BIBLE NEWS – cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:50:06 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Crossway+ Special: $5 Book of the Month (April 2026) https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/15/crossway-special-5-book-of-the-month-april-2026/ https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/15/crossway-special-5-book-of-the-month-april-2026/#respond Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:50:06 +0000 https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/15/crossway-special-5-book-of-the-month-april-2026/

Book of the Month

The $5 Book of the Month is an exclusive promotion for Crossway+ members. Each month three hand-picked books are available at $5, $10, and $15 price tiers—all greatly discounted and available for one week only. Free shipping is available on orders of $30 or more to the contiguous United States.

Now through April 22, 2026, Crossway+ members can purchase the following three books of the month at a special price:

Not a Crossway+ member? Sign up for free.

By Randy Newman
Retail Price: $14.99
Crossway+: $5.00

Do you have honest questions about faith? Or have you walked away from faith altogether? Perhaps you’ve been part of a faith tradition, but you’ve begun to question parts of what you’ve been taught. Students and young professionals today are submerged in a culture of cynicism and doubt. Many identify as nonreligious but wrestle with questions about God’s existence, the meaning of life, and whether it’s possible to find goodness and beauty in this world. If you or a friend are navigating terrains of doubt, you’ll find Newman to be a faithful guide. He’ll help you sort through your many questions and find solid answers.
 

By Kevin P. Emmert
Retail Price: $19.99
Crossway+: $10.00

Our culture today teaches us that we must look inside ourselves to discover our place and purpose in life—we can determine our own identities and express them however we want. This self-centered approach promises freedom and fulfillment, but it leads only to confusion and despair. In The Water and the Blood, Kevin P. Emmert combats this egocentric mindset with a sustainable solution through Jesus Christ. Emmert explores the depth of Christian identity, which our triune God makes visible through the sacraments of the gospel.
 

By Kevin DeYoung
Retail Price: $39.99
Crossway+: $15.00

Beginning in Genesis and ending with Revelation, DeYoung provides engaging retellings of various Bible stories, explaining how they fit into the overarching storyline. Each reading is coupled with beautiful illustrations by award-winning artist Don Clark and concludes with a reflective prayer. Perfect for bedtime stories or to read together as a family, both children and parents alike will experience afresh the captivating story of the Bible in an easy-to-understand, compelling way. This gift edition of The Biggest Story Bible Storybook features a stylish, long-lasting TruTone cover.





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]]> https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/15/crossway-special-5-book-of-the-month-april-2026/feed/ 0 5 Meaningful Ways to Tell Your Daughter She’s Beautiful https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/15/5-meaningful-ways-to-tell-your-daughter-shes-beautiful/ https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/15/5-meaningful-ways-to-tell-your-daughter-shes-beautiful/#respond Wed, 15 Apr 2026 12:43:59 +0000 https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/15/5-meaningful-ways-to-tell-your-daughter-shes-beautiful/

How to Affirm Your Daughter’s Beauty Beyond Her Looks

My three-year-old twirls before me in her satin princess dress, a sparkle in her eye. She loves what she hears from her mom: “You’re beautiful, honey!” It’s a desire God has put inside her heart because he made her for beauty. My affirmation means the world. Why? It’s a reflection of her Creator’s declaration of “very good” (Gen. 1:31).

And yet, if I’m not careful, I can subtly communicate to my little girl two things: that beauty is only skin-deep and that beauty is the only thing that matters. The world unabashedly shouts these messages already, so how can we counter them as we seek to raise our daughters in the faith? How can we tell her she’s beautiful in ways that really matter?

1. Focus on her character.

There’s nothing wrong with giving compliments. We can show kindness and love as we encourage others. But I do wonder if too often the first thing we say to other females is about how she appears on the outside: “You look so cute today.” “You’re amazing!” “You’re gonna have all the boys coming around some day.” God is clear that he is not impressed by appearance but looks into the heart (1 Sam. 16:7), for character matters more to him than countenance.

Again, there’s nothing bad about saying, “Well done!” when your child wins their soccer game; this is a reflection of our Father’s smile (Zeph. 3:17; Matt. 25:21). We don’t want to be uncompassionately silent because we’re scared about saying something “wrong.” But we can focus on character, which we hope will help our girls do the same: “You persevered this season and showed a lot of diligence. Praise God for that!” Our words glorify God through the good work he’s doing within our kids, and that happens as we prioritize the character he is forming in them.

What Makes You Beautiful

Kristen Wetherell


This devotional, written for girls ages 9–12, explores the theme of beauty to help young readers appreciate the beauty of God, and in turn, become more beautiful themselves.

2. Remind her of your affection.

In the gospel story, God’s affection isn’t something we earn but something that’s bestowed upon us. He loves us because he loves us (Deut. 7:6–8). His grace is a free gift (Rom. 5:15). But our flesh and world operate from a different story: affection must be earned. We have a huge opportunity to defy this tale by telling God’s instead, and we can do this by reminding our girls often of our affection, which stands regardless of what she looks like or what she has or hasn’t done.

This might look like a note in her lunchbox: “Praying for you today, and miss you!” It might look like a random “I love you” in an unexpected moment. It could mean open arms, listening ears, and an unshaken spirit when she confesses something hard. It always means forgiving her when she fails. And yes, it might mean a well-timed word: “Do you know that you’re beautiful, inside and out?” For these are the ways God loves us: thinking of us (Ps. 139:17–18), blessing us (Eph. 1:3–5), receiving us (Luke 15:11–32), and covering our sins (1 Pet. 4:8). Our God is love, and we have the marvelous privilege of showing his unconditional affection to our girls, both in our words and our actions.

3. Model contentment.

What message are we communicating through our example? It’s a humbling question, but it’s worth asking. If I’m constantly needing to “put on my face” before showing myself in public, that tells my daughters that beauty means a certain manner of appearance rather than simply being who God made me. As one example, I have made it a point on some days to wear no makeup and dress casually. I want them to know that it’s good to be comfortable and content in their own skin. Similarly, if I am always reaching for the next “new thing” to satisfy me, or if I’m scrolling my phone to affirm my identity, how can I expect her to do anything different? As they look at us, our girls are watching and wondering, What makes me beautiful?

Now, this is not prescriptive, and some readers will come to different conclusions about what contentment looks like. But generally, Scripture bundles contentment with godliness and says they are “great gain” (1 Tim. 6:6). What lens should we look through to help us discern what’s best? “For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world” (1 Tim. 6:7). We might ask ourselves: What are the things that will last forever? This isn’t to say that earthly gifts can’t be enjoyed—in Christ they are made holy and can honor him (1 Tim. 4:4–5)—but that earthly gifts are not ultimate. We will model contentment as we discern the difference and live as examples before our daughters.

