salvation

You Are a Treasure

“On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.“ – Matthew 2:11 Christmas is a great time to reflect on the treasures in our lives. Upon seeing the baby Jesus, the wise men opened their hearts and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In fact, it was expected — especially in the East — that one would never appear before royalty or a person of importance without bringing gifts. And knowing who they were visiting, they gave lavishly. However, their gifts were not the real treasure — Jesus was the treasure.  Speaking of treasure, one Christmas, I received a BMX GTE Elite bike that I had been wanting for a long time, and boy, was I excited! I was thrilled with

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When You Know Christ

“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:27,28 Today, I want to share the best thing that has ever happened to me. Before I do, I want to express that I have many blessings in my life, including a wonderful wife, children, and extended family who love me unconditionally. I am also blessed to live in America and enjoy its freedoms and opportunities. All of these joyful gifts of God’s goodness are amazing but do not compare to the best thing that’s ever happened to me: The day someone invited me to follow Jesus Christ, and I chose to do so. The

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The Price to Get In

“…strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. ‘We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,’ they said.” – Acts 14:22 Today I was reflecting on how much I love going to the gym. It has lots of amenities to help you stay in shape and keep your body healthy. My gym also has hard-core battling ropes and chain equipment, which can be challenging and uncomfortable at times, but yields great results. I was thinking about the similarities between this and our walk as Christians — when we are called to get out of our comfort zone, but in the end, it’s worth it.  There’s another spiritual lesson here I want to share. I’m always curious how my gym can afford to operate a huge facility when not many people go. A fellow gym patron shared some wisdom: “Bobby, many people pay

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A Worthwhile Question to Ask

“Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” – Luke 17:4 Today, let’s acknowledge that the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ has made you into a new creation. You are forgiven, redeemed, and most of all, you are loved. How many times will God forgive you? That’s a worthwhile question to ask. God will forgive you the same amount that He asks you to forgive your neighbor, which is limitless. Does this seem reckless and unfair? The answer is absolutely — it’s literally a hack or a “cheat code” for your spiritual life. We can always lean on the cross which wipes away our past and gives us a fresh start.  We don’t intend to sin or hurt others, it just happens. Each of us desires to be better at the

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Life Goes in Waves

“For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.” – Psalm 27:5 We can all relate to King David as you study his life; it goes through waves. Don’t we all experience the highs and lows in the process of life? As you review David’s life through the Psalms, you see the excellent phases and the tough situations he experienced. What’s shocking is not so much that David is a train wreck, but that God loves him so much.  It’s obvious David has a special place in God’s heart. In Acts 13:22b, God testified concerning him: “I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.” I’ve often asked myself this question: What makes David

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Imperfect Yet Perfectly Loved

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.” – Titus 3:4,5 Do you ever feel like you’re not enough? Are you constantly believing that after you change that one thing in your life, then you’ll be blessed? Unfortunately, it’s easy and all too common to feel like people don’t really see you, and that if they did, they wouldn’t love you or might even reject you. At the root of this is often the mistaken belief that God is mad at you. After all, if He doesn’t approve of you, who will? However, this is the good news about Christianity —  it’s like every other religion, only inverted!  Nearly all religions say that if you do X, Y, and Z right, then God (or the gods) will be on your side.

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Revolution Starts in the Heart

“‘What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?’ Pilate asked. They all answered, ‘Crucify him!’ ‘ Why? What crime has he committed?’ asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, ‘Crucify him!’ ” – Matthew 27:22,23 When I look at the story of the events leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, one of the things that strikes me the most is how once the people discovered that He was not the political revolutionary they thought He was, they turned on Him. The crowds that just a while earlier had been shouting, “Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!” were now screaming “Crucify Him and give us Barabbas!” Why did they want Barabbas? Because he was a rebel who had already led a fight against the Romans. They knew what they were looking for and Jesus was not it. Unfortunately, they missed the

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No Sting in Death!

“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.” – 2 Corinthians 5:1 There is a lot of good news that comes from being a believer! If you are baptized, besides partaking of Christ’s goodness here on earth, when you die, you won’t have to taste death. For Christians, death is more like waking up than it is falling asleep. This is one of the most profound gifts from God.  Among the most potentially debilitating fears in this life is death. There is an underlying anxiety about what happens after we die that potentially drives a lot of bad decisions, brokenness and sin in our lives. However, when we are saved, we receive something precious from the Lord — a calm and confident assurance of Heaven. I once had a

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It’s Just Saying “Yes”

“As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.” – Mark 2:14 The way you get into heaven is by trusting your life to the crucified and resurrected Jesus Christ. That’s the Gospel, by the way. Every religion in the world has some sort of balance sheet for your life. If your good works in whatever cosmic way outweigh your bad works, you go to heaven. That’s actually considered heresy in Christianity. We believe that no one’s good enough; that’s how we’re all equal — that we’re all a bunch of sinners and we need Jesus. And when we’re saved by Him, our life is a response to the fact that He loves us as children.  You see, He loves us just as we are, not as we should be. And

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Run to God and Wait

“The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?” – Psalm 27:1 When I am aware of thoughts that are causing me to lose sleep or I have feelings of discomfort in my body — I am learning to just run to God. It is easy to blame others, like your spouse, a political party, or the government for your frustrations. I am thankful that as I run to God, I can just say, “Lord, this is what is on my mind and my heart. God, what is your answer to my frustration? How can I align with you in this situation?” I can then wait for God’s answer. God has victory in store for your life, and half of that victory is just believing that it is so.  Looking at the life

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