Choose Life.

Galatians 5:1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” The context of the verse above is freedom from the yoke of the law, but it applies in the same way to the issue of forgiveness. Christ…

1 Samuel 3:10 “Speak, for your servant is listening.” In 1908, a young Liberian called Jasper Toe cried out: “If there is a God in heaven, help me find you.” He heard an unknown voice reply: “Go to Garraway Beach. You will see a box on the water with smoke coming out of it. And…

John 10:10 “I have come that they may have life, and life to the full.” Jesus pronounced these words, and then modeled them for us, although he died in his early thirties. He clearly didn’t have a long life, but he did have a full life. So don’t confuse longevity with fullness – they are…

Acts 4:32 “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No-one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.” The early church has much to teach us. What followed v32? “With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much…

Watch the video here! Ephesians 5:18 “Be filled with the Spirit.” The Greek present tense is used in the above verse, meaning the infilling of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer is not a once-for-all event but an ongoing need for refilling and refueling. To those who do think it’s a once-for-all…

2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we live (or walk) by faith, not by sight.” If you’ve never experienced it, I recommend seeing a pack of impala in full flight. They can leap 10ft (3m) high and 30ft (9m) long with just one seemingly effortless jump. Power and beauty in motion. And yet, when caught and kept…

Philippians 1:6 “…being confident of this, that he who began a good work will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Researchers tell us that most people maintain a learning attitude up until the age of forty, and from that point on they simply stop learning, content with settling to live…

Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” John O’Brian was the son of a horse trainer. Due to their peripatetic lifestyle, he’d attended dozens of schools sporadically over a number of years, and fallen far behind his peers in his education. After yet another move to a new area,…

Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.” God wants living sacrifices, not suicide bombers. He wants balanced, not blinkered, commitment. A Latin American Marxist student broke off the engagement to his fiancée in a letter, giving the following reasons:…

Colossians 2:6,7 “Continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught.” In different parts of Burundi we often go through periods of drought. Farmers who plant corn can never rest on their laurels, even when there are good rains. Their crop is always vulnerable, because…