Life Questions

Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). What are these commandments, and what does it mean to “keep” them? We cannot keep (observe, remember, and apply) Christ’s commands without first knowing what they are.

Repentance is not a mechanical duty but rather a heartfelt response to the conviction of sin. It involves not only grief over sin but also a decision to change one’s ways.

When adversity comes, we are forced to face problems and pressures that are too great for us to resolve. In this way, God gets our attention.

Human authorities are accountable for how they exercise their authority. . . . Those under authority are accountable to God for their responses to authority.

Do you look to money to provide you with security, establish your independence, or equip you to exercise power and wield influence? Today, many people would identify these goals as appropriate purposes for money. However, a focus on temporal riches is dangerous, because it leads you to expect things from money that only God can provide.

As a result of accepting and believing Satan’s lies, you may have yielded areas of your soul to his dominating influence. These areas need to be reclaimed. When old thoughts of rejection return, they must be taken captive to the obedience of Christ.

Mockery of traits over which you have no control is an outward attack that brings inward humbling. At the very moment when you embrace humility, God provides the most important ingredient of grace to achieve any lasting success or fruitfulness in the Christian life.

The process of maturity that occurs as you respond well to irritations resembles the process of cutting and polishing a precious gem. Through careful planning and precise actions, smooth facets are created on the surface of the stone to increase the gem’s capacity to reflect light. As you learn to respond to irritations with faith and patience, your life will reflect the love and light of Jesus Christ with greater brilliance.

The most important decision we will make, after salvation, is probably the decision of marriage. It affects every area and every day of life! God has given each one of us a natural desire for companionship, yet there are essential lessons we can learn from His Word that invite blessing into our lives, regardless of whether we are single or married.

People everywhere yearn to hear God’s voice. How does God speak? Is it possible to hear His voice? Is God speaking to us? If so, how do we hear Him? Christianity is a relationship; every relationship is established and maintained through communication. Learning to hear God’s voice is vital if we want to deepen our relationship with our Heavenly Father.

When you face disappointment and pain, how can you continue to trust God, give Him thanks, and choose to rejoice? Sometimes it seems impossible to obey the commands God gives in His Word.

Every individual, family, and situation is unique, and therefore, each courtship is unique. What worked well for one couple might not be the best choice for another couple. The concepts presented here are helpful guidelines and a possible pattern to consider.

Do you struggle to pray for an extended period of time without getting distracted, running out of things to say, or falling asleep? You can overcome these obstacles!

The truth of God’s Word will dispel doubts about salvation. As a Christian, you need to learn about the security of your standing in Christ and recognize the deception of the enemy, Satan, who seeks to torment you with doubt.

Have you ever told a lie, taken something that did not belong to you, or coveted someone else’s possessions? What about hating another person or harboring lustful thoughts? When we are honest, each of us will admit to having done wrong things.

As a parent, one of the most significant and influential roles you play is that of being a faithful prayer warrior on behalf of your child. Because of the closeness of your relationship, you can know your child as no one else knows him and discern when he most needs prayer support.

The fear of the Lord is an awareness that you are in the presence of a holy, just, and almighty God and that He will hold you accountable for your motives, thoughts, words, and actions. To fear God is to desire to live in harmony with His righteous standards and to honor Him in all that you do.

You probably know the pain of regretting words you have spoken: words of pride, dishonesty, envy, gossip, or anger. Although you can seek to restore bruised relationships through repentance and forgiveness, spoken words can never be retrieved.

When you’ve been wronged, becoming bitter toward your offender is natural and seems like the way to get revenge. However, this response actually harms you more than it harms your offender! To be bitter is to be in bondage to hatred and wrath.

Regardless of your feelings to the contrary, the Bible says that believers are dead to sin. God wants us to reckon ourselves to be dead to sin, which means “to count it to be so.” If a seductive woman walked past a dead man, he would not even blink an eye. God wants us to have a comparable response to the power and appeal of sin—to react to temptation as a dead person would react to temptation.