Understanding the Prayer Jesus Did and Did Not Pray“Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” Luke 22:42.Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane—“Not My will, but Yours be done”—is a holy moment in Scripture. His words reveal perfect surrender, perfect obedience, and perfect alignment with the Father’s redemptive plan. But to understand this prayer correctly, we must also understand why Jesus prayed it.In the Ga

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Several years ago, I was attending church at my home church in Osage Beach, Missouri. That morning, the worship service was extremely anointed. I could feel the Lord moving on me heavily when I unexpectedly went into an open-eyed vision. One of the characteristics of an open-eyed vision is that a person is awake, with their eyes open, yet seeing something beyond the natural realm. Sometimes it is like an overlay where you see the natural realm in the background, but the sp

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I’ve had old, and I’ve had new—and I can tell you from experience, new is better. When I was fifteen, I bought my first car: a 1946 Plymouth. Fifty dollars. Three on the tree. Flathead six. It topped out at about forty-five miles an hour, and dimming the headlights required a button on the floor. It wasn’t a chick magnet; in fact, it may have been a chick repellent. But it got me where I needed to go.

Years later, after Loretta and I married, I walked into Hulett Chevrolet

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Long, long ago, before most of humanity had ever drawn a breath, biblical history tells of an era theologians call the Adamic Age, the state of innocence, and a few other fancy terms. I simply call it the time of Adam and Eve. It is the kind of life our hearts have always longed for.

As children, we wrapped that longing in fairy tales filled with fluttering fairies, talking animals, fountains of youth, and immortality. But beneath all that imagination was something real—som

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Have you ever noticed how many times in the Word of God a promise of God has a condition attached to it? It seems those conditions have been popping out to me every time I read the Word. 

Here are some examples that use the “if–then” scenario: 

IF YOU ABIDE — THEN

John 8:31 – If you abide in My Word, you shall be My disciples indeed.

John 15:7 – If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

John 15:10 – If you keep My

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Have you ever heard the saying, “If life gives you lemons, make lemonade”? I have made some pretty lip-puckering lemonade over the years. I’m sure the idea was to turn those lemons into a cool, refreshing drink and then “suck it up.” But for me, sometimes it felt more like sucking up resentment and swallowing abuse.

The fact is, we live in a fallen world full of imperfect people. Believe it or not, you and I are among them, and we may have served up super-sour lemons to oth

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Before Jesus returned to the Father, He promised His disciples that they would not be left alone. He said: “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16–17 NKJV).

The Holy Spirit is not merely an influence, an emotion, or an “it.” He is a Person. He is our Helper, Teacher, Comforter, and Guide. Jesus said the Holy Spirit would teach us all things, remind us of His words, guide us into tr

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One of the enemy's most effective strategies is to persuade believers to live as though the cross changed nothing. He reminds us of former failures, old habits, and past shame until we begin identifying with the person we used to be. Yet the message of the gospel is not that Jesus merely improved our old life. In Christ, the old life died, and a new life began.

In Romans chapters 5 through 8, the apostle Paul unfolds this truth with remarkable clarity. He explains how sin e

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I’ve had old, and I’ve had new—and I can tell you from experience, new is better. When I was fifteen, I bought my first car: a 1946 Plymouth. Fifty dollars. Three on the tree. Flathead six. It topped out at about forty five miles an hour, and dimming the headlights required a button on the floor. It wasn’t a chick magnet; in fact, it may have been a chick repellent. But it got me where I needed to go.

Years later, after Loretta and I married, I walked into Hulett Chevrolet

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Worry is one of the most common battles believers face. Whether it’s finances, health, relatives, or relationships, many people feel pressure from every direction. Sometimes people don’t get enough sleep because they can’t fall asleep at night—it’s like their brain just won’t quit. Worry is not just an inconvenience—it is a spiritual force that drains peace, steals joy, and clouds our ability to hear God clearly.

But Scripture gives us a clear path to freedom. You can stop

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“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2)

When Paul writes to the Thessalonians about the coming of the Lord and “our gathering together to Him,” he is addressing confusion that had crept into the church. Some were being told—falsely—th

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Should Christians Be Involved in Politics?

To answer that question, let’s take a look at some scriptures. Let’s start at the beginning when God made man.

Then God said, “Let us make man in Our image; according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image in the image of God He created him male and

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One of the greatest battles we fight as Christians isn't around us—it's within us. Every day our minds are bombarded with thoughts, opinions, fears, temptations, distractions, and worries. The question isn't whether thoughts will come. The question is: Which thoughts will we allow to stay?

The Apostle Paul gives us the answer in Romans 12:2: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..."

Notice that Paul doesn't say transformation com

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Imagination is an important part of faith. If you can conceive it in your mind, then you will begin to believe it. When you believe it in your heart, you will confess it and receive it. You must be able to visualize the promise of God in your mind’s eye. While it is true that “we walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7), you must remember that this biblical truth is referring to physical sight and physical senses. You must walk according to the promise of God bu

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Many people feel as though life is happening to them—pushed, pulled, and pressured by circumstances, people, and emotions. But God never designed His children to live powerless or controlled. Scripture tells us that God “takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant” (Psalm 35:27), and that includes your peace, your direction, and your ability to make godly choices. Getting your life back begins with one truth: God has given you the authority to take responsibility for y

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