Charles Stanley

• 09/02/2012

  Life's Greatest Investment

  What is the most worthwhile investment a person can make in life? Is it a great stock that produces enormous dividends? Or a satisfying, lucrative career? For some, family might be the answer, while others might choose giving time and treasure to the church. All of these things are good, but the Lord showed Paul what He considered to be the best use of our lives: Helping someone come to a saving knowledge of Christ is the greatest achievement possible.
• 08/31/2012

  God Is Able

  Jesus knew firsthand what it meant to live with limited financial resources, to have others--including family members--question His actions (Mark 3:21), and to suffer rejection by those He sought to serve (John 6:66). Yet, in spite of such opposition, Jesus never let circumstances control His emotions or dictate His actions. Instead, He chose to trust that the Father was able to carry out His Word.
• 08/30/2012

  Our Heavenly Home

  As enjoyable as traveling may be, most of us would admit to having a sense of security and delight upon arriving back home. There's just something comforting about opening the door, seeing familiar things, and feeling we're where we belong.

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• 08/27/2012

  Sanctification: God's Grand Plan

  The heavenly Father has a grand plan for the life of every person, and it can be summed up in the word sanctification. If you have never been certain of the term's meaning, you are not alone--many people are unclear about its definition. However, believers should understand it because the word defines them.
• 08/26/2012

  God's Tools for Making Us Holy

  Sanctification is the process God uses to conform believers to the image of His Son. The writers of Scripture employed images that speak of the Father's shaping work in the life of His saints. Isaiah, for example, compared the Lord to an artist making pottery: "We are the clay and You our potter; and all of us are the work of Your hand" (64:8). Some of the tools He utilizes to mold and perfect His creations are...

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• 08/25/2012

  God's Tools for Making Us Holy

  Sanctification is the process God uses to conform believers to the image of His Son. The writers of Scripture employed images that speak of the Father's shaping work in the life of His saints. Isaiah, for example, compared the Lord to an artist making pottery: "We are the clay and You our potter; and all of us are the work of Your hand" (64:8). Some of the tools He utilizes to mold and perfect His creations are...

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• 08/22/2012

  The Side Effects of Fear

  Fear obviously produces anxiety, but it also creates chaos in our lives and even affects those around us.
• 08/21/2012

  Choosing Faith over Fear

  These days, there are plenty of reasons to fear. Our world seems to be in a continuous state of war and crisis. The jobs market is dismal, natural disasters wreak havoc, and stories of crime dominate the headlines. As Christians, we know that fear should have no place in our lives, but how can we ignore what's going on around us?

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• 08/17/2012

  Patience: Our Gift of Service

  When troubled or in pain, we turn to people who will listen patiently to our cries of distress. But I wonder how often we seek to be the person who gently steps up to share a hurting friend's burden for as long as it lasts?
• 08/16/2012

  The Rewards of Patience
• 08/15/2012

  How to Hold On

  Job was a man who certainly knew trouble and temptation, and yet he boldly claimed, "Though He slay me, I will hope in Him" (Job 13:15). That is commitment. Job had lost his children, his fortune, and his health, but he refused to abandon faith in God. The stricken man was determined to hold on because he trusted the Lord to do right.
• 08/12/2012

  Our Firm Foundation

  God has ways of shaking the world when He is at work. He literally caused the ground to quake when Jesus died on the cross, and Hebrews 12:26 describes a time still future when the earth will undergo a similar display of His power and presence.
• 08/10/2012

  Self-Inflicted Adversity

  The difficulties we face originate from one of three sources. Some are sent to us by the Lord to test our faith, others are the result of Satan's attacks, and still others are due to our own sinful choices.
• 08/09/2012

  Don't Waste Your Adversities

  Are you wasting your troubles? Anytime God allows trials to enter your life, He has a purpose for them. He wants you to squeeze out every ounce of spiritual growth instead of letting difficulties squeeze you into despair and discouragement. If you'll just respond in the right manner, the trial that looks as if it could destroy you will become an instrument of blessing.
• 08/07/2012

  Proven Faith

  Faith is perhaps the most central element in the Christian life because it is the means by which we enter into salvation. But that's only the beginning. From then onward, our faith—or lack of it—shapes our lives and determines what happens to us when the winds of adversity blow. Some Christians never lose their footing even in hurricane-force winds, but others are toppled by the slightest gust. To understand why this is true, we need to examine the source of our faith.