Stephen De La Vega

  I’m a faith blogger. I develop and lead Bible studies. I published 2 small group study guides and I’m working on a Christian non-fiction inspirational book. I spend a fair amount of time studying the Bible. God wants me to teach. I know this without doubt. But I’m also more tempered today than I was 20 years ago with the words I pen and the studies I facilitate as I consider: Am I leading people in the right direction? Am I honoring God’s Word and His character within my circle of influence? Do I represent biblical truth in ways that move people toward the true God, or do I leave them to piece together ill-conceived notions about Him? The fact is: my understanding is not perfect. It’s not even close. It's impossible to fully understand God and His truth ( Romans 11:33-36 and Isaiah55:8-9 ). We cannot compare to God. He transcends us in every way ( Isaiah40:12-26 ). And as I study and reflect, I realize there is always more to learn.   This post offers a deeper look ...

I’ve been a Christian for 40 years and I was not always productive. I put time and resources into things that were not that important. I should’ve spent my days on more worthwhile endeavors…for life on this earth and for all eternity. Much is worthwhile, but I'm sharing my short list - those things that demand our attention, our very best efforts, and our most costly sacrifices (1 Corinthians 10:23). Don’t be like me. Pay attention to these things now. What follows are endeavors I consider to be critically important. In subsequent posts, I’ll offer more detail. For now, we’ll stay high level because I don’t want us to miss the forest for the trees. Let’s spend time considering what’s important to us and whether it’s also important to God. Here are four endeavors I call “life pursuits” that matter more than most other pursuits. ꟷꟷꟷꟷꟷ Life Pursuit 1: Recognize that everyone is valuable Deep down, we know everyone has value, but do we believe it and live it? Honestly spe...

We see colors when light refracts. That’s God’s design. He also designed each of us differently. Do we appreciate the colors when we look at each other? Jesus chose a Samaritan as the good neighbor in Luke 10, and He spoke to a Samaritan woman at a well in John 4. Jesus was a Jew and Jews didn’t like Samaritans, yet when He healed 10 lepers in Luke 17, only a Samaritan cared enough to thank Him. The other 9 were Jews. It’s easy to develop biases and prejudices as we walk through life. Jesus and the Samaritan leper reached beyond the trending prejudice in favor of healing, honor, and gratitude. And the Good Samaritan offered neighborly love instead of prejudice. What biases do we have? What do we tend to believe about… Men. Women. Children. Persons with Special Needs. Parents. Grandparents. In-Laws. School Teachers. Daycare Teachers. Children’s Ministry Workers. Veterans. Incarcerated Persons. Residents of Assisted Living Facilities. Government Workers. Po...