turn away from our sinful nature and turn to God instead, He produces fruit in our lives through the pro…

Our time on earth is limited, and one day, it will run out. There's nothing we can do to change that, but we do have a choice in how we live the life we've been given. God created us to glorify Him, loving one another and proclaiming the Gospel. When we stand before Him one day, will we be able to give an account that we used our time wisely?…

Ministry can be a draining endeavor, but it's worth it when we see lives transformed by the Gospel. We can find encouragement to press on in what God's called us to do when we see even one life changed. Not only that, but when those who have encouraged us see our own progress in our walk with Christ, we serve as an encouragement to them, too.…

When it comes to fixing our problems or walking away from our sin, it's often easier said than done. But we're not alone when it comes to facing our greatest challenges. Jesus has given us His power, through the Holy Spirit, to overcome any obstacle we face.By Richard Ellis

Too many of us count on making important decisions or big changes tomorrow. But we're not promised tomorrow, and life can change in a single moment. There are no “almost” Christians in Heaven; if you hear Jesus’ voice calling you to follow Him, now's the time to say yes.By Richard Ellis

The devil has made no secret about his primary goal: to steal, kill, and destroy the life that God has for us. As believers, our salvation is already secured, but that doesn't mean the enemy has stopped attacking us. We have to be able to resist temptation, take up our cross, and follow Jesus in order to experience the abundant life He's promised u…

The Kingdom of God is a motley crew -- and knowing this, it's especially important for us to reach out to those around us whether they're similar to us or not. We may have our differences, but as believers, we all have one purpose: to fulfill the work of God. Let's pay attention to the hurting people around us so we can give them the same hope we h…

Living for God isn't a one-time decision -- it's an "every moment" decision that continues for a lifetime! The Christian life only begins when we give our lives to Christ, and it's continued in us and through us every day. We can't live it out by ourselves; that's why God designed the Church for us to do it together.…

Discipleship is a calling for every disciple of Christ. When we become Christians it's important to find other Christians whose example we can follow. But as we continue to develop spiritual maturity, God calls us, in turn, to lead others.By Richard Ellis

The devil and his demons are consistently working to destroy us. The only way we can stand firm against his schemes is to pray like hell. God empowers us to fight against the work of the enemy when we pray fervently for ourselves and for others.By Richard Ellis

A wild horse must first be tamed before it can become usable by its owner. In the same way, we have to allow God to tame us before He can use us for His Kingdom. The more we resist Him, the more suffering comes with the process of breaking us in.By Richard Ellis

If you're a parent, some of the greatest discipleship you'll ever do is within the walls of your own home. The best way we can teach our kids about following Jesus is to follow Him ourselves. When we model what it means to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, we're giving them an example of the godly living that God promis…

The Bible teaches us that when we sow seeds of sin, we'll reap consequences. But when we sow seeds of righteousness, we'll reap great reward. We have an opportunity to plant seeds in the hearts of each person we meet -- let's make sure we're planting seeds of the Gospel.By Richard Ellis

Cheating -- in any relationship -- is ultimately accompanied by guilt and shame. And before cheating ever takes place physically, it starts in the heart. We can claim to love God all we want, but the way we live will show where our heart's loyalty truly lies.By Richard Ellis

In a rideshare program like Uber, the passenger tells the driver where to go, and the driver follows those instructions. In the same way, we need to treat Jesus like the passenger in our car -- He gives us a destination, and we obey His command. He may sometimes have us go to difficult places, but it's better that we face those challenges with Him …

Like all things He created, God designed marriage in a very specific and purposeful way. It's a representation of Christ and His Bride, the Church, and in the same way that Jesus sacrificially loved and gave Himself for His Bride, we're called to sacrificially love and give ourselves for our spouse if we enter into the covenant of marriage. The onl…

Jesus said that as His followers, we are the light of the world. But that means we have to shine in such a way that our brightness draws others out of the darkness and into His light. When we let go of the distractions that hold us back, we can run the race that God's set before us, "lights out" and fully focused on the eternal prize.…

It's easy to criticize someone in authority! But the Bible teaches us to pray for them instead. No person who's been placed in leadership has been put there outside of God's sovereignty. Let's pray that God will work in their lives and lead their hearts and decisions as they're entrusted with leading others.…

Time after time in Scripture, we read the stories of people who made some pretty "jacked up" mistakes. Yet God still used them to accomplish His work in the world. It's important for us not to continue living in sin once we've been redeemed -- but there's nothing we can do that God can't turn around and use for His glory.…

Our society continues to face challenges surrounding racial issues. But that opens the door for us as believers to bridge gaps and put into action the love that Christ has called us to demonstrate to all people -- without exclusion. It's one thing to know what the Bible says about loving our neighbors; it's another to do what it says. Only when tha…

All of creation proclaims the intricacy of its design by a majestic Creator. The Bible tells us that same Creator made a way through His only Son for us to be with Him for all eternity. Scripture teaches that the end times coming and warns how great that tribulation will be, but when we know God and are in right relationship with Him then we have n…

When we come to Jesus and are born again, He makes us a new creation. Instead of staying on the fence and trying to hold on to both Jesus and our sin at the same time, we need to let go of our sin so we can live fully for Him. We've been given the freedom to be who God called us to be -- to follow Him completely, holding nothing back.…

There's a big difference between someone who's a father, and someone who fathers. God doesn't just want to adopt us into His family and then leave us to our own devices -- He wants an ongoing, ever-growing, father/child relationship with us. Jesus tells us in Scripture that when we ask our Father for all that we need, He's faithful to provide for u…

People are like onions: they have a lot of layers! And the more layers we see of every individual, the harder it can be for us to get along with some of them. But in the Church, we have a responsibility to put aside our differences and look past the "onion rings" of each person. We're called to love one another the way God first loved us.…

