John 13:34 gives a new command from Jesus: love one another. The standard is clear – as He has loved us, so we must love one another. This is the distinguishing mark of those who follow Him.
Tag Archives: discipleship
Verse & Vision | July 29, 2026
Romans 12:1 calls us to give our bodies to God as a living and holy sacrifice because of all He has done for us. In light of the gospel, our ordinary physical lives become an ongoing act of worship.
Root Work: The Deliverance Sessions | Session Ten – Interlocking Strongholds and Sustained Freedom
Session Ten examines how the spirits addressed in this series form interlocking strongholds and why isolated deliverance often fails. True freedom requires the dismantling of the entire system and is sustained through ongoing submission, renewal of the mind, spiritual community, and the practiced filling of the house. Deliverance opens the door; discipleship keeps it open.
Verse & Vision | July 3, 2026
In Luke 9:23-24 Jesus invites us into the paradox of discipleship: we must deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Him. The life we try so hard to cling to is the one we risk losing — but the life we willingly surrender for His sake is the one we truly find and keep forever.
Verse & Vision | May 29, 2026
The night before the crucifixion, Jesus told His disciples: I am the vine, you are the branches, and My Father is the gardener. What follows is not a threat. It is a description of how a vineyard works, offered by someone who knew His listeners understood pruning – and what a skilled gardener does to keep something alive and fruitful. The word translated “cuts off” can also mean “lifts up.” The word translated “prunes” shares its root with the word for clean. Today we look at what this passage actually says about loss, preparation, and the Gardener who always knows what He is doing.
Verse & Vision | May 14, 2026
Verse and Vision is a daily series exploring the verse of the day — not just what it says, but what it means. Each post unpacks the biblical context, digs into the original language, and traces the historical and philosophical world behind the text. Where the Word echoes across history, we follow it. Where it lands in the present, we don’t look away.
The Image of the Cross: Curse or Blessing, and What Are You Living? | Daily Bread
Someone told me recently that wearing a cross is a sin. “It’s a graven image, a violation of God’s law.” But a careful study of Scripture tells a very different story.
The second commandment was never a prohibition against every image or symbol. It was a command against worshiping created things as gods. God himself commanded images to be made, each one pointing toward His glory, His presence, and His provision… and ultimately toward the cross.
Christ broke every curse the law carried through His sacrifice, fulfilling what none of us ever could. The cross around the neck of a humble, spirit-filled believer is not an idol. It is a symbol of redemption, freedom, and the good news of salvation. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, and we are commanded to carry that truth into the world.
Sunday Sessions | One Gospel, Two Roads (Or, The Argument I Once Used Against My Own Faith)
Many years ago, I tried to use this exact argument to prove my father’s faith was built on sand. I was wrong. Thirty years later someone posted it online and asked anyone to disprove it with scripture. I hope this answers their invitation well, and helps whoever reads it.
When Leaves Aren’t Enough: The Real Work of Spiritual Formation | Daily Bread
Spiritual appearance comes naturally. Showing up, saying the right things, checking the right boxes — from a distance, it all looks like faith. But Jesus wasn’t fooled by a leafy tree with nothing underneath, and He isn’t fooled by us either. In this promised deep dive from the Leaves but No Fruit post, we get honest about the gap between looking formed and actually being formed — what creates it, why it’s so easy to miss, and what real transformation actually looks like from the inside out. Spoiler: it’s slower, harder, and more honest than most of us expect.