Our God is love, and we have the marvelous privilege of showing his unconditional affection to our girls, both in our words and our actions.

4. Point out her God-given purpose.

Each one of us is fearfully and wonderfully made by our Creator (Ps. 139:13–14) with a unique purpose in the grand plan of God (Isa. 64:8). But the fallen world around us would distort these truths into autonomy and self-actualization: “Live for yourself!” “Be who you want to be!” “You do you!” The Christian gospel has a better message: “You’re made for something bigger than yourself—for an eternity of joy with Jesus. Now be who he made you to be!”

We have the privilege of countering the world’s empty mantras and reminding our girls of God’s undeniable, beautiful truth. We can remind her of her God-given purpose any time we pray for her, answer her hard and sensitive questions, process what’s happened that day, and encourage her when she’s down. This doesn’t happen once but in a thousand tiny moments over years and decades. Each one matters, and God can use them all to tell her longing heart, “You are beautiful because you are his.”

5. Let Scripture be her mirror.

Above everything and undergirding it all, the Word of God must be the mirror we use to discern what true and lasting beauty is, and what it looks like to reflect his beautiful glory (James 1:22–25). This is true for us as older women, and it will be true for our daughters too.

Are we looking daily into God’s law of liberty, which frees us from the lies of this world? Or are we letting the world’s distorted funhouse mirrors dictate what beauty is? The Spirit can use our example from the word and our teaching of it to reach into the hearts of these young ones and speak a different story—a story of hope: “For the coastlands shall hope for me . . . for the Holy One of Israel, because he has made you beautiful” (Isa. 60:8–9). May this good news of beautiful glory be our anthem, and may we speak it over our daughters every day as both her present reality and her future hope in the Lord Jesus, whose word has the final say.

Kristen Wetherell is the author of What Makes You Beautiful: 20 Daily Devotions for Girls.

Kristen Wetherell

Kristen Wetherell is a wife, mother, writer, and speaker. She is the author of numerous books for adults and kids, including Help for the Hungry Soul; Teach Me to Pray; What Makes You Beautiful; and the For the Bible Tells Me So board book series. Kristen is a member of The Orchard and lives in Chicagoland with her husband and three children.

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]]> https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/15/5-meaningful-ways-to-tell-your-daughter-shes-beautiful/feed/ 0 Heaven Is More Real Than This World https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/15/heaven-is-more-real-than-this-world/ https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/15/heaven-is-more-real-than-this-world/#respond Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:43:22 +0000 https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/15/heaven-is-more-real-than-this-world/

More Substantial than Earth

Because heaven is portrayed in the Scriptures with metaphors and symbols, many people think of heaven as ethereal. Gary Larson captures the misconception of heaven in his Far Side comic strip. In one cartoon, a man with angel wings and a halo sits on a cloud. With absolutely nothing to do, he wears an expression of boredom, and a caption explains his thoughts: “Wish I’d brought a magazine.”

C. S. Lewis flipped the script on this ethereal view of heaven in The Great Divorce, an imaginary tale of a trip from hell to heaven. He describes hell as shadowland—ghostlike and transparent. In contrast, the future heaven will be solid and heavy. Lewis describes the grass, rocks, trees, and water in heaven as much more solid than things in our own country. Everything in heaven is hard, like diamonds. The main character in the story—who has only experienced the immaterial dark shadows of hell—can’t pluck a flower, pick up a leaf, or drink the water. This is how Lewis puts it:

A grove of huge cedars to my right seemed attractive and I entered it. Walking proved difficult. The grass, hard as diamonds to my unsubstantial feet, made me feel as if I were walking on wrinkled rock. . . . A bird ran across in front of me and I envied it. It belonged to that country and was as real as the grass. It could bend the stalks and spatter itself with the dew.1,

You might be thinking that this picture of heaven is unattractive. Who wants grass to cut their feet? But Lewis’s point is that heaven is not less real than this world but more real. It is so full of substance that even the grass won’t bend under our current insubstantial bodies.

The Hope of the Resurrection

Patrick Schreiner


In this accessible study, Patrick Schreiner explores the history, theology, and ethics of the resurrection, helping both Christians and seekers understand what is true, good, and beautiful about Jesus’s victory over death.

Lewis’s weighty view is supported in the Scriptures, which describe heaven as a new earth, a new city, and a new home. Our future heaven is described as a new earth:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. (Rev. 21:1)

The Scriptures imagine the final destiny as a new earth with rivers, mountains, trees, and flowers. Some of the best descriptions of heaven, like Lewis’s, use what we see here but reach for a higher reality. The Scriptures also describe our future heaven as a new city:

By faith Abraham obeyed. . . . For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. . . . For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is come. (Heb. 11:8, 10; 13:14)

Combining these images of a new earth and new city, some have described heaven as a garden-city.

Finally, the Bible encourages us to see our future heaven as our new home. Jesus says that in his “Father’s house are many rooms” (John 14:2). Notice that Jesus describes heaven as a real place, using physical images to describe it (a house with rooms). He gives his disciples something tangible to think about. Understanding that heaven is a home helps us begin to conceive of what we will do in heaven. In ancient homes, people worked, fellowshiped with those they loved, and rested. This means that in heaven we will work, fellowship with those we love, and rest. Jesus has gone to prepare rooms for us so that we can be with him and our loved ones forever. Somewhere deep in the human heart is a longing for our true home.

At the end of Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, one of the characters finally arrives at heaven and says, “This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this.”2 Heaven will be like our earth, our cities, our homes—but transformed.

New Bodies

If our future heaven is a real, physical place, then what will we be like? Will we have bodies? Or will we be souls that float around? According to Randy Alcorn, most views of our eternal home are anti-incarnational.3 Any talk of resurrection that is not bodily is a flat-out contradiction. The Scriptures affirm that we will receive new resurrected bodies like Jesus’s: Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. (1 Cor. 15:49)

The Lord Jesus Christ . . . will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body. (Phil. 3:20–21)

When [Jesus] appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)

Nevertheless, this still raises the question of what these new bodies will be like. While some mystery remains, there are texts that give us some help. One of these texts is the account of the transfiguration of Jesus (Matt. 17:1–8; Mark 9:2–8; Luke 9:28–36). When Jesus goes up on the mountain with his disciples, he shows them what our future bodies will be like. Jesus’s body is “transfigured” (Matt. 17:2), translating a Greek term from which we derive our word metamorphosis. When we hear the term metamorphosis, we likely think of how a butterfly morphs from an egg to a caterpillar to a chrysalis to a butterfly. Metamorphosis rightly refers to physical change.