The only destination in the world that can ever truly claim, "what happens here, stays here" is at the foot of the cross. When we accept Christ's forgiveness and love, we leave our old selves behind, becoming new creations in Him. And while God is merciful, He'll allow consequences for our sins in order to ultimately bring us to Him. Let's never fo…

There are moments when God, in His mercy, rescues us from the destruction we've been living in. So why can it feel so tempting to look back? When we've made the decision to follow Jesus, there's no reason to look back at our past anymore. Instead, let's keep our eyes forward and press on toward the goal that's been set for us in Christ.…

We're promised eternity in Heaven if we put our faith in Jesus. And one day, in Heaven, we'll have a better understanding of why certain things happened on earth, and we'll be able to worship God for the work He was doing that we couldn't see at the time. We may question why we face tough times in this life, but we can choose to have faith in God a…

God is a loving God. But there's a real heaven and a real hell, and those who have chosen not to accept His gift of salvation will face eternal hell. Every knee will bow before God one day -- let's make sure that all those we meet have the opportunity to bow before Him by choice in this life before they face Him in eternity.…

Too many American churches have a "closed-door" policy: their doors are only open to people who look and think a certain way. But Jesus built His Church by going after the lost -- including you and me. When we realize the magnitude of what He's done for us, we develop compassion for our fellow "strays" who need to be rescued, too.…

One of the toughest things to forgive is sexual sin -- whether that involves forgiving someone who sexually harmed us, or forgiving ourselves for our own sexual transgressions. But whatever the nature of that pain, the only One who can bring true healing is Jesus. He wants to make things right with us and for us in every aspect of our lives.…

Whether we realize it or not, we're all in bondage. We're all held captive by one master or another. As imperfect human beings, we all started as slaves to sin -- but because of the price Jesus paid for us, we have the opportunity to be freed from our bondage to a sinful nature and be born again as slaves to righteousness.…

In the Old Testament, people had to make animal sacrifices as payment for their sins, with Scripture telling us that the aroma of the sacrifice was pleasing to God. When Jesus died on the cross for us, God no longer smelled the sacrifice -- He tasted it Himself when He gave up His only Son as payment for our sins. Because of that gift, we can exper…

Scripture tells us we're either slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness -- but we can't be both. When we give our lives to Christ, we relinquish control and submit to God as our Master. And when we become "slaves" to Him, we discover the true freedom and liberty that only He can offer us.By Richard Ellis

The only way for our nation to be godly is if its people are godly and choose to trust the Lord with their lives. It's one thing to slap a bumper sticker on our car saying, "In God We Trust", but it's another thing to live it out daily. If we want our country to progress towards godliness, we have to allow God to use us to touch the lives of those …

The Bible tells us to take every thought captive and clothe ourselves in the "armor of God" to fight our spiritual battles. And when we put our hands together and pray, we unleash one of the most powerful weapons God's made available to us. There will still be casualties and we'll still get wounded in the fight, but through Christ, we're given the …

The Bible tells us to make sure we're personally right with the Lord before we call others out for their actions. And when we do speak truth, it needs to be in love -- boldly calling sin what it is, and pointing to the hope that's found only in our Savior. We're not meant to turn a blind eye to the sinful actions of this world, but we can speak wit…

We read in the story of the prodigal son that when the son finally decided to come home, while he was still "a long way off", his father saw him and ran to him. But the only way the father could have seen him coming is if he had been waiting anxiously for his return. This parable paints for us the picture of God, our Father, expectantly and longing…

You might be familiar with the verses in the Gospels where Jesus says that the most important commandment is, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." But have you ever paused to really reflect on that word..."all"? God gave His all, His only Son, so that we could be made…

In Scripture, we read about the resurrection power of Jesus before He was ever raised from the dead. Jesus Himself brought Lazarus back to life after He had been dead for 4 days. Nothing is impossible for God, and no matter how dead we might feel, He's come to give us abundant and eternal life.By Richard Ellis

Families don't all look alike. And when we blend families, the odds are statistically stacked against us from the start. But the key to remember is this: the most important thing we can do for our family, no matter how it's made up, is live in a way that directs our loved ones to the Lord. In order to do that, we have to depend on God and allow Him…

We've done absolutely nothing to earn an invitation from God for us to be with Him forever. Yet because Jesus has covered us in righteousness, we're invited to come anyway. It's our responsibility to respond -- what are we going to choose?By Richard Ellis

We'll never fully know who we are until we understand Whose we are. When we respond to God's call in our hearts, we become His. Then, we get to learn about who He's created us to be, and how to live out His purpose for us.By Richard Ellis

When Christ lives in us, we have nothing to fear, because no weapon formed against us will prosper. God will never cause fear and confusion in our lives, but He will give us the tools to combat those things when the world sends them our way. Most importantly, He offers to give us the Holy Spirit and fill us with power, love, and a sound mind.…

God always answers our prayers. Sometimes, His answer is yes; sometimes, His answer is no; and sometimes, His answer is that we need to wait. As hard as that can be, the truth is that we can't see what He has in store; all we can do is trust Him, knowing that He has the big picture in His hands.By Richard Ellis

Esther was put in a position to be used by God to save His people. But in order to live out her purpose, she had to be willing to obey Him -- even if it cost her very life. All of us have a choice every day to obey God, and in order to live out the purpose He has for us, we have to be willing to lay down our lives, deny ourselves, and follow Him.…

We live in a culture where people are often fake about who they are, and how they care about others. But the Bible calls us to be the opposite: sincere in our love for one another, no matter who we are or where we come from. We've all been saved by grace through faith in Jesus; that alone is reason to love one another honestly.…