November 2025 - Soul Survival

“Is the Bible Really Enough for the Problems You Face?” November 30

Nov 30, 2025

Is the Bible really enough for the problems we face today?

Enough for a difficult marriage?

Enough when someone has been abused or neglected?

Enough for life-dominating habits and addictions?

Enough when our bodies are sick, our emotions are overwhelmed, or our past seems impossible to escape?

Most Christians would quickly say the Bible is inspired and without error.

But saying Scripture is inerrant is not quite the same thing as believing it is sufficient.

And that’s where the question becomes personal.

Because if God’s Word really gives us what we need for “life and godliness,” then it should affect where we turn for answers, how we understand our struggles, and what we believe real change looks like.

So what exactly does the sufficiency of Scripture mean?

What does it not mean?

And are there ways we may affirm it with our lips while quietly living as though God’s Word needs something added to it?

We’ll also look at a king humbled as he lived like an animal, three men delivered from a blazing furnace, God’s absolute authority over rulers, and a proverb about the danger of allowing our emotions to rule us.

“Can You Trust God When He Doesn’t Change Your Circumstances?” November 29

Nov 29, 2025

Is there something you’ve been asking God to change for a long time?

A relationship that still hurts.

A prayer that still seems unanswered.

A loss you never wanted.

A diagnosis you wish had been different.

Or perhaps someone sinned against you, and while you’re still dealing with the consequences, that person seems to be going happily on with life.

You know God is sovereign.

You know Romans 8.28.

You know you’re supposed to trust Him.

But sometimes knowing those truths and resting in them are two very different things.

Daniel found himself in circumstances he never chose and could not control. He was taken from his homeland, carried into a pagan culture, pressured to compromise, and eventually threatened with death.

Yet God was doing far more through those circumstances than Daniel could have seen at the beginning.

Could the same be true of the situation you’re struggling with today?

And what if the good God is accomplishing isn’t limited to changing your circumstances?

What if He is also changing you?

“How Deep Are You Going in God’s Word?” November 28

Nov 28, 2025

What if next year really could be your best year ever in God’s Word?

Not because you found the perfect app.

Not because you heard better sermons.

And not because you squeezed in a verse or two whenever you had a spare minute.

But because you finally decided to wade in deeper.

In Ezekiel’s final chapters, the prophet sees a remarkable river flowing from the temple.

At first, the water is shallow.

Then it rises.

Ankle deep.

Knee deep.

Deeper still.

Until eventually it is water deep enough to swim in.

It’s a beautiful picture for thinking about our own relationship with Scripture.

Some truths are easy to grasp.

Others require more time, study, prayer, and careful thought.

And some remind us that we will never exhaust the depths of who God is.

So here’s the question:

Are you content to stay where the water is shallow?

Or could this be the year you finally wade in?

We’ll also look at Peter’s words to believers facing trials and persecution and four attitudes that can help us respond faithfully when life gets hard.

“How Should You Respond to an Unreasonable Spouse?” November 27

Nov 27, 2025

It’s one thing to talk about biblical submission when a husband is loving, gentle, and easy to follow.

But what if he isn’t?

What if he’s unreasonable?

Harsh?

Unsaved?

Disobedient to God’s Word?

Surely Peter couldn’t mean that a wife should still respond with respect and godliness in a situation like that.

Or could he?

And if he does, what exactly does biblical submission require—and what does it not require?

Peter’s words in 1 Peter 3 come immediately after his teaching about believers who were being treated unfairly.

Then he says:

“Wives, likewise…”

That little word matters.

But Peter doesn’t stop with wives.

He turns to husbands and gives them their own sobering responsibility: live with your wife with understanding, honor her, and remember that how you treat her can even affect your prayers.

So what does a Christlike response look like when the person you’re married to is difficult?

And how do we obey these passages without excusing sin, enabling abuse, or returning evil for evil?

“What Does Your Response to Unfair Treatment Reveal?” November 26

Nov 26, 2025

Few things test us like being treated unfairly.

When someone misjudges us, criticizes us, speaks against us, or treats us harshly, our first instinct is often to defend ourselves, strike back, or make sure the other person understands exactly how wrong he or she has been.

But Peter wrote to Christians who knew far more than ordinary inconvenience or hurt feelings.

