City Church Houston

Joseph uses his power to care for other people, and he looks outside of himself to find self control in the midst of temptation. In temptation, the aim is not curbing sexual desires, but reorienting our desires. Jesus is the sustaining presence in those trials and in adversity. Through Christ’s adversity, he makes possible the privilege of belonging to him until the end of our days.

True knowledge is inseparable from belief in the goodness of God in your life. You were destined for a spiritual life, so stop throwing yourself in the trash. God has a plan to restore our broken world.

In difficult seasons, it’s sometimes hard to see true things. We don’t typically question the goodness of God when things are good, but we do when it seems like the darkness will not lift. But suffering can lead us to intimacy with God himself. We all want a friend like Ruth, and Ruth would be listed on the first page of the New Testament in Jesus’ genealogy. Her ultimate son would be the only thoroughly good person to live. Through his goodness we are accepted as friends in God’s sight.

In Genesis 12, we see in a nutshell God’s story of redemption. Abraham teaches us about faith and connectivity to God.

Jesus loves us and he wants us to pursue godliness, but it is important to get that in the right order. Religion puts imperatives before the indicative that Jesus loves us. We are loved by Jesus regardless of what we do, and we also need to not forget the indicatives. What is true of Jesus is true of you.

To know the living God is to know God in hope. When you realize you are called by him to know him, there is security. The wealthiest person in the universe is delighted to receive you as a gift. Find hope in that you are God’s trophy of grace that he has fashioned through Jesus Christ. We can experience the Pentecost reality, find power in it, and have grounding hope through it because of the work of Jesus.