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Jesus’s transfiguration gives a preview of how our bodies will change. Jesus’s face shone like the sun (Matt. 17:2; Luke 9:29), and his clothes became as white as light, radiantly white (Matt. 17:2; Mark 9:3; Luke 9:29). Nevertheless, the disciples recognize Jesus, so there is some sort of continuity. Jesus’s body is not discarded or cast aside. Similarly, in the resurrection, our bodies will not be annihilated but glorified, not destroyed but renewed.

Jesus’s resurrection confirms this. The empty tomb means that his resurrection involved the same body in which he was crucified. When Jesus is raised, he returns to the ordinary activities of bodily life. He eats (Luke 24:41–43; John 21:12–13), walks (Luke 24:13–17), and talks (Matt. 28:9–10). He even reassures them that he is not a ghost (Luke 24:39). Most importantly, when Jesus is raised, his disciples touch the scars on his body (Luke 24:39–40; John 20:27). Christ was not a different person after the resurrection but the same person.

Yet, Jesus’s embodiment is also strangely different than his body before. Jesus appears out of nowhere (Luke 24:15), vanishes (Luke 24:31), and doesn’t seem to have to go through doors (John 20:26). Those who knew him best don’t recognize him (Luke 24:16; John 20:14). The point is that Jesus’s body is both different and the same. Paul reflects on the nature of our raised bodies in one of his letters:

There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; . . . So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body; there is also a spiritual body. (1 Cor. 15:40–44)

This text can be confusing for those who assume that “heavenly” and “spiritual” mean non-physical. However, Paul insists that we will have bodies. To say they are “spiritual” bodies doesn’t describe their substance but what animates them. We will have bodies governed by the Spirit.

Therefore, our resurrection bodies will have similarities and dissimilarities with our earthly bodies. The disciples both recognize Jesus and don’t recognize him. Augustine says we will be able to consume food like Jesus did but not out of need.4Thus, we will have our same bodies, but they will be upgraded. Maybe we can compare it to the renovation of a house. My wife loves to watch programs that trace the transformation of a house. What once looked old and deteriorating is suddenly bright and new. The house is the same but has now been transformed.

The most wonderful thing about heaven is that we will finally see God face-to-face.

New Vision of God

While it is good to speak of our new home and our new bodies, there can be a tendency to focus on these things and make heaven a “super-sized earth” and our bodies a “superhero self.” Some might conclude from the above that we will have the same bodies but with six packs. Or we will live in cities, but they will all be as beautiful as the Italian Amalfi coast.

We also have to be careful of over-literalizing some of the images of heaven. What can be missed in a view of heaven that is merely an upgraded earth is that the best thing about heaven is not our new bodies or our new home. The most wonderful thing about heaven is that we will finally see God face-to-face. As Samuel Parkison rightly states, “What makes heaven, heaven? Christianity’s resounding answer to that question throughout the centuries has been the [sight of God].”5

The good life is life with God. We could receive a new place to live and new bodies, but if God were not there it would not be good. We must remember that the best thing about heaven is that we will dwell with God. If God is absent, nothing else will satisfy. The Scriptures affirm that the best thing about heaven will be seeing God:

One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple. (Ps. 27:4)

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. (1 Cor. 13:12)

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Matt. 5:8)

When [Jesus] appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)

In our eternal state we will have immediate knowledge of God. Our new bodies and souls are simply a benefit. God is what heaven is all about. One of the great dangers of viewing heaven as only an upgraded home and body is that we would begin to view God as a means to something else rather than an end in himself.

In other words, we can be tempted to treat God as a sort of Santa Claus who is only good for what he can give us. We may assume that once we have his gifts, we won’t really need him. However, the Scriptures argue that the goodness of heaven is God himself. That is because he himself is the very nature of the good and the source of all that is good.

Even with all these descriptions of heaven, some might still suppose that heaven will be boring because we won’t grow. Do we simply stare at God and sing? That might not sound too exciting. Can you imagine living for eternity and never growing in knowledge, physical ability, or even delight? That sounds more like hell than heaven.

The problem is that too many Christians and non-Christians have a static conception of heaven. The Scriptures and the Christian tradition portray heaven as a place where we are completely happy but also continually grow. It will be like climbing to one mountain summit (or riding the gondola for those who don’t like hiking) to see the vista, only to find that countless more summits await even further up, with glory to behold.

While those in heaven will experience abundant joy, they will also continually learn, grow, and strain toward more. They will perpetually strive toward the inexhaustible God. Since God is infinite, our sight of God will always be progressive. Perfection is not static but continual movement toward God.

The Christian life, even in heaven, is not one merely of acquisition but of pursuit––continual pursuit. Our sight and growth will progress in the eternal state. We will be continuously changed as we behold God. Our future will include infinite progress toward the perfection that exists in God.

While this may sound like we are never fulfilled in heaven, the idea is that once we have reached one degree of fulfillment, we then long for more. We arrive at joy and then realize that deeper joy awaits us. We reach one mountain peak and realize that another one beckons us. In heaven there will be eternal progress. To put it in the words of Lewis, we go “further up and further in.”6

In heaven we will dwell on a new earth with our new bodies. But most importantly, we will see God face-to-face and be completely happy. The resurrection of the dead is not only true but also good, even very good (Gen. 1:31).

Notes:

  1. C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (HarperCollins, 2009), 37.
  2. C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle (HarperTrophy, 1994), 213.
  3. Alcorn, Heaven, 45.
  4. Augustine, Letter 95.7, quoted in Joel C. Elowsky, ed., John 11–21, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, vol. 4b (IVP Academic, 2007), 356.
  5. Samuel G. Parkison, To Gaze Upon God: The Beatific Vision in Doctrine, Tradition, and Practice (IVP Academic, 2024), 1.
  6. Lewis, The Last Battle, 201.

Patrick Schreiner is the author of The Hope of the Resurrection: How Jesus’s Defeat of Death Changes Everything.

Patrick Schreiner

Patrick Schreiner (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is associate professor of New Testament and biblical theology and endowed chair at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. He is the author of The Kingdom of God and the Glory of the Cross; The Mission of the Triune God; The Transfiguration of Christ; The Ascension of Christ; and The Visual Word.

