Thirsting Souls: Recent Episodes
Daniel Steeves
You might assume that your life situation makes youuseless to the cause of Christ. You might assume that because of the hand that life has dealt you, Jesus can’t use you.
How can we ever give enough thanks to the God who deserves all praise? David shows us that God strengthens our hearts to make bold prayers of thankfulness!
There are certain things that we invite into our lives that hinder our walk with God. In 2 Corinthians 6 and 7, Paul tells the Corinthians that one of those things is deep, meaningful relationships with unbelievers. He calls these believers to remove themselves from their unequal yokes and pursue total devotion to God.
You can experience God’s grace and refuse to let itaffect you.
That’s not what Paul wants for us, and it is definitely notwhat the Lord wants for us, so 2 Corinthians 6 is going to push us to respond appropriately to God’s grace.
Because grace has been freely delivered through the work of Christ, you must respond to God’s call on your life.
The work of Jesus Christ brought about radical, free-flowing grace. He wants you to have an abundance of it, but in order for you to have this grace, you must respond to God’s call on your life.
Proverbs 9 gives us a theoretically easy choice. We can choose wisdom or we can choose folly. Making the “right” choice is theoretically simple. We need wisdom, but we are experts at making the wrong choice. We choose folly. Proverbs 9 shows us how to choose wisdom more consistently.
In this section of Proverbs, Solomon is coaching his son on how to live life at its best. By extension, Jesus is telling us how to live our lives at their best.
Throughout this section, we’ll see instructions from Solomon to his son and from Jesus to us. God wants us to do something. He gives instructions to direct us, and those instructions are quickly followed by incentives.
God desires for you to have a foolproof life—to live with perpetual wisdom that draws you closer to him.you must die to yourself.
You must forget yourself and pay attention to the risen Lord, Jesus Christ. When you look at the cross, you should see the source of all wisdom dying there for fools like you simply because He loves you. Look away from yourself and look at Him. Let your pride melt away. Worship, grow in your fear of the Lord, and let’s grow in wisdom this week so that we can live a foolproof life. Let’s apply truth in every moment for godly purposes.
Hebrews 5:11-14 issues a stern rebuke to the author's readers. They have grown lazy and are avoiding the deep things of God's word. They need to mature and grow in their ability to understand, and that brings up a question. How should they grow their ability to interpret God's Word? Listen along to be equipped with the answer!
Mark 15 tells a horrifying story—one filled with more grief than we can imagine. And yet it was that grief that proved the love that Jesus has for those he came to save. Listen along as Pastor Daniel preaches through the crucifixion account in Mark 15.
As believers who have been reconciled to God, what is our new purpose in life? The reality that Jesus has taken away the strife in our relationship with God should change things, but in what way? In 2 Corinthians 5:11-21, Paul argues that our reconciliation should cause us to declare Christ to any and all who will listen.
2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10 shares some inspiring truths about the resurrection. The resurrection changes the way we see suffering. It gives us hope as we approach death, and it motivates us to please the Lord. It changes everything!
Revelation 3: 7-13 contains jesus's words to the church in Philadelphia. It is a blameless church, one that had been faithful even despite incredible persecution. Jesus shares wonderful truths about himself to encourage the church, he offers them rewards, and he challenges them to continue pursuing faithfulness to him in all things!
The Ministry of the Gospel is a wonderful privilege. As Christians, we get to display the glory of Christ. That entails many rich privileges as well as some deep suffering, but all of it works together for the glory of Christ. Listen along as Pastor Daniel walks through 2 Corinthians 4 to show us how we can magnify the glory of Christ.
As ministers under the New Covenant, God has granted us the privilege of beholding His glory and then unveiling it before our world. Unfortunately, we often grow discouraged in this task, and we quit ministry altogether. Paul talks about this in 2 Corinthians 3-4, and shows us how we can avoid quitting ministry. Listen along as we see how we can live with audacious hope as we unveil the glory of God!
1 Kings 22 gives us a glimpse an overview of Ahaziah's life. If anyone should have been afraid of Yahweh, it was Ahaziah, but he flaunted his sin instead. Are you going the same? Should you be afraid of Yahweh?
God has called each of us to be ministers of the gospel wherever we go. He has also ordained away for us to fulfill that calling! Follow along as we unpack 2 Corinthians 2:12-17 in order to see how we can be doing ministry everywhere and always.
Judges 15 shares part of Samson's life with us, and it is supposed to make us laugh at the Philistines. The laughing helps us digest the truth from the passage: only fools make themselves the enemy of God.
What do you know about your God? What is it about Him that makes Him worthy of trust? Listen to these truths from Psalm 115 as we discover the character of a trustworthy God!