They were suffering for their faith.

And instead of telling them to demand better treatment, Peter told them something that runs against almost every natural instinct we have.

He told them to live honorably.

To submit where submission was appropriate.

To endure unjust suffering without returning evil for evil.

And to follow Christ’s example.

That doesn’t mean wrong treatment becomes right.

It does raise a searching question:

When someone sins against us, what does our response reveal about who we trust to judge rightly?

And could our reaction to unfair treatment say as much about our faith as the mistreatment itself?

“Could You Be Reading the Bible Without Really Benefiting from It?” November 25

Nov 25, 2025

You can read the Bible every day.

Listen to good preaching.

Take notes.

Study theology.

Even teach others.

And still fail to receive all the benefit God intends from His Word.

Matthew Henry used an interesting phrase when commenting on Ezekiel’s vision. He spoke about those who “profit” from biblical instruction.

What does that mean?

And could there be something that keeps us from going deeper into Scripture even when we’re faithfully reading it?

The answer may have less to do with how much we know and more to do with what we’re doing with the truth we already understand.

We’ll also begin looking at Peter’s words to believers who were suffering in a culture that was often hostile to their faith.

His counsel doesn’t sound much like our modern:

“Don’t step on my toes. I have rights.”

So what did Peter tell suffering Christians to focus on instead?

And could both passages expose something important about what genuine spiritual maturity really looks like?

“When You’re Sick or Discouraged, Where Should You Turn First?” November 24

Nov 24, 2025

What do you do first when you’re sick, discouraged, or simply worn down by life?

Try to push through?

Search for answers?

Call the doctor?

Keep it to yourself because you don’t want to bother anyone?

James gives us a different starting point.

He tells the suffering to pray and the sick to call for the elders of the church.

That doesn’t mean Christians should reject doctors, medicine, or other practical help.

But it does raise an important question:

When trouble comes, how quickly do we turn our hearts toward God?

And what about those times when we’re so weak or discouraged that praying alone seems difficult?

James reminds us that God never intended believers to carry every burden by themselves.

But his words about sickness, anointing with oil, confession, and “the prayer of faith” also raise some important questions.

Does this passage promise that every sick Christian who prays will be physically healed?

Is sickness always connected to personal sin?

And why does James tell us to involve church leaders and other believers?

Today we’ll look at what James says about suffering, sickness, discouragement, prayer, confession, and the kind of steadfast faith that keeps an eternal perspective when life is hard.

“Would You Recognize Temptation Before It Hooks You?” November 23

Nov 23, 2025

A good fisherman doesn’t throw just anything into the water.

He chooses bait designed to appeal to the fish he hopes to catch.

Temptation can work much the same way.

James tells us that we are drawn away and enticed by our own desires.

The bait may come from outside us, but something inside us wants what is being offered.

And that’s where the danger begins.

Sometimes the bait is obviously sinful.

But sometimes it looks surprisingly innocent—even good.

A godly spouse.

Respect.

Obedient children.

Financial security.

A little relief from stress.

None of those things is necessarily wrong to desire.

But what happens when a good desire becomes something we believe we must have?

How can we tell when we’re no longer simply wanting something—but beginning to take the bait?

And could there already be a hook hidden in something you’ve been entertaining?

James shows us the process of sin so we don’t have to be ignorant of how it works.

The question is:

Would we recognize it before we’re reeled in?

“What One Word Would Others Use to Describe the Way You Talk?” November 22

Nov 22, 2025

If the people who know you best had to describe the way you talk with one word, what would they choose?

Kind?

Encouraging?

Patient?

Harsh?

Critical?

Sarcastic?

James says the tongue has remarkable power. With it, we can bless God—and then turn around and use that same mouth to wound someone made in His image.

And he says that ought not to be so.

But changing the way we speak involves more than learning to bite our tongues or choosing better words.

James compares our speech to the water flowing from a spring and fruit growing on a tree.

So what does what comes out of our mouths reveal about what is going on inside us?

And what kind of words should replace the critical, destructive, or useless ones we put off?

Today we’ll also see an Old Testament picture of something every one of us desperately needs before lasting change can take place—a new heart—and why humility is essential if we want to walk closely with God.