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]]> https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/15/heaven-is-more-real-than-this-world/feed/ 0 A Lesson in Excruciating Trust https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/15/a-lesson-in-excruciating-trust/ https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/15/a-lesson-in-excruciating-trust/#respond Wed, 15 Apr 2026 05:25:10 +0000 https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/15/a-lesson-in-excruciating-trust/

A Lesson in Excruciating Trust

In 1876, the hymn writer Edgar Stites composed a poem that caught the eye of none other than Dwight L. Moody, who asked his friend Ira Sankey to put it to music. Thus we remember it today:

Simply trusting every day,
Trusting through a stormy way;
Even when my faith is small,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

This hymn is a wonderful reminder of the fact that God is trustworthy. Yet there is a challenge represented in that first word: “simply.” “Simply,” of course, does not mean easily. Actually, to trust simply is not only difficult; it is often excruciating. In all the vicissitudes of life, when the right course of action seems to be working against our good, how can we content ourselves to say (to paraphrase Psalm 27:10), “The Lord will care for me”?

This is the challenge that King Saul faced in 1 Samuel 13. As war with the Philistines loomed, prompt action seemed urgent, yet the divine command was to wait. Saul’s folly in the face of these circumstances reminds us that trusting God’s word is crucial, even when doing so seems self-defeating.

The Choice Before Saul

At the time of the events recorded in 1 Samuel 13, Saul was still a new king, fresh off of victory against the Ammonites east of the Jordan (1 Sam. 11). But now the Philistines were on their way with “thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude” (1 Sam. 13:5). Saul’s army was three thousand at its greatest strength, and “there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan” (v. 22).

In the face of overwhelming force and firepower, the men who followed Saul were “trembling” (v. 7) and “scattering from him” (v. 8). With his small force getting smaller by the day, Saul felt the need to take urgent action.

When Samuel had anointed Saul as king, he’d given him clear instructions about this moment: “Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do” (1 Sam. 10:8). This instruction had come along with prophecies and signs that had shown clearly that Samuel was speaking with the authority of God, as a prophet (vv. 9–13). Saul’s task, then, was simply to await the arrival of the prophet and the instruction of the Lord.

Indeed, Saul did not disregard the command, as if to say, “Well, I don’t need to do that.” He believed he did need to do it. He wanted to do it. He trusted and waited while the Philistines approached. He waited the seven days—but Samuel did not come.

So, with the time seemingly up, Saul leaned on his own understanding and took matters into his own hands: “Saul said, ‘Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.’ And he offered the burnt offering” (1 Sam. 13:9)—without Samuel and so against the instruction that the Lord had given.

Simple Trust Abandoned

When Samuel did arrive, in the very moment that the deed was done, Saul offered his excuse:

When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, I said, “Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.” So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering. (vv. 11–12)

We might imagine Saul shifting uncomfortably and essentially saying, “Well, given the circumstances…” Of course, that’s what an excuse is: a set of circumstances that seem to explain an otherwise offensive action. To be sure, there is always an excuse when we seek to disobey God’s word. There is always a set of circumstances that mitigate against simple trust. In this case, Saul had given in to them.

And so the judgment fell:

Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. … Now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.” (vv. 13–14)

Saul’s heart was not set on God. Rather, it was moved by fear and misplaced confidence in his own ability. God sought a heart of faith in His king—and in Saul He did not find it.

The Heart of the Matter

Someone might respond, “Wait a minute! We shouldn’t be too hard on Saul. After all, I wouldn’t call his actions foolish. It seems to me that it was the only sensible approach to take: dwindling numbers, attacking force, no-show Samuel. What else could he have done?”

And yet the book of Proverbs challenges us with these words:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
 and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
 and he will make straight your paths. (Prov. 3:5–6)

In the Bible, the “heart” isn’t just an organ. It’s a metaphor for the epicenter of who and what we are. It involves our minds, our emotions, and our wills. To trust God with “all your heart” is to display a deep, settled confidence in God’s care—a confidence resting at the very core of your being, where desires, anxieties, doubts, and disappointments live.

Psalm 14 tells us, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (v. 1). The essence of folly is not dimwittedness. The essence of folly is disobedience: “You have done foolishly.” The fool is someone who lives as though God does not exist or God doesn’t matter. And what happened to Saul in this circumstance was that he finally said, “It matters more that I take this action than that I obey and trust the God who made me king and brought me safe thus far.”

Saul ought to have remembered the word the Lord had given him, simply trusting that if God said it, it was true. Gideon—after some encouragement with the fleece—trusted God and sent his men away (Judges 7:2–8). But Saul was no Gideon. He was not ready to trust as the men dwindled, to trust in the face of massive opposition, to trust when trust was excruciating.

What Shall We Do?

It’s a mistake to think that obeying God is always or even often easy. Trusting God really can be excruciating. As we consider the challenges that face us, perhaps the last thing we want to hear from the Bible is something like “Well, why don’t you ‘simply trust’?”

Yet if we will not trust God’s word, we have nothing to stand on. If we will not trust—in the face of opposition, persecution, hardship—that God will restore to us what the world takes away, why go on at all? As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:19). We will run ahead and seek our own good, fight for our own salvation, and find the effort empty.

But God says, “Put your trust in Me.” Without a hope in us that Christ will carry us on and reward us in the end (1 Peter 3:15; Heb. 11:6), the suffering that attends obedience to God’s word will far outweigh any benefit we can imagine. Yet by “simply trusting every day”—even when that trust is excruciating—we can enter into all the promises and benefits of the Lord Jesus.

This article was adapted from the sermon “Saul’s Folly” by Alistair Begg.

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]]> https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/15/a-lesson-in-excruciating-trust/feed/ 0 What Is Spiritual Formation? | Crossway https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/14/what-is-spiritual-formation-crossway/ https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/14/what-is-spiritual-formation-crossway/#respond Tue, 14 Apr 2026 12:57:51 +0000 https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/14/what-is-spiritual-formation-crossway/

Spirit-Given Thirst for God

Spiritual formation is a term we hear a lot about these days. I define it as the conscious process by which we seek to heighten and to satisfy our Spirit-given thirst for God (Ps. 42:1–2) through divinely appointed means and with a view toward “working out our own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12) and becoming “mature in Christ.”

The term spiritual formation is not explicitly used in the Bible per se, but the concepts behind it are very much biblical. There’s lots of talk in Scripture about living in and by the Spirit. The spiritual life and the idea of formation are very biblical ideas. Paul talks in Galatians about wanting to see Christ formed in believers. It draws attention to a number of things that I think are really helpful when we think about the Christian life.

A Heart Aflame for God

Matthew C. Bingham


A Heart Aflame for God explores spiritual formation practices that are consistent with the 5 solas, presenting the riches of the Reformed tradition for 21st-century evangelicals.

