We can’t turn to any media outlet without hearing the back-and-forth attacks, confrontations, or accusations. Scripture shows a better way.

Sadly in current culture and even in the church, there seems to be a preference for playing “gotcha.” It seems like we have become more interested in finding ways to disparage, ridicule, and embarrass than finding ways to help, share, and encourage one another.

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.”

Joseph of Arimathea displayed several evidences of faith and wisdom that I’d do well to embody too.

What if we considered Paul’s prayer for restoration central to what we seek in our relationships? What would happen in our neighborhoods, churches, businesses, and in our general approach to people if Paul’s closing reminder was a platform we would live by?

As believers, we know that envy (as well as its close cousin, jealousy) and its resulting behaviors are not the work of the Holy Spirit but rather are rooted in works of the flesh.

Paul pushed all his suffering to the background as he focused on his first and primary calling. The challenge for us is to do the same.

Everybody approaches food differently, and sometimes a new approach to Bible reading is good for our spiritual nutrition.

Each of Paul’s pictures offers a challenge to how we’ll choose to cope in the world.

What do you do when what needs to be accomplished turns into a situation that feels impossible?

“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

“We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.”

Jesus said he saw many wealthy people produce some big checks. Then he watched a poor widow put in two pennies. . The widow was still in sight when Jesus said she had contributed more than all of the others.

What was God thinking when he chose to put valuable treasure in clay pots?! The apostle Paul’s words in today’s Bible reading give us pause, because they are frankly shocking. The God of the universe made his decision about where to place his valuable treasure. And he has entrusted it to us. The life and ministry of Jesus has been given to us.

Jesus used the Scriptures to answer the question. He also managed to answer in a way that gave two answers wrapped in one.

Almost instantly when I read the familiar text of Psalm 103, my mind and soul began to calm down. As I read the opening lines I could hear the music in my head, echoing the many times I have sung this text. The very presence of God washed over me as I continued to allow the living and breathing Word of God to do its work on my heart and spirit.

We might work hard to get an education, form a reputation, develop a skill set, and produce a track record, all of it perhaps suggesting that we have earned our place of service. I suspect many may not be bold enough to say this is how they feel, but we likely act like it. But none of that is how Paul presented his approach to his ministry.

It is frightening to consider that we often hold standards more rigid than the ones given to us in the New Covenant and exemplified by the life of Jesus.

Today I read in Scripture about two processions. There could be hundreds, thousands, or even millions more today if we were willing to pray, surrender, and act on where God sends us today.

We will not win the world for Christ by any political platform or through any new way of thinking. Jesus views us all through the same redemptive lens and he calls us to respond to each other on that basis.