Drawn from the book Be the Message, this thirty-day devotional will help you cultivate your life message and live it out. Over the course of a life-changing month, you will learn how the messes in your life can become a door of hope, discover new ways to love those in front of you, and find out how God is calling you to take a stand in the world. Using Scripture, illustrations, and practical action steps, the Be the Message Devotional can bring you to a deeper understanding of how your life can make a difference and be the gospel to the world. The Gospel is not a well-crafted sermon. It is a life well lived. It is you. How will God live out his message through you?

Pastor John Piper shows how to sever the clinging roots of sin that ensnare us, including anxiety, pride, shame, impatience, covetousness, bitterness, despondency, and lust in Battling Unbelief. When faith flickers, stoke the fire. No one sins out of duty. We sin because it offers some promise of happiness. That promise enslaves us, until we believe that God is more desirable than life itself (Psalm 63:3). Only the power of God’s superior promises in the gospel can emancipate our hearts from servitude to the shallow promises and fleeting pleasures of sin. Delighting in the bounty of God’s glorious gospel promises will free us for a less sin-encumbered life, to the glory of Christ. Rooted in solid biblical reflection, this book aims to help guide you through the battles to the joys of victory by the power of the gospel and its superior pleasure.

Self-satisfaction and complacency: these could very well be a Christian's greatest enemies. And these are the enemies that the apostle Paul addresses in his letter to the Ephesians. Pastor John MacArthur will take you through Ephesians, passage by passage, so that you can better understand the Christian encouragement and warnings in this book. When Paul wrote his letter to the believers in the city of Ephesus, he wrote to remind them of their immeasurable blessings in Jesus Christ and to admonish them to live in a manner worthy of them. Paul reminds them of the spiritual armor supplied through God's Word and by His Spirit, and of their need for vigilant and persistent prayer. —ABOUT THE SERIES— The MacArthur Bible Study series is designed to help you study the Word of God with guidance from widely respected pastor and author John MacArthur. Each guide provides intriguing examinations of the whole of Scripture by examining its parts and incorporates: Extensive, but straight-forward commentary on the text. Detailed observations on overriding themes, timelines, history, and context. Word and phrase studies to help you unlock the broader meaning and apply it to your life. Probing, interactive questions with plenty of space to write down your response and thoughts.

Who is Jesus Christ? You've never met him in person, and you don't know anyone who has. But there is a way to know who he is. How? Jesus Christ-the divine Person revealed in the Bible-has a unique excellence and a spiritual beauty that speaks directly to our souls and says, "Yes, this is truth." It's like seeing the sun and knowing that it is light, or tasting honey and knowing that it is sweet. The depth and complexity of Jesus shatter our simple mental frameworks. He baffled proud scribes with his wisdom but was understood and loved by children. He calmed a raging storm with a word but would not get himself down from the cross. Look at the Jesus of the Bible. Keep your eyes open, and fill them with the portrait of Jesus in God's Word. Jesus said, "If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority." Ask God for the grace to do his will, and you will see the truth of his Son. John Piper has written this book in the hope that all will see Jesus for who he really is and will come to enjoy him above all else.

The Church looks ridiculous to unbelievers. I know - I'm married to one. They see a people loosely bound together by belief in God, but fighting about every other detail.They see a people that professes a powerful God that seems to be completely impotent to answer even the smallest prayer.They see leaders in the Church giving lip service to love, but there's no action behind the words.In short, they see Christians not the same as your average Joe, but WORSE than your average Joe. They see a people who are not honest with themselves or anybody else.The Church sends missionaries to the far corners of the globe but can't seem to reach the average Joes right under its nose. The Church as a whole - the body of Christ - has become lost and ineffective. This didn't just happen. The Church has had a target on its back ever since the second chapter of Acts. Paul knew that the Church needed certain things if it was going to be able to stand against Satan's schemes and be effective in reaching the world for Christ, and he outlined them in his letter to the Ephesians. It is God's plan, purpose, and power for the Church.

The Apostle Paul was the greatest early missionary of the Christian gospel. He was also, by his own admission, an Israelite. How can both these realities coexist in one individual? This book argues that Paul viewed his mission to the Gentiles, in and of itself, as the primary expression of his Jewish identity. The concept of Israel’s divine vocation is used to shed fresh light on a number of much-debated passages in Paul’s letter to the Romans.