Number one, that word formation communicates the idea of a slow, gradual process through which a thing takes the shape intended by the creator, the designer, the author, the artist. And in this case, it’s God’s work. It’s the Spirit of God working in us, ultimately, to conform us to the image of Christ. And that’s the work of a lifetime. That, of course, is happening all the time. With the term spiritual formation, we’re talking about the conscious process by which we are working toward that end. It’s ultimately the Spirit of God who forms us into the image of Christ, but Paul calls us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. And so that means we invoke our conscious efforts and we use the God-appointed means to grow in grace.

It’s ultimately the Spirit of God who forms us into the image of Christ.

And that’s the second part of the definition. It’s a conscious process, and it involves God-appointed means. In the Bible we have tools that God gives us. We have things that we’re called to do and to take up and to draw upon through which he’s promised to work in our lives to help us bear fruit. Many approaches to spiritual formation that we see today draw rather widely on all manner of tools and means and processes and techniques, but a biblical approach to spiritual formation—a Reformation-rooted approach—really puts emphasis on using God’s appointed means and God’s appointed ways. These are things that we find in Scripture. Ultimately, it’s with a view toward becoming, as Paul puts it in Colossians, “mature in Christ.” We’re trying to grow in his likeness and bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

Matthew C. Bingham is the author of A Heart Aflame for God: A Reformed Approach to Spiritual Formation.

Matthew C. Bingham

Matthew C. Bingham (PhD, Queen’s University Belfast) is vice president of academic affairs and associate professor of church history at Phoenix Seminary in Scottsdale, Arizona. He is the author of Orthodox Radicals: Baptist Identity in the English Revolution and has served as a pastor in the United States and Northern Ireland. Matthew is married to Shelley, and they have four children.

 

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Transforming Duty to Delight

Worship is our heartfelt response to God’s character and works. We might immediately think of ‘worship’ as something we do on Sunday mornings, but it’s not limited to our time at church. We can worship God at any moment and on any day of the week through our words, actions, and whole-hearted devotion to God. This can look like singing or listening to songs of praise while we do household chores, thanking God verbally for his everyday provisions, and spending our time and money in ways that show the supreme role of importance he has in our lives.

As Christians, even though we know we’re supposed to actively worship God, and we experience days or even long seasons where we enjoy giving him the praise he’s due, sometimes we just don’t feel like it. In the midst of the daily demands of work, family, school, and home, worship can feel strange and out of place. Things like social media, our favorite TV show, shopping, or watching our favorite sporting event can feel more exciting, enticing, and deserving of our praise, attention, and devotion. As we give time, money, and attention to other things, our senses can become dulled to the awareness of God’s presence and promises, further perpetuating our feelings of apathy and distance.

In those moments, how can we continue to live a life of worship, even when God feels distant? What are the next steps for a Christian who knows they ought to worship God but just doesn’t feel like doing it?

Worship

Emily A. Jensen,

Winfree Brisley


This volume of TGC’s Disciplines of Devotion series invites women to cultivate worship in every area of their lives. Readers will learn dozens of practical ways to praise God through their words, their works, and their “why.”

Remember—God is not distant, even if it feels that way.

The story of the gospel reminds us that we never pursued God to begin with—he pursued us. While we were still sinners, disinterred in him and putting lesser things on the thrones of our hearts, God made a plan to reconcile us to himself (Rom. 5:8; Eph. 4:1). If you are a follower of Christ today, you can thank God for helping you see, understand, and receive the gift of his grace. As a believer, you are now filled with his Holy Spirit, and Christ is interceding on your behalf (Acts 2:38; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25). In good days and bad and in seasons of faithfulness and spiritual apathy, your positional relationship to God is unchanged (Rom. 8:31–39). His presence is everywhere, and his grace is abundant (Ps. 139:7–10).

Sometimes we’re tempted to hold off on praising God until we judge ourselves ‘faithful’ or have an emotional sense of God’s nearness. But the truth is that we were never faithful enough to begin with—we’ve always had to approach God humbly, by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8–9). God hasn’t gone anywhere, and you don’t have to do a checklist of ‘right’ things before coming to him in worship.

Practice behavioral activation.

Our culture tends to get the order of action and affection backwards. It tends to assert that actions ought to proceed from feelings of desire. In this paradigm, what we feel drives our decisions. Without realizing it, many of us have adopted this mindset in our relationship with God. We wrongly assume that if we don’t “feel” like singing a song of worship, giving money to the church, or serving God with our time, then we shouldn’t do it—as if doing it anyway would be “inauthentic.” We tend to assume that if God “feels” distant to us, then he must be, and we let those assumptions come to bear on our actions and decisions. There’s no doubt that God created us as image bearers with feelings and emotions. These are good gifts, and they can give us helpful information about ourselves and the world around us. But feelings were never meant to reign supreme—they were never designed to sit at the helm of our hearts (Jer. 17:9; Prov. 3:5–6; Matt. 15:19).

Just like we do in many relationships and areas of life that we care about deeply, Christians must, at times, practice behavioral activation. Behavioral activation is a therapeutic term, but the principle is that our behaviors can activate our motivation and feelings. Anyone who has started a workout because physical health is important to them, even though they would prefer to sit on the couch, can attest that after the fact that they were glad they worked out! They later felt energized and motivated. They had no regrets. Have you ever experienced this with worship? Maybe you went to church feeling a bit ”blah” and disengaged, but as you opened your mouth to sing and sat under the preaching of the word, your affections were revived.

When you feel like God is distant and actively worshipping him doesn’t seem engaging or beneficial, consider doing it anyway. Pray words of praise and thanksgiving. Turn on a worship song and sing along. Live in submission to him and walk in acts of humble service anyway (John 14:15; James 1:22).

Feelings come and go, but God never does (Deut. 31:6; Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:8). Sometimes our actions can reignite our awareness of his goodness and presence.

Feelings come and go, but God never does.

Assess and adjust.

After moving forward with actions of worship, we might seek a moment of reflection: What led me to a point of feeling distant from God? We naturally do this already with other relationships, like parenting and marriage. When something is ”off” and a spouse or child feels distant, we run relational diagnostics to understand what went wrong. Did we not give them enough time and attention? Were we distracted by other things? Were we too critical? Did we nurse unfair expectations or bitterness? Even though our relationship with God is not exactly like a human relationship, some of the general principles still apply. When things are ”off” or less than healthy, we can assess and make adjustments.

What kinds of things can cause God to feel distant and worship undesirable? Here are a few:

  • A dulling of the conscience through repeated, unrepentant sin.
  • Lack of attention and engagement with God through prayer and Scripture.
  • Lack of regular fellowship and connection with God’s people.
  • An overuse of entertainment or social media.
  • Using food, shopping, or other substances as coping mechanisms.
  • Worshipping idols—giving a level of love, attention, and devotion to people, ideals, and hobbies that God alone is due.

