No one escapes death, nor judgment, but for those who have walked the way of Yahweh, life can be full of purpose, joy, and the realistic hope of what is to come. So friends, don’t forget to enjoy the fleeting days of life that God has given you, before you know it they will be gone!

If I believe this, like Paton obviously did, then my life has but one purpose – To know Christ and make Him known through all I do. If my dying is gain (however it comes), this then shapes my living as a disciple. As it turns out, thinking about death is a helpful exercise in living my life well to the glory of God. Maybe we ought to do it a little more.

If circumstances feel uncertain or people act in ways that anger you, that sense of fear rises up in all of us. Sacred people do things to gain control. Fear can make you fight, isolate, or even just talk too much (like Peter when faced with the Transfiguration experience, Mark 9:6). The first item in seeking a piece of peace is to know the tendencies of your own heart.

Asceticism. That’s the word for the day. It means “The practice of strict self-denial as a measure of personal and especially spiritual discipline”. 

If you care about growing in wisdom and discernment, insight and understanding, you’ll want to read the Proverbs … regularly. Solomon is better than Bobby Flay, Martha Stewart, and Chip and Joanna Gaines.

As citizens of heaven, we were built to long for something we haven’t yet experienced. And every time we feel disappointed as what this life has given or withheld, we instinctively long for what is absent in our present. That is a good thing!

Biblical counseling is not telling people what to do. Biblical counseling is not tossing verses at someone like grenades. Nor is Biblical counseling passively affirming behavior or ignoring needed Biblical content to be brought to bear. At its core Biblical counseling is holding high the beauty of Christ’s character and what He has done at the cross.

But God … He has reshaped my heart by His Word and the precious promises that instruct His children to embrace trials, knowing we have a God who “does all things well” (Mark 7:37). These four texts have done the majority of the heart-shaping in me: 

There are Bible words that we commonly use, and yet the depth of their meaning may not always be uppermost in our thinking when we use them. We may even sing them with exuberance and passion, but not fully grasp the richness of truth. Let’s tackle one of my favorites this week – “faithfulness”.