Stephen De La Vega

In February we celebrated Valentine’s Day in nearly every country of the world. It’s the month of love and romance. Relationships are on the mind and heart. In this post I share 3 characteristics of friendship between two people who shared something deeper than a romantic love. They shared an inspiring friendship that possibly rivals the best of relationships. Join me in the retelling of a story of brotherly love set in the drama of triumph, fear, dysfunction, jealousy, murderous rants and scheming, loyalty, and courageous faith in a God who wins battles for His favored nation and for His own namesake. Resolution #5: I Will Nurture Quality Friendships A king’s son and his father’s future successor were the best of friends. Their friendship was probably as good as it gets. It was a deep, brotherly love built on common ground, mutual trust, and enduring commitment. This is how King Saul’s son Jonathan characterized his friendship with David, who was the future king of Israel: Jon...

Last year I started this Journey to Resolve series and began working through every 20:24 verse in the Bible. I knew I wouldn’t finish all 15 posts in 2024, but it’s okay. The 20:25 verses carry the same message because we are digging into the context, the stories, the lessons – and they are great lessons for everyone young and old. Maybe older folks like me will find these resolutions a bit more difficult to put into practice because it truly is hard to teach “old dogs new tricks.” However, it is the same Holy Spirit who indwells each of us, so all of us are capable of following God’s lead and resolving to serve Him better, that is, if we rely on His strength. So, let’s do this. Let’s dig in. One resolution per month, and please pray that I can keep up with posting something meaty to chew on every month of 2025.   (If you want to catch up on the first 3 posts in this series, start here .)   Resolution #4: I Will Trust in God’s Strength Just like in Resolution 3 ( I...

  Look up. Into the sky. Can you see the end of the sky? We can’t see the end, can we? And we don’t have to. It’s satisfying to know there is no end. In fact, the phrase, “The sky’s the limit,” means there is no limit. No limit to the length of the sky. No limit to how successful we can be. No limit to how much money we can earn. No limit to what we can accomplish ... No limit. Aim High. Eyes on the prize. We can get there. It works the same with resolutions. Resolution #3: I Will Aim High We discussed worshiping and obeying God in Resolutions 1 and 2 . Worshiping the true God while also worshiping other “gods” is not really worshiping the true God. Obeying God sporadically or less than wholeheartedly is not really obeying God. But if we aim high, we will be more consistent in our worship and obedience. We will be less prone to compromise and, instead, position ourselves to succeed rather than fall short. What I mean by aiming high is honoring God more earnestly. I mean...