It’s worth noting that sometimes worshipping God doesn’t feel hard because of sin or spiritual negligence but rather because we’re walking through an intense season of suffering, grief, or depression. While some people report a greater awareness of God’s presence in their lowest moments, others find that their darkest days make worship all the more difficult (Ps. 42; Ps. 77:3). In these instances, it’s still helpful to remember the story of the gospel, the prevalence of grace, and the nearness of God. In these times, we might want to turn to hymns like “God Moves in Mysterious Ways” or “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” as we worship through pain, or to scriptures, like the psalms, to express lament.

The Beauty of Worshipping Anyway

Scripture is filled with encouraging examples of people who worshipped God in every type of circumstance—when it felt easy and natural, when it felt hard, and even when it carried great personal risk. One beautiful example of this is in Acts 16 when Paul and Silas were in prison (Acts 16:16–40). Even while they were in chains for the name of Jesus, they prayed aloud and sang hymns. Their obedience—showing God devotion and giving him praise in a desperate and life-threatening situation—is a beautiful testimony to us today. Not only did God use this to help them persevere in persecution, but he used it to convert others to Christ (Acts 16:30–34).

No matter what you’re facing today—whether God feels present and powerful or distant and disengaged—give your heart, your words, your actions, and your very life as an offering to him.

Emily A. Jensen is the author of Worship.

Emily A. Jensen

Emily A. Jensen is the coauthor of several books for moms including Risen Motherhood and Gospel Mom. She is also sole author of He Is Strong: Devotions for When You Feel Weak. Emily lives in central Iowa with her husband and their five children.

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]]> https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/14/how-to-worship-when-god-feels-distant/feed/ 0 Podcast: What Is Critical Theory? (Bradley Green) https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/13/podcast-what-is-critical-theory-bradley-green/ https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/13/podcast-what-is-critical-theory-bradley-green/#respond Mon, 13 Apr 2026 13:01:18 +0000 https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/13/podcast-what-is-critical-theory-bradley-green/

This article is part of the The Crossway Podcast series.

Critical Theory’s Parasitic Theology

In this podcast Dr. Bradley Green explains the history, key figures, movements, and cultural influence of Critical Theory. Dr. Green explains the relationship between Marxism and Critical Theory and how this worldview has become its own version of religion which contains its perspective of work, education, sexuality, creation, redemption, family, culture, and society.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | RSS

What Is Critical Theory?

Bradley G. Green


In this book, Bradley G. Green offers a thoughtful Christian analysis of critical theory, its key philosophers, and their views regarding creation and reality; sin and the human dilemma; and redemption, history, and eschatology.

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]]> https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/13/podcast-what-is-critical-theory-bradley-green/feed/ 0 10 Things You Should Know About Critical Theory https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/13/10-things-you-should-know-about-critical-theory/ https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/13/10-things-you-should-know-about-critical-theory/#respond Mon, 13 Apr 2026 11:59:55 +0000 https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/13/10-things-you-should-know-about-critical-theory/

What Is Critical Theory?

If you are like many people, for a good while you may have heard the term “critical theory” in the news, in this or that journal, or in your various media sources. And again, if you are like many, you may have thought, “What is critical theory” It is a good question. Here are ten things you should know about critical theory.

1. Critical theory is part of an intellectual tradition reaching back to the early twentieth century.

Critical theory was born in 1923 in Frankfurt, Germany (hence sometimes called the “Frankfurt School”). There were numerous founders, some of the key ones being Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, and Walter Benjamin. Herbert Marcuse soon joined the effort. Institutionally, the founders of the school of critical theory founded the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt. Carl Grünberg was the first Director of the Institute, and was followed by Max Horkheimer, a leading light of critical theory. With the rise of Nazism in Germany in the 1930s, many of the members of the Frankfurt School migrated to the United States. Some founded (a US version of) the Institute for Social Research, associated with Columbia University in New York City. Others travelled further, to California, and had an association with the University of California, Berkeley.

2. Critical theory can be understood as a worldview or basic set of convictions.

Critical theory should be understood as a basic worldview, driven by a basic set of convictions. It had a tangible institutional life (the Institute for Social Research), a journal, Archiv für die Geschichte des Sozialismus und der Arbeiterbewegung (Archive for the History of Socialism and the Labor Movement). Various members would publish numerous articles and monographs. It was a genuine research program with an ambitious research agenda. We will look at some of these worldview issues or basic convictions below.

What Is Critical Theory?

Bradley G. Green


In this book, Bradley G. Green offers a thoughtful Christian analysis of critical theory, its key philosophers, and their views regarding creation and reality; sin and the human dilemma; and redemption, history, and eschatology.

3. Critical theory is Marxist, but with a twist.

The critical theorists are often called “cultural Marxists.” This is fundamentally correct. But there is something unique about critical theory. The critical theorists are Marxists, but frustrated and perhaps even perplexed Marxists. In the early 1920s, when the Institute for Social Research was beginning to get underway, Russia had already experienced its (1917) revolution, a Marxist revolution. Some German intellectuals (the critical theorists) were asking: “Why has not the revolution occurred here, in Germany?” The critical theorists began to question the received (or traditional) Marxism, and even to re-work it. So, critical theory—at one level—is an attempt to remain essentially Marxist, while reworking and reconfiguring the Marxist system to account for why the hoped-for Marxist revolution had not occurred in Germany. The reason critical theory is sometimes called Cultural Marxism is because critical theory posited that the essential element of a revolutionary transformation of the world was not simply an economic issue. Rather, there were certain cultural issues (e.g., the traditional family and the church) which were impediments to the revolution. There must be indeed a “long march through the [cultural] institutions” (coined by Rudi Dutschke, articulated around 1967).

4. The real, or ostensible “bogeyman” of critical theory is Nazism or Fascism.

One of the most interesting features of twentieth-century political discourse is the tendency by many of the intelligentsia to be extremely concerned about Fascism (real or imagined) while simultaneously being quite accommodating to various forms of socialism or Communism. It is impossible to understand critical theory without grasping how important Nazism or Fascism is to the proponents of critical theory. Though critical theory as a movement precedes the rise of Nazism in Germany, Nazism or Fascism soon (by the 1930s) came to be a chief concern of the critical theorists. A key question for the critical theorists was: How do we stop Fascism in general, and the next Hitler in particular, from arising? This concern goes a long way to understanding Herbert Marcuse’s justification of censoring “right wing” or conservative thought and writing, all in the name of stopping tyranny (see Marcuse’s classic essay, “Repressive Tolerance”).

