Jesus said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” and He has certainly made good on that promise for the past thirty years. During this time, Jesus has walked with me while providing insights and realizations based on Godly principles that have molded me into who and what I am today. It is my hope that, as you read each devotional in this book, you get a sense of how God goes about His business of molding and shaping us into the image of His precious Son. I once heard a story about how Michelangelo created the statue of David. He simply removed everything that wasn’t David. And so it is with us. God keeps chipping away, removing everything that prevents us from being what He created us to be, and from doing the things he created us to do. I have a long way to go, but I am excited about what God has done and is doing in my life. I look forward to, one day, looking into a mirror and seeing, for the first time, the masterpiece God creates from a life that was once so ugly and covered in sin. Praise the holy name of Jesus!

This book asks the hard, forbidden, or taboo questions about Christianity—and offers surprising biblical answers you may never hear in church. “Don’t ask too many questions. Just go with the flow.” This is the mantra of legalistic religion. It leaves many of us wallowing in confusion as we still have burning questions about our faith. Sometimes, these questions almost seem off-limits: Is there actually an unforgivable sin? Can we lose our salvation? Is masturbation always a sin? Am I really supposed to give 10 percent of my income to the church? Is divorce and remarriage wrong for a Christian? Andrew Farley offers surprising, yet scriptural, answers to these controversial questions and many others. Andrew’s no-nonsense style will challenge you and catapult you into a radical new outlook on God’s grace.

How is your prayer life? Or how do you want your prayer life to be? Does praying satisfy your heart's desire to connect with God? Does God hear your prayers, or do they bounce off the ceiling? Do you want to make God happy? Chris Craig believes every Christian can learn to pray effectively. In this book, he offers practical biblical answers to show how you can pray powerfully and well for yourself and for others. Prayer shaped the life and work of Jesus Christ, and prayer is vital to developing and maintaining an intimate relationship with Him. Join Chris as he leads you to become a person of prayer. Becoming a Person of Prayer is an excellent, well-organized guide to prayer for personal spiritual growth or for group study. Chris Craig is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Ruston, Louisiana. He is married to Cindy, and they have three children: Jason, Julie, and Alicia. Chris and Cindy are also the proud parents of Crunch, a Boxer, and Pebbles, a Rottweiler. Chris earned his Bachelor of Science Degree from Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. He earned a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and a Doctor of Ministry Degree from Midwestern Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. He has been in the ministry for over twenty years now. Chris pastored three churches in Texas before coming to Ruston in January 2003.

William Strong (ca. 1611–1654) was an influential leader at the Westminster Assembly and was greatly admired by his contemporaries. However, in modern time, even those most indebted to the Westminster tradition are unfamiliar with this stalwart of the seventeenth century. In this book, Thomas Parr opens by introducing us to the significance of the life and ministry of Strong and then launches into a survey and summary of Strong’s teaching on the covenant of works. Along the way, this book shows that the condemnation from a covenant of works serves as a dark backdrop to display the glory of the covenant of grace. Table of Contents: Prologue: The Life of William Strong 1. The Curse of the First Covenant, Death 2. People in Adam Prefer the First Covenant 3. Sin Is Irritated by the Law 4. The Law’s Rigor and Coercion 5. All Those in Christ Are Transferred from the First Covenant 6. Transference by Union with Christ 7. The Law as a Covenant Abolished to All in Christ 8. To All in Christ, the First Covenant Serves the Second Conclusion: Experimental Covenant Theology Bibliography

What Happened on the Cross offers a new and biblical understanding of how salvation was accomplished upon the cross, showing that the Penal Substitution view, common since the 1500s, does not have a biblical basis, and also showing that the Christus Victor understanding is inadequate. The book is founded upon the understanding that Jesus Christ is the Second Adam, and that is the foundation of how we are to understand how salvation was accomplished. Both the shedding of blood and death were essential in the accomplishment of salvation, and What Happened on the Cross shows why these were essential. Using over 740 Scripture verses to make its argument, the book gives a comprehensive picture from Genesis to Revelation of the many aspects involved in the accomplishment of salvation--above all showing clearly that the cross had nothing to do with "punishment for sins"--our sins were never punished upon the cross, rather, our sins were forgiven. Understanding how salvation was accomplished upon the cross, and that it was about forgiveness, not punishment, both exalts God and his greatness, demonstrates his perfect love and justice, as well as liberates our hearts towards him.

In the Lord’s recovery during the past five hundred years the church’s knowledge of the Lord and His truth has been continually progressing. This monumental and classical work by Brother Witness Lee builds upon and is a further development of all that the Lord has revealed to His church in the past centuries. It is filled with the revelation concerning the processed Triune God, the living Christ, the life-giving Spirit, the experience of life, and the definition and practice of the church. In this set Brother Lee has kept three basic principles that should rule and govern every believer in their interpretation, development, and expounding of the truths contained in the Scriptures. The first principle is that of the Triune God dispensing Himself into His chosen and redeemed people; the second principle is that we should interpret, develop, and expound the truths contained in the Bible with Christ for the church; and the third governing principle is Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. No other study or exposition of the New Testament conveys the life nourishment or ushers the reader into the divine revelation of God’s holy Word according to His New Testament economy as this one does.

This book is about how to walk out the full victory that Christ has purchased for us.

The NIV Application Commentary helps you communicate and apply biblical text effectively in today's context. To bring the ancient messages of the Bible into today's world, each passage is treated in three sections: Original Meaning. Concise exegesis to help readers understand the original meaning of the biblical text in its historical, literary, and cultural context. Bridging Contexts. A bridge between the world of the Bible and the world of today, built by discerning what is timeless in the timely pages of the Bible. Contemporary Significance. This section identifies comparable situations to those faced in the Bible and explores relevant application of the biblical messages. The author alerts the readers of problems they may encounter when seeking to apply the passage and helps them think through the issues involved. This unique, award-winning commentary is the ideal resource for today's preachers, teachers, and serious students of the Bible, giving them the tools, ideas, and insights they need to communicate God's Word with the same powerful impact it had when it was first written.

This book is an intriguing discovery of the very essence of our being as a child of God. Look! We all want to be like Jesus, but the reality is we already are like Him, we're just not fully convinced. The Bible tells us, "...as He is so are we..." (1John 4:17), and that it's no longer we who live, but Christ who lives within us (see Galatians 2:20). Our outward transformation depends on our inward realization, not on our trying. Our identity in Christ is the cornerstone of everything in life. The greatest measure of contentment, peace and joy is realized as I become more and more convinced of my true identity. That's what this book is about...Discovering who I really am by knowing Him...FINDING MYSELF IN HIM. As a teenager, P.C. thought that playing rock 'n roll and partying was all there was to living a fulfilled life. His party, however, was unexpectedly interrupted by an encounter with Jesus Christ. This radically altered his whole perception of life and its purpose. From this new-found relationship with Jesus Christ he began to discover that you don't have to be someone special to be someone special. P.C. and his wife reside in Georgia, where he leads worship at his local church and teaches weekly from the Bible.