Life's Inanities and Ironies

 “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”   — 1 Thessalonians 5:18 ( NKJV ) We live in a complaining culture. Social media feeds are filled with grievances, news cycles thrive on outrage, and even many Christians find it easier to grumble than to give thanks when life gets hard. Yet the Holy Spirit , through the Apostle Paul , issues a crystal-clear, non-negotiable command: in everything give thanks. Notice the little word “in.” Not “for” everything (though sometimes we can get there by grace), but **in** everything. In the diagnosis and in the healing. In the layoff and in the provision. In the prodigal’s rebellion and in the homecoming. In the coffin and in the empty tomb. This is not positive thinking . This is not “fake it till you make it.” This is the revealed will of God for every born-again believer. If you have ever wondered, “Lord, what is Your will for my life?”—here is one thing you never have to pray about again. God...

We don’t read Lamentations much anymore. It’s too raw. Too uncomfortable. Too much like looking in a mirror we’ve spent decades trying to avoid. But chapter 5 is not poetry for the faint of heart. It is a naked, desperate prayer from a people who finally realized the party was over and the bill had come due. Jerusalem lies in ashes. The temple is gone. Children are starving in the streets. Princes hang from enemy gallows. Women are violated in the holy city itself. And the survivors—those who once boasted of their heritage, their covenant, their “blessings”—now lift trembling voices and say: “Remember, O LORD, what has come upon us;   look, and see our disgrace!” (Lam 5:1) They are not whining. They are confessing.   They are not blaming Babylon . They are blaming themselves. And if that doesn’t terrify Bible-believing Christians in America today , nothing will. Because everything they describe is here.   Everything. Our inheritance has been handed over t...

Have you ever felt so confident in your own abilities that you forgot to give credit where it’s due? Maybe you’ve achieved success in your career, or perhaps you’ve been praised for your talents, and slowly, pride began to creep in. It’s a common human experience, but as we’ll see in the story of Daniel 5, it’s also a dangerous one. The tale of King Belshazzar’s feast and the mysterious writing on the wall serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of pride and the importance of humility before God—a message that speaks directly to us as fundamental Christians today. The Story of Daniel 5 In the ancient city of Babylon, King Belshazzar hosted a lavish feast for a thousand of his nobles. As the wine flowed, he made a fateful decision: he ordered the gold and silver vessels, taken from the temple in Jerusalem, to be brought out. These sacred items, meant for worshiping the one true God, were used instead to toast pagan deities. It was an act of blatant disrespect and pride. Suddenly,...