In this episode, Daniel leads a discussion about the strengths and weaknesses of systematizing theology and begins an overview of Covenant Theology.
When you consider the claim, "Jesus demands you submit everything to Him," it can lead to some incredibly difficult decisions. It can feel like you are giving up on your hope and dreams when you contemplate submitting to Jesus, so the appropriate question to ask is this--if I submit, will Jesus be enough? Open your Bible to find out!
If you live in the real world, it's safe to say that technology plays a significant role in your life. If it's not a smartphone, it's medicine. If it's not social media, it's a refrigerator. Technology is everywhere, and Scripture demands that we submit everything, including technology, to the Lordship of Jesus. How do we do that? Let's go to God's Word to find out.
Do you ever feel like God gifted you with interests and abilities that are totally useless? You're not alone, and as you look at Scripture, you find that when you submit to Jesus as Lord, he uses what you thought was unusable!
Titus 2:11-15 helps the Christian understand that the grace that is needed for live transformation is found by devoting your mind to understanding doctrine.
When your family life reaches the point of desperation, it is often only the beginning of God's glorious plan for your life. Follow along in 1 Samuel 1 as we see how God gives hope to desperate families.
In Malachi 1, the prophet rips back the curtain to expose the sinful sacrifices of the priests, and in the process, he reveals a great deal about God's character. He is a God who has incredibly high standards for worship and sacrifice. They are standards so high that we cannot meet them.
When we overlook definitions of familiar concepts like church, that leads to imprecision. Unfortunately, imprecision can lead to apathy, and when apathy strikes within the church, there are serious problems which prevent us from accomplishing the purpose that God has given us through new life in Christ.
What happens when you trust yourself? Our culture preaches that trusting yourself, having self-confidence, is crucial. However, Jesus contrasts that view in Luke 18 with two parables. Both of them teach that trusting yourself is a terrible option.
What happens when you trust yourself? Our culture preaches that trusting yourself, having self-confidence, is crucial. However, Jesus contrasts that view in Luke 18 with two parables. Both of them teach that trusting yourself is a terrible option.
As a Christian, when you isolate yourself from God's people, you wreck your usefulness to God. God has called His people to serve in community rather than to isolate themselves from others. In the conclusion of his letter to the Colossian believers, Paul teaches the Colossians to express sincere concern for others as a bridge to serving well in community.
In His letter to the church in Pergamum, Christ both commends and condemns the church regarding separation. The Christian life demands that you separate form the world in every area, and we have much to learn from this church's successes and failures.
When you misuse a tool, it loses its effectiveness. Often, Christians misuse prayer and destroy its effectiveness. It is easy to find ourselves using prayer merely to increase our own comfort in life, and we disconnect it from God's purposes. In Colossians 4, Paul reminds believers that prayer proves to be an invaluable weapon in our quest to spread the gospel.
Paul wrote to the church in Colossae to instruct them on how new-creation character should impact their relationships. As Christians, they did not get to choose which relationships were impacted because all of them must be transformed by new-creation character. In Colossians 3:18-4:1, Paul targets the two most difficult arenas to manifest new-creation character, but he shows the beautiful ideal that God desires for His children.
Colossians 3 primarily consists of applications. The last few verses of the chapter place an emphasis on how new-creation character should transform your relationships, and Paull gives an interesting command to dads in verse 21. Dads, don't exasperate your kids so that they lose heart. Instead of exasperating them, show that you can listen to them, even when they reveal your character deficiencies.
Colossians 3:12-17 teaches that Christian is not only to put off the old man with its sin but also to put on new creation character. This call requires that the Christian let the Word dwell in their hearts and seek to bring glory to Christ with their entire being.
When Christ enters your life everything must change. In order to successfully live through this massive change from death to life, the Christian must put on two mindsets--the heavenly mindset and the militant mindset. Without these mindsets, sin will destroy you, and you will live your new life as if nothing has changed.
Colossians 1:24-2:5 shares a secret for having a joy that is solid rather than fragile; link your joy to advancing the cause of Christ. Those whose joy comes from advancing Christ's purposes can have a solid joy that cannot be stolen even by intense suffering
Colossians 2:6-23 teaches that there is an unprecedented fullness that believers have in Christ. Religions of the world seek to add to that fullness, and by doing so, they strip all value away. Paul encourages the believers in the church at Colossae to evaluate this poor teaching, remove its restrictions, and celebrate the fullness they have in Christ.
What happens when you orient your life around secondary issues? You end up hopelessly lost. Paul's letter to the Colossians teaches that since Christ is at the center of everything, to avoid being lost, you must orient your entire life around Him rather than secondary matters.
