Here are 5 Key Connections from recent Christian articles around the web, including the difference between legalism and discipline, how God’s grace leads us into worship, and more.
Here’s why you believe, if you are a Christian: God set His love on you. God’s Holy Spirit awakened you. God drew you to Himself. He redeemed you. He gave you new life from above, and you did nothing to deserve it! Neither did I. That’s grace.
You have to understand there is a universe of difference between discipline and legalism. Legalism says, “I will do this thing in order to gain merit before God.” Discipline says, “I love God, I love the Lord Jesus Christ and I will discipline myself to please them.”
My kids and yours are aiming high, trying hard, and taking big risks. We want to assure them and comfort them with all kinds of “probablys,” and “don’t worrys,” and “of course you wills!”
But, the truth is, these parental phrases fall short. Our kids need a better hope than their own abilities. A better hope than probably. A better hope than comparison to their peers. A better hope than “you’ve got this.” Even a better hope than “I believe in you!”
I’ve also discovered that suffering and sadness do not negate the power of gratitude. Even when you are lamenting disappointments of life—the glass is half-empty stuff—gratitude still works. Often, in my experience, it overcomes negative emotions, or at least staves them off a bit. I don’t know how to explain that—a psychologist maybe could. I just know it works.
Genesis 12:1 shows us what happens when God speaks to a man. Before God speaks, deadness and darkness; after God speaks, life abundant. Abram’s redemption—like every believer’s—began with God speaking. No one comes to saving faith apart from God’s effective call.
Have you ever heard the phrase “moderation in all things?” I use it all the time without really thinking about it. And so I recently became interested in knowing where it originated. A quick online search showed the phrase probably originates from the Greek poet Hesiod (750-650 BC) who wrote, “observe due measure; moderation...
King David had faithful servants. In fact, the Bibles records some stories of “David’s mighty men” in 2 Samuel 23 and then repeats those stories 1 Chronicles 11. The Bible tells us these men: Gave [David] strong support in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, according...
God’s work of creation reveals His character and radiance. In his creative self-expression, God reveals his eternal love and his power to bring about that revelation. God’s love motivated Him to create mankind after His image. As such, mankind can engage in its own creative self-expression. God endowed mankind with the capacity...
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