by Danny Boggs
I’m no meteorologist, but I know it’s hot. And once it gets hot, it’s bound to stay that way past Labor Day. Now is the time for fans, air conditioners, cold water, and paying special attention to our elderly neighbors.
by Danny Boggs
Around 2,400 years ago, the city of Jerusalem was in shambles. Among its people, disunity prevailed. Enemies tried to interrupt every effort at recovery and progress. When the people listened to the Book of the Law, their Bible, they wept as they heard the words. Things were not the way they were supposed to be. But God had raised up a leader named Nehemiah. Nehemiah insisted, “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).
by Danny Boggs
For preaching good news that some refused to welcome, Paul and Silas were whipped and jailed. Unruffled, they were praying and singing hymns to God around midnight when an earthquake struck. The jailer assumed his prisoners had escaped in the mayhem. Knowing his life would be required for theirs, he unsheathed his sword to kill himself. Paul stopped him—not one prisoner had fled.
by Danny Boggs
“You have purified your souls in obedience to the truth” (1 Peter 1:22). That means that distinct, identifiable truth exists. Not every philosophy of life is equally valid. Not every way of thinking squares with reality.
by Danny Boggs
Jesus loves people who feel the pain of their sin. His religious enemies
didn’t understand it. To explain, He told them parables (Luke 15). He
talked about a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost boy. When each was
found, a celebration erupted. Nothing makes heaven happier than lost people
found!
Why do sheep get lost?
by Danny Boggs
“My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of His reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom He loves, as a father the son in whom he delights” (Proverbs 3:11-12).
Were your parents creative with discipline? Their corrective repertoire might have included spankings, “time out,” grounding, limitation of privileges, or hard labor. Maybe some methods proved more effective than others. Everything any authority figure did to try to teach you right and steer you from wrong was discipline. We still need discipline from the Lord into adulthood.
by Danny Boggs
Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will obey what I command.” Love for Jesus looks for no loopholes. It makes no excuses. It eagerly obeys. Then why do people who say that they love Jesus try to justify disobedience?
by Danny Boggs
We like to be served. No, we love to be served! What pleasure to sit back, relax, bark a command here and there, and reap the benefits of someone else’s work. Ah, this is the life. Isn’t it?
That’s what the twelve whom Jesus was training to be apostles thought.
by Danny Boggs
The men crucified on either side of Jesus were no petty offenders. The Greek word which Luke used to label these criminals describes men guilty of gross misdeeds and crimes (Luke 23:33,39). They were robbers (Matt. 27:38, Mark 15:37). Robbers punctuate thievery with violence. Their crimes warranted capital punishment. These were the same kind of men who victimized the traveler in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30,36). Both thugs railed at Jesus in concert earlier in the day (Matt. 27:44, Mark 15:32). Perhaps Barabbas, an insurrectionist and a murderer, was scheduled to die between them (John 18:40, Luke 23:19). Were these three men Judea’s James Gang?
by Danny Boggs
“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). No two spiritual responsibilities are more often confused than confession and repentance. Like a bow and an arrow, they work in concert, but each plays its own part in a faithful response to God.
