When we give up worshiping with the body or neglect our small study group, we grieve His Spirit. Like a loving spouse aware her husband has another, God's heart breaks when we leave our Bibles unopened or save prayer for when we're drowning.
Jesus wants more for us than a wishful thinking kind of faith. He wants us to have confidence.
We have to practice trusting God when things are good, so that when the storm hits--and it will--we can stand strong. Because only those who trust God can have mountain-like strength.
1 Hear me, Lord, and answer me,     for I am poor and needy. 2 Guard my life, for I am faithful to you;     save your servant who trusts in you. You are…
How might our lives change if our prayers transformed into three percent requests, fifteen percent venting about our life, and eighty-two percent praising Jesus?
It takes more than the faith of the king to prevent the promised curses to fall on a nation that refuses to follow the Almighty.
It makes sense if the Almighty asks us to worship in spirit, He'd expect us to serve from our spirit, too.
The Psalmist challenges us to examine our lives. Is the Lord really my portion? Is He all I need? If I lost everything, would God’s love and His word be enough?
But when our hearts begin to look like Jesus’, we begin to see the need to confess. Hopefully, we’ll see our mistakes earlier than the Psalmist who had to deal with affliction as a result of his going astray. But even when we don’t, Psalm 119 gives us hope.