"Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come" (1 Tim. 4:8, NLT).At Saddleback Church, we've been teaching about how loving others the way God wants requires developing habits that keep...
Your ministry matters to God. You matter to God.Pastor, I don't know what you're dealing with at your church today. I don't know what challenges you see over the horizon, but I know you have a significant ministry. God has a purpose for you at the church where you...
First Chronicles begins with lists that include more than 600 names, yet Jabez stands out because he prayed and God granted his request. Don't you want to pray the kind of prayers God answers? Jabez's prayer was simple: "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my...
"He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake" (Ps. 23:3b).Life is composed of starts and stops.When I took a couple guys from our staff for a hike one day, I noticed we had both starts and stops along the way. We stopped to look at something on the side...
"If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand" (Phil. 4:7a, TLB).Americans are more stressed than ever. A 2017 American Psychological Association "Stress in America Survey" showed that those polled...
"You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father...
The Bible says in Acts 20:24 (NCV), "The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me—to tell people the Good News about God's grace."Notice it doesn't say the most important thing in life is to get married, fund your...
"If you return to me, I will restore you so you can continue to serve me" (Jer. 15:19b, NLT).When you become a believer in Christ, you are born again into God's family, and you cannot be unborn. Although the fellowship with God can be damaged by sin, the relationship...
"What? Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God, and that you are not your own? You were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Cor....
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction" (Prov. 1:7).Have you noticed that the moment you establish a goal in your life, you start hearing people say, "Who do you think you are" or "It can't be done" or "Forget...
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).God's standards never change. Premarital sex is unacceptable. It always has been. It always will be. Living together without getting married...
"Stupid people express their anger openly, but sensible people are patient and hold it back" (Prov. 29:11, GNT).Anger confounds many people in our world today. We simply don't know how to handle our anger like we have in the past. One of the Bible's simplest yet most...
"Then the man said, "Your name will no more be called Jacob, but Israel. For you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed" (Gen. 32:28).You don't have to stay the same. In conversion, we're given a new identity. Look at Jacob in the book of Genesis. Once...
"Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature,...