Luke 14:26If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.Thought:Jesus is not telling us to sinfully hate our family. The Bible clearly calls us to love and care for them. Instead, Jesus is using a strong word to show how great our love for Him must be. Our love for Christ should be...

2 Corinthians 5:20  Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.Thought:  The Word of God reminds us that “people need the Lord.” That includes us, but it also includes every person we see each day. Behind their smiles, successes, anger, or addictions, many carry the same fear, shame, and hiding that began in G...

Genesis 3:9  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?Thought:  The most hopeful part of Genesis 3 is not that Adam and Eve tried to fix their sin. It is that God came to them in their ruined condition. Man ran, but God came. Man hid, but God called. Man sinned, but God moved toward him in mercy.  This is the heart of the Gospel. The Bible does not show us people climbi...

Genesis 3:8  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.Thought:  Sin does something strange to the human heart. The very God we most need becomes the God we try to avoid. Adam and Eve did not run to God for mercy. They hid from Him among the trees.  Th...

Genesis 3:7  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.Thought:  When Adam and Eve saw their nakedness, they felt more than embarrassment. They felt exposed, helpless, and unable to fix what sin had done. Their answer was to cover themselves with fig leaves. This was the first human attempt at self-reme...