5. Critical theory, like many traditional Christians, has concerns about popular culture and technology.

The traditional Christian who reads the critical theorist might be struck by several strands of thought which (counter-intuitively, perhaps) seem to resonate with his or her own concerns. One of these concerns relate to the dominance and ubiquitous nature of popular culture and technology. Again, the critical theorists pondered why the revolution had not occurred in their native Germany. They posited that there were cultural and not just economic impediments keeping the revolution from occurring. The critical theorist wrote much about the “culture industry.” The notion of the “culture industry” was that popular culture’s influence was so all-encompassing that persons who were actually economically and unjustly oppressed were anaesthetized (fooled) into not realizing that they were oppressed—and they were anaesthetized or fooled by the influence of popular culture. Traditional Christians will likely resonate—to a degree—with the influence of popular culture (have you seen person after person mesmerized by their smart phone lately?).

6. Critical theory, like many traditional Christians, has deep concerns about the Enlightenment.

One of the most important books in critical theory canon is Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer’s Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments (1947). This book expresses a sentiment or conviction that runs through much of the work of the critical theorists: the Enlightenment, which promised freedom to Western man, has actually led to, or contributed to, a lack of freedom. That is, the Enlightenment, which was (ostensibly) rooted in notions of freedom, liberty, self-expression, and opportunity, has betrayed its great promises. Instead, the Enlightenment has resulted in slavery (of a sense), a lack of liberty, a lack of true individuality, and a lack of opportunity. This is bound up with the critical theorists’ insistent criticism of capitalism—an economic system or program which likewise made great promises of freedom, but which (again, ostensibly) has only led to economic misery and oppression. Some critics have responded to the critical theorists by essentially saying, “Three cheers for the Enlightenment” (e.g., the work of James Lindsay). The Christian might find himself (uncomfortably, perhaps) agreeing with the critical theorist and asking, “Is there a better response to the failures of the Enlightenment besides simply returning to the Enlightenment? Might there be a more distinctly Christian social theory which should be at the heart of a Christian view of reality?”

Critical theory should be seen as a kind of alternative religion, a worldview parasitic upon, but not in agreement with, biblical Christianity.

7. Critical theory has its own view of reality, in a sense a doctrine of creation.

Critical theory should be seen as a kind of alternative religion, a worldview parasitic upon, but not in agreement with, biblical Christianity. As such, critical theory has its own view of reality, its own metaphysic, its own “doctrine” of creation. That is, critical theory has its own view or doctrine of the nature of reality. However, the doctrine of creation lurking in the writings of critical theory is quite different from a traditional Christian doctrine of creation. For critical theory, rather than there existing a kind of pre-fall era which exists before sin emerges, for critical theorists, the problems with the world go back to before (or nearly so, in some critical theory writings). As such, the critical theorists can be seen as contemporary advocates of Gnosticism—an ancient heresy which posited that the material world is inherently bad or sinful. The critical theorists are “gnostics” in that they seem (almost always) to posit that the problems with reality are inherent to reality itself.

8. Critical theory has its own view of sin, in a sense a doctrine of sin.

On the one hand, critical theory sees the deep problems and pathologies of our era as having existed from the beginning (hence the charge of Gnosticism). At the same time, the critical theorists can at times look at things from another, but related, perspective. The critical theorists, since they posit that the problem with the world is inherent in the nature of things, tend to emphasize that the problem with the world is in the system of things, not with persons per se. Thus, the critical theorists, when diagnosing the various problems of our day, tend to emphasize the problem with systems. For the Christian, there may be a place for this, but the unfortunate result of the work and logic of critical theory is that their tendency is to look at the system and to not look at the human person. We will return to this.

9. Critical theory has its own view of how to make things right, in a sense a doctrine of redemption and even eschatology.

Critical theory has not only a certain “doctrine” of creation and sin, but it also has a kind of doctrine of redemption, and even a kind of view of history and eschatology. Marx is famous for saying that the goal (of the Marxist) is not to understand the world but to change it. The critical theorists, since they certainly followed this maxim, to that extent remained faithful Marxists. Herbert Marcuse, especially, was quite explicit. Marcuse believed that what was needed was a new “reality principle.” Following Sigmund Freud, Marcuse held that the “reality principle” (the need for order, sexual morality, restraint, etc.) was always in competition with the “pleasure principle” (the deep desire for pleasure, especially virtually unencumbered sexual experience). The only answer to this ongoing conflict, as Marcuse saw it, was a new reality principle, and this new reality principle essentially means the world must be fundamentally changed. This new reality principle, this fundamental change of the universe, could be accomplished if all things were sexualized and persons were allowed to experience unfettered sexual pleasure. Essentially, “redemption” (a new “reality principle”) was to be accomplished through sexual pleasure.

10. Critical theory is not critical enough.

Lastly, and this may seem counterintuitive, but the greatest weakness of the critical theorists is that they did not get to the heart of the matter. That is, the critical theorists were not critical enough. The critical theorists offered their own doctrines of creation, sin, and redemption. Given that all persons are created in the image of God, and that God has set eternity in the hearts of men (Eccl. 3:11), we should not be surprised if the critical theorists offered an understanding of reality which simultaneously borrowed Christian themes and categories while also twisting and corrupting them. The writings and efforts of the critical theorists are a real (albeit sad) testimony to the truthfulness of the Christian view of God, man, and the world. So, the theorists were correct to try to understand what is wrong with the world, but they were ultimately not critical enough. The critical theorists tended to see the problem as embedded in a “system”; that is, the problem was “out there” (in the system). Therefore, they failed to recognize that the problem is deeper. The problem is much deeper and more profound—and more (almost) intractable. They were right to posit that what was needed was a new “reality principle”—quite right indeed. But they failed to see that the “new man” which is so truly needed will not come through any sort of violent revolution, but it most certainly will come through death. It will come through the death (and resurrection) of the Last Adam, Jesus Christ. The world will indeed be changed (and not just understood), but it will be a change flowing from the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who makes all things new.

Bradley G. Green is the author of What Is Critical Theory?: A Concise Christian Analysis.

Bradley G. Green

Bradley G. Green (PhD, Baylor University) is professor of theological studies at Union University, visiting professor of philosophy and theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and cofounder of Augustine School, a Christian liberal arts school in Jackson, Tennessee. He is the author of The Gospel and the Mind. 

