Topic > Relationships
Taking the Next Step
When you have no vision from God, no enthusiasm left in your life, and no one watching and encouraging you, it requires the grace of Almighty God to take the next step in your devotion to Him, in the reading and studying of His Word, in your family life, or in your duty to Him. It takes much more of the grace of God, and a much greater awareness of drawing upon Him, to take that next step, than it does to preach the gospel.
Loving like Jesus loves
Tough love is true love. But it’s not always comfortable. Today on Discover the Word, the group will finish their two-week look at Paul’s short New Testament letter to Philemon and examine how we love. It’s the last conversation exploring a “Plea from a Friend”! It’s a tough request that tests how serious Philemon was […]
Practicing radical acts of kindness
Today on Discover the Word, the group encourages us to practice radical acts of kindness in Jesus’s name. It’s a discussion based on a letter the apostle Paul wrote from prison, to a friend, about a friend. We’re studying the book of Philemon, today on Discover the Word!
Will You Ship Others?
The week before Valentine’s Day, my students taught me a new word, “ship”. According to them, to “ship” means to support or be in favor of two people getting together.
Embracing conflict in a godly way
No one likes conflict, but running from conflict can be as unhealthy and dangerous as stirring it up! Today on Discover the Word, the group encourages us to embrace conflict in a godly way. The discussion’s centered in the little New Testament letter to Philemon. But don’t let the size of this letter fool you, […]
Praying for others
When a serious need comes up at home or around the world, have you ever felt powerless to do anything about it? Well, there’s One who can intervene in any circumstance! And today on Discover the Word, we return to Paul’s letter to Philemon to see what he says about praying for others. How much […]
4 Questions God Asked Me When I Got Attached
For some seven years of my life, I longed to be in a romantic relationship almost every single day. I imagined that a relationship would bring me someone who truly knew and loved me, and vice versa.
“Plea from a Friend”
Today on Discover the Word, we will kick off the second week of their conversation about the apostle Paul’s fascinating first-century letter to his friend Philemon. It’s a fairly short letter with a big message. This week’s discussions focus on a “Plea from a Friend,” so be part of the group on Discover the Word!
Confessions of a Single Guy
“When I was a child, I saw adults dating. When I became an adult, I saw children dating.” I laughed when I saw these words on a meme while scrolling through Instagram.
When Will It Be My Turn?
You meet him—you know who I’m talking about. He’s the guy you’ve been dreaming of, the one you thought you’d never even talk to . . . and then he asks you on a date, a real date!
A letter from Paul
Don’t you love getting mail from a friend? When you see a loved one’s name on the return address, or in your e-mail inbox, you’re filled with joy and anticipation. And today on Discover the Word, we’ll hear about a personal letter the apostle Paul wrote to Philemon—from one friend to another. But it was […]
The Waiting Room Called “Singleness”
There’s a raging party that is sweeping across the world. It’s exciting. It’s trendy. It has confetti and sparkly dresses and loud music. It’s desired by many. And it makes for some really swell Instagram photos.
Why I Kept Failing to Truly Forgive
Forgiveness always felt like a mind game. When people hurt me, I would tell them that I forgave them. But the truth was I was rarely able to move on from painful experiences.
Taking the Initiative Against Daydreaming
Daydreaming about something in order to do it properly is right, but daydreaming about it when we should be doing it is wrong. In this passage, after having said these wonderful things to His disciples, we might have expected our Lord to tell them to go away and meditate over them all. But Jesus never allowed idle daydreaming. When our purpose is to seek God and to discover His will for us, daydreaming is right and acceptable. But when our inclination is to spend time daydreaming over what we have already been told to do, it is unacceptable and God’s blessing is never on it.
The Inspiration of Spiritual Initiative
Not all initiative, the willingness to take the first step, is inspired by God. Someone may say to you, “Get up and get going! Take your reluctance by the throat and throw it overboard—just do what needs to be done!” That is what we mean by ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes to us and says, in effect, “Get up and get going,” suddenly we find that the initiative is inspired.
We all have many dreams and aspirations when we are young, but sooner or later we realize we have no power to accomplish them. We cannot do the things we long to do, so our tendency is to think of our dreams and aspirations as dead.
