"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding" - Proverbs 3:5 When Jesus asked, "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and don’t do the things I say?" He was not talking to people who rejected Him. He was talking to people who claimed to follow Him. People who knew the right words, sang the right songs, and maybe even went through the motions. But when it came time t...  Read More

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" - James 1:22 One of the biggest reasons we say Jesus is Lord but do not follow through with obedience has less to do with rebellion and more to do with faulty thinking. We convince ourselves that we will deal with it later. We tell ourselves it is not that serious. We assume we are the exception to the rule. And over time, thos...  Read More

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock" - Matthew 7:24 We live in a world that runs on speed. If it takes too long, we scroll past it. If we cannot see the results right away, we move on to something else. Fast is our favorite. Slow is frustrating. But when it comes to building a life that can stand through anything, Jesus...  Read More

"But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The river crashed against it, and immediately it collapsed. And the destruction of that house was great" - Luke 6:49 Let’s be honest. Living for Jesus is not always easy. Obedience sounds simple in theory, but when it comes time to actually do it, the work can wear you down. Forgiving people...  Read More

"He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the river crashed against that house and couldn’t shake it, because it was well built" - Luke 6:48 Jesus did not just ask a hard question in Luke 6. He followed it with a picture that hits home. Two people built houses. Both had the same materials. Both faced the same storm. One stood strong....  Read More

"Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things I say?" - Luke 6:46 Sometimes the most powerful questions are the ones that hit close to home. Jesus asked a question in Luke 6 that still cuts straight to the heart. Why do you call me Lord, but then ignore what I say? He is not asking for information. He is pointing out a gap. A gap between our words and our lives. Between our Sunday decl...  Read More

"And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread" - Matthew 6:28 There’s a kind of tired that sleep does not fix. The kind where your mind keeps racing even when your body is still. The kind where you wake up more exhausted than when you went to bed. Jesus knew that kind of tired, and He spoke right into it. He used wildflowers to ...  Read More

"Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?" - Matthew 6:25 Most of us do not need someone to tell us life is heavy. We already feel it. The weight of responsibility. The pressure to perform. The constant tug-of-war between what we can control and wha...  Read More

"For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them" - Matthew 6:32 There is a tightness that comes with worry. You feel it in your chest. In your shoulders. In your jaw. It shows up when you are gripping life too hard, convinced that if you just hold on tighter, things will finally come together. But that grip is not strength. It is fear dressed up a...  Read More

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you." - Matthew 6:33 Out in the fields, wildflowers bloom without trying. They do not strain to grow or panic about the weather. They just receive. God provides the sun, the rain, and the soil. Everything they need comes from outside themselves. And Jesus says we should take a good look at that. Tha...  Read More

"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things" - Colossians 3:2 Worry does not always start big. It can begin with a glance. A thought. A tiny distraction that slowly grows until it grabs hold of your full attention. The more you stare at it, the bigger it gets. Jesus knew this. That is why when He talked about worry, He did not just say stop it. He told us to change what we are looking a...  Read More

"Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying?" - Matthew 6:27 Sometimes Jesus taught by telling stories. Other times, He taught by asking questions. And in Matthew 6, He fires off a whole bunch of them. Not to confuse us, but to get us thinking. Because worry makes you ask all the wrong questions. What if this happens? What if that falls apart? What if I cannot hold it all together?...  Read More