Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 When people get sick, they often wonder if it’s because they’ve done something wrong. The problem with this thinking is that it sabotages faith. As they’re trying to believe for a miracle, inside they’re really thinking, “God is punishing me.” Although the devil has been stripped of power, he’s also the greatest liar on the planet. He even uses the Bible to lie to us, as he tried to do with Jesus in the desert (Matthew 4:6). Often he’ll try to remind us of verses from the …

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? … Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Galatians 3:1–2 Many of the New Testament letters remind believers not to go back to relying on the law. Just as today, the early Christians needed to be reminded: “You don’t have to be good to get God to forgive you or bless you!” This was Paul’s message in today’s verses. It’s as if he’s saying to us, “You foolish believers! You gave your lives to Jesus by faith. You didn’t have to do anything but confess and believe and you were saved. Now, you think you need to turn back to your good works to try to earn God’s blessings?” The fact …

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19 Is the Gospel too good to be true? The idea that we can be right with God simply by confessing and believing (not by our works) seems so unbelievably gracious that religious leaders at Jesus’s time were appalled by it. Regardless of how shocking it is, it’s true. The moment we accept Christ as our Saviour, right standing with God becomes ours. You might be thinking, “Are you saying that if someone comes to Christ when their life is a mess, they don’t need to clean any of it up to be a …

For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! Romans 5:17 There’s a lot of misunderstanding out there about forgiveness and righteousness. In the Old Testament, people had access to a type of limited righteousness if they behaved right. But now, because of Jesus, every believer has righteousness as a gift. We are right with God because Jesus is right with God, and as he is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17). Because of Jesus, we are righteous. It’s not something we earn. We’re children of God, and because of Jesus, …

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 2 Peter 1:2 (NKJV) Would you like more peace in your life? We may think that the way to get more peace is to beg God for it, but the truth is, the more we beg for peace, the less peace we seem to experience. This is because pleading for peace causes us to focus on our lack of peace. And the more you focus on what you lack, the more of that lack you’ll experience. On the other hand, the more you focus on Jesus, the Prince of Peace—how much he loves you and all that he’s done for you—the more grace and peace are multiplied in …