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April 13, 2026

“We cast our sorrows on the Lord who walked upon the sea of old and who makes a way for His people through the depths.”
—C. H. Spurgeon

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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from The ESV® Bible
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]]> https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/13/wallpaper-cast-our-sorrows/feed/ 0 How Can I Get in the Routine of Regular Bible Study? https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/12/how-can-i-get-in-the-routine-of-regular-bible-study/ https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/12/how-can-i-get-in-the-routine-of-regular-bible-study/#respond Sun, 12 Apr 2026 12:00:30 +0000 https://cadenacontinentaldenoticias.com/2026/04/12/how-can-i-get-in-the-routine-of-regular-bible-study/

A Plan for Study

When I was in my twenties and early thirties, I was an avid runner. I trained for several races, and part of my training plan required me to set out my running clothes and shoes and charge my devices (an iPod shuffle back then!) before I went to bed. Once I woke up, I had some coffee, studied the Bible, put on my running gear, and headed out the door. Making a plan once enabled me to simply enact the plan each day. I didn’t have to decide how or when to run. The plan was in place. I just followed the plan.

That’s the practical approach I suggest you take with Bible study. Choose your time and place and study plan now. Gather your supplies, and put them in your designated location. Then simply apply the plan tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that. This will go far in establishing a nonnegotiable habit to meet with your Lord each day or night. Here are a few practical considerations to help you structure your study time so that you don’t feel overwhelmed each time you open your Bible.

How Often?

The blessed, happy man in Psalm 1 delights in God’s word and “meditates” on it “day and night” (Ps. 1:2). While this isn’t a command, it is a principle we would be wise to observe. What brings the man spiritual growth and the ability to say no to sin is his regular, daily exposure to God’s word. His devotion goes beyond simply opening at random and reading. No, he meditates on Scripture, meaning he thinks deeply about it and even repeats it aloud to himself1—daily.

I like to think about the frequency component of study this way: I need to study God’s word as often as I need him to help and transform me. That’s every single day of my life. So the principle set before us in Psalm 1 is to come to Scripture regularly, daily—really, all the time.

Bible Study

Glenna Marshall,

Winfree Brisley


This volume of TGC’s Disciplines of Devotion series invites women to stir their affections for God by cultivating the biblical practice of Bible study.

But keep in mind that a principle isn’t a command. And sometimes life has a way of interrupting our best-laid plans. It’s normal to have days when we miss our study time. Illness, parenting young children, missing an alarm, work crises—these are all ordinary experiences that might force us to miss our study time. I’m a mom to two children who, when they were little, joined my study time on a regular basis or needed me to put down my Bible and hold them instead. I also suffer from some chronic illnesses that make sleeping incredibly hard, and I’ve had seasons when I had to opt for extra rest instead of deep study time.

I don’t believe God sits in the heavens marking down all the days we missed our study time. Rather, his word describes him as patient, merciful, and compassionate. The key here is to treat the interruptions or derailments as temporary and seasonal and to know that God loves you as much on the days you study as he does on the days you don’t. When you do take time to study, though, you’ll be more certain and aware of his faithful love.

How Long?

If you’re new to Bible study, start small. The best way to avoid early burnout is to not start too strong. If you begin a new exercise regimen but start with lifting weights that are too heavy or running too far in the first week, you will likely quit within a couple of days or weeks. Start by spending ten to fifteen minutes in study and prayer. As you study regularly, your desire will deepen, and you’ll find yourself adding to that time. For me, what started as ten minutes a day fifteen years ago eventually grew into an hour each day. As you feed your soul with biblical nourishment, your appetite will grow, and you’ll expand your time with the Lord.

When?

The man in Psalm 1 meditated on God’s word day and night. While this implies that the word was on his mind all the time, it can also help us consider different times of the day as options for study time. Some texts refer to seeking God first thing in the morning:

I rise before dawn and cry for help;
     I hope in your words. (Ps. 119:147)

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, [Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. (Mark 1:35)

Other texts, though, speak of seeking God at night:

My soul will be satisfied . . .
     when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night. (Ps. 63:5–6)

My soul yearns for you in the night;
     my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. (Isa. 26:9)

The principle we can gather from texts like these is that there’s no hard-and-fast rule about when we meet with the Lord. We can study and pray any time of day! The point is that we need to carve out time to study and pray.

We can study and pray any time of day! The point is that we need to carve out time to study and pray.

With that in mind, choose the time of day when you can most regularly show up to study. Make that time nonnegotiable. Don’t schedule other things for that time. Most people will find that the first part of the day works best. Your mind is free from other distractions if you meet with the Lord first thing in the morning. Personally, that’s the quietest hour of my day, so I go to bed early and set my alarm for 5:30 a.m. But if you’re a night owl by nature, morning might be your groggiest time of day. Perhaps you need to set aside that last hour before bed. Or if you have a regular lunch hour or your child’s naptime, that might be ideal for study.

Where?

Another helpful preparation for study is to make sure you have a space to do it. Find a place in your home or office where you can keep your Bible and notebook. A cozy reading chair or study nook is great but not required. A basket kept near the kitchen table can work just as well. You might have to get creative, but if you designate a space and leave your study tools there, you will find yourself more faithful to your study time than if you’re moving around all the time or looking for your notebook. So find or create your place to study. Put your tools there. Now just be sure to show up!

What Should I Study?

Perhaps one of the most intimidating parts of making a Bible study plan is knowing where to start. When it comes to starting any new habit, it’s helpful to give yourself an easy starting point so you don’t get discouraged early on. I suggest beginning with the book of James because it’s short, simple to navigate as a beginner, and easy to understand. The Gospel of John is another good place to start because it’s a good mix of narrative (recounting historical events) and theology (what we believe about God). Or if your pastor has recently started preaching through a book of the Bible, choose that book. You’ll gain so much more from the weekly sermons if you’re studying along during the week.

What Supplies Do I Need?

Don’t worry—I’m not going to send you to Amazon with a list of school supplies. All you really need is a good study Bible (I recommend the ESV Study Bible), something to write with, and something to write on. This is a bold suggestion, but I would like to discourage you from using screens during your Bible study time. It’s too easy to become distracted by social media and notifications. Let God’s voice be the only one you hear—open a physical Bible, and grab a pen and a notebook.

Notes:

  1. Interestingly, the Hebrew word for meditate in Ps. 1:2 means to mumble or mutter aloud to oneself.

This article is adapted from Bible Study by Glenna Marshall.

Glenna Marshall

Glenna Marshall (BA, Union University) is a pastor’s wife and mother of two sons. She is the author of The Promise Is His Presence; Everyday Faithfulness; Memorizing Scripture; and Known and Loved. She is a member of Grace Bible Fellowship in Sikeston, Missouri, where she and her husband have served for over twenty years.

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