Author: Joshua Goodling

The Apostle Paul wrote in Galations 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” When …

The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 7:15, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” Even he had the same problem we all face – our flesh, temptations, and our selfish desires to deal with. And as a human, …

The mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds, only about .079 inches in diameter, yet it produces a tree that is about 25 feet tall on average.  It is amazing how one little seed can produce such a large tree!  Yet the same is true with sin in our lives. James tells us in …

The hymn Amazing Grace was written in 1779 by John Newton, who after years of living a wicked life found God’s grace and became a beliver in Jesus Christ. The first line of the old hymn goes like this “Amazing grace! how sweet the sound, That sav’d a wretch like me!”  John Newton knew how …

Habakkuk 2:4 tells us, “…the righteous shall live by his faith”  And the Apostle Paul reminds us of that in Galatians 3:11, “…The righteous shall live by faith.” Our entire life as a Christian is dependent upon how great is our faith in God.  In fact, the Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:6, “And without …

The Bible mentions fearing God at least 300 times in different ways, such as “Fear the Lord” and “Fear God”.  So, does that mean that we are to be afraid of Him, like we would be afraid of a ferocious tiger running toward us?  Or does that mean that we just respect Him for Who He is? Let’s …

Have you ever noticed that when you go into a grocery store, most of the items displayed around the cash register and on tables in the front are candy, pastries, donuts, etc.?  Now, there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with eating these things as long as they are not our main item of consumption.  However, if …

If I hadn’t had cancer myself 48 years ago, I wouldn’t be able to share my testimony about God like I do. Was having cancer fun? NO! Is dealing with all of the daily things I’ve had to deal with for my entire life fun? NO! But, it changed my life and made me trust God completely. …

The Bible is a guidebook to guide us in how we live our life, and to instruct us in the many decisions we must make as Christians. In order to successfully fill our duties in this life, we MUST follow our guidebook! If we became lost in a dark forest or jungle and had a …

During a long flight on a stormy night, an airplane encountered a lot of turbulance, lightning strikes, and was bouncing around in the sky.  All of the passengers were terrified.  They hung on to the seats, stared out the window at the storm around them, and some even cried.  However, there was one young lady …

You may have heard of Corrie Ten Boom. She and her sister were prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. As prisoners of these cruel soldiers, they had endured great hardship and her sister had even died. It was only her great faith in God that brought her through. Some time after …

I was watching an episode of American Pickers on the internet recently. One of the pickers found an old motorcycle sitting in the corner of a large building. The motorcycle was covered in dust and halfway hidden behind a lot of other junk. When he asked the owner if he would sell it, the owner …

It blows my mind sometimes how many people who claim to follow Jesus Christ argue that there is nothing wrong with their sin, they can go on doing whatever they feel like doing.  After all, they argue, their sins are forgiven and they are free in Christ.  Many of these people tell me that the …

I saw a news article where a celebrity was quoted as saying they dabbled in born-again Christianity for a while, but it just didn’t work out for them. And it seems there are thousands who “dabble” in it as well, however the truth is – authentic Christianity is not something you can dabble in. As …

When the Apostle Paul was writing to the church at Colosse, he told them he was praying for them, that God would give them knowledge and understanding in living the Christian life.  Look at Colossians 1:10, “so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing …

Jesus’ message when He began His earthly ministry was Repent!  “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'” (Matthew 4:17)  And some of His last words to His disciples before He returned to heaven were, “…repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name …

When discussing genuine salvation, John MacArthur writes, “If you came to Jesus Christ thinking all you had to do was believe but didn’t have to confess your sin or be willing to cut yourself off from the evil of this world, you have missed the point of salvation…if you are really saved, you will make …

I was walking up the steps to my condo the other day and noticed something move quickly across one of the steps and then stop up against one of the railings. As I looked closer it was a frog, one of those ones that can turn different colors to hide itself, like camouflage. The frog …

They don’t have them much in today’s world with all our new technologies and stuff, but a lof of places used to have carbon copy forms and sheets. Basically you had two or three pieces of paper with a carbon sheet between each sheet of paper. So, whatever you wrote on the top sheet would …

Let’s say we are in Atlanta, and we make a decision that we want to go to Miami. So, we pack all of our bags, fill the car with gas, and tell all of our friends and neighbors, “I’m going to Miami!”. Then, we get on Interstate 75 and head north. We will end up …

One of the greatest tragedies of the church today is, we have lulled ourselves to sleep.  We no longer see the sinfulness of sin, and we say “whatever” when someone tries to refocus our attention on God.  We see no problem with entertaining ourselves with the cares and pleasures and values of this world around …

One of the keys to true happiness is found in the book of Proverbs. Chapter 16, verse 20 says; “He who heeds the word wisely will find good, And whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he.” Psalm 34:8 states; “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth …

Let’s suppose we went down to the local car dealership and purchased a brand new car.  Then, after we read the manual and saw how expensive it is to purchase gasoline and oil and stuff to keep our car running, we decided to just push the car everywhere ourselves, that would kind of defeat the …

I often see people cry and get upset over losing a piece of jewelry or breaking a dish that they valued, but in reality those are just material possessions.  However, I seldom in todays world see people cry and get upset over sin that is breaking their fellowship with God.  I think part of the …

In the early 1900’s A. W. Tozer wrote, “We have learned to live with unholiness in our churches, and have come to look upon it as the natural and expected thing. It is scarcely possible in most places to get anyone to attend a church meeting, where the only attraction is God. One can only …

In the book of Revelation, we read what are commonly called “letters to the churches”. In these, God warns these churches or groups of believers about what they are lacking in their relationship with Him. In chapter 4, a letter is written to the church at Ephesus and it says, “I know your works, your …

In the area I live, it seems there are always new workout gyms and fitness centers opening.  Some are quite small and in shopping centers, and others are huge and expensive.  The thing about fitness centers and gyms is they don’t do much good if we don’t visit them.  We can sign up for a …

Each year at this time, retail stores all over the country stock their shelves and racks with fancy baskets, plastic eggs, chocolate bunnies, and brightly colored dresses, hats, and suits, as millions of people prepare to celebrate the Easter holiday. Easter, like Christmas, has become a huge affair, with egg hunts, visits from and to …

Jesus Christ asked His disciples a question in Matthew 16:15, “He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?'” It wasn’t that He didn’t know what they truly thought about Him, it was because He wanted THEM to reveal to themselves what they thought about Him. A lot of times we say, …

We read of the death of Abraham in Genesis 25:8, “Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people.”  He was 175 when he died, but notice how it says he was “satisfied with life”.  He was satisfied because …