Resource Library

Self-denial is not a popular message—it’s seen as outdated and irrelevant. This generation believes instant gratification is no big deal, but it is! It’s a big deal! You do not take up your cross daily unless you know the discipline of patience and waiting for God’s timing.

Pastor Chuck Swindoll opens Isaiah 53:3–7 to show how Jesus fulfilled the portrait of the suffering Servant—the Lamb who went to slaughter in silence, bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows as our substitute.

“Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly, not under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). “Cheerful” in Greek actually translated “hilarious.” God loves a hilarious giver—you give because you want to laugh out loud, because your heart is light.

Temptations are dangerous because they invite you to get in over your head. And if you accept the invitation you’ll find all your energy is spent just trying to stay afloat. When it comes to temptation the best plan of attach is a hasty retreat.

The first sentence of the Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” But to many that’s impossible. They believe the world just happened, without any reason, intellect, plan, or thought. The truth is everything around us is evidence that creation not only required great thought but a great Thinker.