In Colossians 1 Paul gives us the secret to a thankful heart for all that God is doing for the church. The secret is to pray deeply for the church so that you recognize how God is at the center of it all. If you neglect to pray that way, Satan will rob you of the joy of praising God for His work in the church
In Mark 11-12 several groups try to trap Jesus as they as loaded questions. The Sadducees are among them, but their absurd question had one problem; it revealed their ignorance of the Word. Jesus' answer addresses that problem and challenges us on our quest to know the Book so we can know our God.
Jesus sends a special message to the church in Smyrna in Revelation 2:8-11. Because of His nature, He enables you to overcome even death itself, and the treasure He promises richly rewards the faithfulness He requires.
John 13 tells the perplexing story of Jesus washing His disciples' feet. We are left a bit unsure of what the meaning of this act of service is, and we can easily miss the point. However, the text calls us to humble service even during moments of anguish. Christ models humble service, and you can serve like Him too.
In John 10, Jesus not-so-subtly veils a jab at the Pharisees for how they are false shepherds. Using two metaphors, Jesus contrasts Himself from these false shepherds who steal life from the sheep whereas the Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
Judges 6 introduces the same cycle of rebellion and oppression as the rest of the book, and we expect God to immediately save His people when they cry out to Him. However, GOd first sends a prophet to condemn them rather than a judge to deliver them. Gideon heard the prophet's preaching, and his responses to the Angel of the Lord echo the words of the prophet. Even as Gideon makes excuses, we see God's grace and sovereignty at the heart of this story.
Many things in life are entirely unavoidable, but human nature is to attempt to avoid them anyway. In Matthew 2, two groups attempt to avoid the unavoidable King, but an unlikely group chooses a different option—to adore Him.
Revelation 3:1-6 holds a haunting reality. Your spiritual life can be in grave danger, and you can be totally unaware. At that moment, you are in a state of spiritual stupor, and Christ condemns this state as He addresses the church in Sardis.
Do you ever feel ashamed of the gospel or simply fearful to share it? In Romans 1:15-18, Paul reminds the church that the very nature of the gospel should embolden us to proclaim because it evidences God's power to save anyone and apply the righteousness of Christ that transforms a person's life.
The Christian life resembles an unconquerable marathon. There are twists and bends, uphill climbs, and deep valleys that all pressure the Christian to give up hope. In 2 Timothy 4, Paul writes to his young protege to teach him there are three ways to run this race, but only two of them receive eternal rewards.
Revelation 5:8-14 depicts a glorious worship scene that continually broadens until every living thing is involved in worshipping the Son. Creation's worship of the Son condemns weak and shallow worship and demands that you deepen your worship.
Christians often face a cycle of ups and downs in their spiritual lives. One moment they are growing by leaps and bounds, and in an instant, they feel despair overtaking their lives. I think of these two phases as the way up and the way down. Today we look at the way down and how devastating of a cycle it truly is.
In 2 Corinthians 2:5-13, Paul addresses a difficult situation in the church. The church had failed to obey in the area of discipline, but now they had gone too far and refused to forgive. What are the consequences of refusing to forgive, and what does God expect from us in these situations?
In 2 Chronicles 2:11 King Hiram tells King Solomon that he is convinced of GOd's love for Israel because God made Solomon king. Could an unbeliever say something similar to you?
You will never be able to trust someone you do not know well. If God controls the future, you will not trust Him until you know His character. Revelation 5:1-7 reveals the character of God to show that you can trust Him by rejoicing in His sovereignty!
Until you know the full majesty of God, you cannot worship him the way you ought. Revelation 4 emphatically declares that God's majesty is incomparable, and you must worship Him.
The world has an incredibly selfish view of legacy, and many in Scripture had the same view. How can we combat the desire to build our own legacy and make God known instead?
Discipleship is costly, but if you consider Christlikeness a worthy goal, you must pursue discipling others.
As a Christian, what ministry are you called to, and how does that ministry shape the way you live? Paul addresses these questions in Ephesians 3-4 and helps us revolutionize the way we live and pray given our calling.
In Psalm 89 Ethan stands in a smoking crater of life and is left wondering how God can remain faithful to His promises given the circumstances of the time. Ethan takes us through three stages of lament to help us understand how we can bolster our faith in our faithful God.
At the beginning of Acts, the disciples are faced with a dilemma that we often face ourselves - waiting. What comfort and hope does Christ provide His Church in these moments?
Malachi 3:16-18 shows two incredible blessings that those who treasure God get to receive. Before these verses, Malachi explains Israel's guilt. They had not treasured God with their stuff or their service, but a faithful few chose to fear God and treasure Him above all else.