For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:17 (NLT) Have you ever heard the saying, “the devil made me do it”? He’s not powerful enough to control our choices, but it reveals our heart when we start playing the blame game. Christians often blame the devil and then God. Satan for causing all the stuff that’s making us unhappy, and God for allowing it all to happen. But when nobody takes ownership, we take on the helpless role. The blame game ultimately says, “I’ve decided my situation will never change because I’m the victim.” When we get caught up in judging …

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Philippians 2:12 (NKJV) What does it mean to work out your salvation with fear and trembling? Some think it means we still need to work for our salvation. Others counter that it can’t be about works if we’ve given our lives to Jesus, because He earned salvation for all who believe on Him. The truth is, we simply need to understand what we’re working out. We’re not working to earn salvation or any of God’s blessings. Those are free gifts from God we receive by faith. But as believers, it involves work to continually renew …

Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20–21 (NKJV) Did you know you can be born-again, with Heaven secured as your eternal home, yet not experience God’s kingdom on earth? When we see passages in the Bible referring to the “kingdom of God” or “kingdom of Heaven”(Mark 9:1, Matthew 3:1–2, Acts 1:3), we often think it’s talking about the place called Heaven, but it’s not. The Jews in Jesus’ time misunderstood as well. They were living under Roman tyranny and expected Jesus to raise …

Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. Hebrews 2:17 (NLT) The fact that Adam sold us out really ticks me off. I’m not saying I could have done any better, but it’s mind-boggling to think that one man’s choice to choose Satan over God ushered in all sickness, pain, hurt and loss in this world. And ever since then, mankind has been dealing with the aftermath of Adam’s choice. The problem is we often try to overcome the wrong way. For example, many religious teachers try …

For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning. Hebrews 4:15 (AMPC) Does Jesus really know how you feel? It’s hard to imagine that He could relate. I mean, He’s the Son of God, right? How could He know what it feels like to be a human being walking the planet? Actually, He knows exactly how that feels. As we discussed yesterday, Philippians 2:5–7 says that Jesus limited Himself by walking the planet as a human being filled with Holy Spirit. Although He was the Son of …