The Lord Jesus is on a boat on the Sea of Galilee with His disciples. A great storm whips up, and it is frightening! Waves aren’t just crashing against the side of the boat; the boat is filling up fast. Quicker than they can bail it out, we read that the ship ‘was now full.’ But the Lord Jesus is sleeping through the storm. Unruffled…

The word ‘Belial’ can be seen seventeen times in our Authorised Version of the Bible. It’s here in the Hebrew, translated ‘naughty.’ The description here is of a cocky rebel who thinks he’s cool. He is constantly shooting off his mouth in opposition to God and people. When he can’t get away with that, to quote Matthew Henry, ‘he expresses his malice…

If you intend to drive north to Sydney, but someone stipulates that in order for them to join your team you must drive south to Melbourne, will you change your destination just to please them? Sometimes we demand or expect from God the very opposite of what He wants to …

In verse 33, Peter had been sure of himself: ‘Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.’ In spite of Peter’s firm resolve, the Lord Jesus insisted that in a matter of hours Peter would deny his Master. In fact, He prophesied that by the time a rooster crowed, Peter would have denied the Lord Jesus three…

Her name is Heidi. As I handed my client our church newsletter and invited her to our final night of gospel meetings, her reaction was strong. ‘I don’t believe in sin and hell. God is perfect; He’s not going to judge!’ Her view of God excluded judgment but she overlooked that this statement in itself is a judgment. Then she said, ‘I just want to leave this messy world and dissolve into nothingness.’ Heidi had…

The Pharisees of the Lord Jesus’ day were fakes. They prayed long prayers in conspicuous places in order ‘to be seen of men.’ Their fasting and almsgiving was equally showy, even to the point of blowing trumpets in order to swing all eyes in their direction. But this masked their aggressive greed (v. 14) and extortion (v. 25). More than…

In Matthew 18, the Lord Jesus is teaching His disciples how important it is that we forgive those who ask us. He tells a parable of a servant who owes a massive debt which is impossible to repay in his lifetime. Yet when he falls down before his master and pleads for patience, his lender astounds him. He forgives the entire debt! Wow! But then…

Who do you share your most private thoughts with? We don’t open up our innermost joys, fears, or dreams to strangers, do we? We have to know someone awhile so that we learn that we can trust him. Secrets are shared by people who spend considerable time together, and have much in…

‘Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh…. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.’ ‘And he sent, and beheaded John in the…’