I sat in the coffee shop with a dear friend, savoring a  cup and chatting. After catching up on life and health issues, we discussed life, faith, God, and the church.

We shared times when we had seen God’s hand undeniably at work. There were miracles and divine appointments. We talked about the skepticism that sometimes greets us when we speak of such things, even from fellow believers.

We talked about the simplicity of the Christian faith. As a believer, you trust Jesus by faith, strive to follow Him, and love others. What could be simpler?

It is simple, but it isn’t always easy. People tend to conflate the two or use the terms interchangeably. Simplicity doesn’t mean ease.

Following Christ means we must humble ourselves and throw ourselves on His mercy. That can be a nearly impossible task.

Loving others sounds like it should be simple, but we all know it’s not. We might find it easier to love others who love us back, but many people (all of us sometimes) are downright unloveable. It takes the power of the Holy Spirit to help us love.

Striving to follow Jesus should be a cakewalk. Well, it might be if it wasn’t for our sinful nature, rebellion, and the world’s pressures.

The Scriptures don’t promise that a Christian’s life will be easy. We need to follow the simple path, not the easy one. Jesus warns against the easy way.

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Matthew 7:13-14

The Christian life can bring many hardships. It can be challenging to live.

Yet, it can bring us great peace and joy and leads us to life everlasting in glory. Hold fast, my dear friends, when the simple way deviates from the easy path.

Stay the course. Trust the one who loved you enough to come as a child and live amongst us only to be tortured and killed to set us free.

Be blessed

Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

Kevin

Gleanings From The Word

Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life. 

Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)

Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. Your value in God’s eyes is so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that his plan for heaven will not be complete without you.

__________________________________________ 

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© 2025 Gleanings From the Word, K.F. “Kevin” Corbin. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.

Often, we get sidetracked on our walk with the Lord and pulled down any number of rabbit trails. It can even start with good things, but before long, we find ourselves tangled in the brush, covered in scratches, and wondering which way to turn next. We may even have completely lost sight of both our original goal and the path back.

We can get lost in arguing about unimportant doctrines and practices. Now, before you get your hackles up, let me assure you that I am all for sound doctrine and wish that the “average Christian in the pew” knew what they believed and why they believed it better than they do. There is an appalling level of biblical illiteracy and doctrinal weakness within the church as a whole.

Having said that, there are many divisions within the church over unimportant and trivial matters. While admonishing Timothy about sticking to sound doctrine, he also warned him about foolish arguments.

Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. 2 Timothy 2:23-26

In all likelihood, the Lord does not care what color the sanctuary carpet and walls are. Yet many churches have been decimated by arguments over such things. Should the pastor weigh a suit, a robe, or blue jeans? Again, I suspect the Lord probably does not care if the truth is being proclaimed and people are being drawn to Him. Yet, I know pastors who have been admonished because their shoes were not shiny enough.

Another is the exact timing and nature of the second coming. Will we be raptured? If so, when? This is great material for discussion and has strong opinions from all sides. Ultimately, we will not know until He comes back or we join Him in the air. So why do we not accept it as an area where good and godly people can disagree?

Bible translations are yet another. Oh, I can already feel the hate mail being typed. Some translations are superior to others, and a translation beats a paraphrase hands down (for accuracy, although not always for ease of reading) … yet even a poor paraphrase that is being read beats no Scripture or a great translation that sits on the shelf gathering dust. Yet churches divide over such things. Lighten up people! Jesus never spoke a word of English during his entire life on earth. All translations are people’s best efforts to be faithful to the truth.

Let us stick to winning people to Jesus, ministering to them, equipping them to minister, and sending them out. Let us not wander into the rabbit trail of foolish arguments and, in avoiding those trails, avoid the snares of the devil.

Until next time, as someone once said, “Remember to keep the main thing the main thing.”

Be blessed

Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

Kevin

Gleanings From The Word

Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life. 

Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)

Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. Your value in God’s eyes is so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that his plan for heaven will not be complete without you.

__________________________________________ 

Did you know that we have an email version? It has the same great content but in a different format.

Subscribe today: https://mailchi.mp/f27bbeb09c22/gleanings-1 

For an archive of many back issues, visit our website at https://gleaningsfromtheword.com.

© 2025 Gleanings From the Word, K.F. “Kevin” Corbin. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.