“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Have you ever had two bosses? How did that go? Unless it was a truly unique situation, the odds are that on some occasions you were happy with one, on other occasions you were happy with the other, and only rarely were you happy with both. Read the rest…
“The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?'” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Put yourself in the shoes of the woman at the well for a moment. Jesus was offering her something which sounded way too good to be true. Even thinking literally, this was the case. She thought Jesus was talking about a literal kind of water that you could drink and never be thirsty again. Spiritually, it sounds even better. But, as good as it sounded–or rather, because it sounded so very good–she did not believe it was really something He could do. How often have we been in the same kind of place? Read the rest…
“Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Daniel was now in the service of the third king and of two different nations, all in the same place. You don’t achieve such a thing unless you have a reputation that precedes you by a long, long way. Indeed, Daniel had a reputation for wisdom, character, and integrity that was far above anyone else in the whole of the kingdom. In fact, when his enemies determined to take him down because of their jealousy of his power and position, the only possible basis they could find for accusing and condemning him was his faithfulness to God. Read the rest…
“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.'” (ESV – Read the chapter)
“But if not.” These are three of the most powerful words in all of the Old Testament. They carry the power of unshakeable faithfulness. They herald the potency of eternal life. These three men had perfect confidence in their Lord to save them from the destruction that sat before them in some kind of miraculous way. But if not; but if He didn’t; but if He decided that their deaths in this moment would ring a louder note for the kingdom than their lives, they were still going to stick with Him. Read the rest…
“For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Peter wrote to a group of believers who were facing unjust suffering. He wrote to them to offer them encouragement to keep on in their faith in spite of the things they were enduring. His message was and is so powerful that 1 Peter is still a favorite book of the Bible among people who are facing persecution today. Read the rest…
The Nexus 