This is an excerpt from the third chapter of By Water and the Word: God’s Gift of Baptism for You by Brian Thomas (1517 Publishing, 2026), pgs 52-60.
Even when the bitter places sink down deep into our bones, the Restorer never relinquishes his grip on you.
To Live Well is therefore not a general advice book, but a message suffused with the gospel.

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His provision always flows downward, furnishing and filling us with his grace and truth right where we are.
Christmas is not only about a cradle in Bethlehem, it’s also about a cross outside Jerusalem where salvation was won for us.
What God perceives is not what our eyes see; he is focused on righteousness because his love creates what is righteous.
Christianity doesn’t start with our speculation about God. It starts with God’s self-revelation.
Christ did not merely urge humanity to be kind. He embodied perfect kindness by giving his life for those who neither earned nor expected such a gift.
This ancient “tale of two mothers” concerns far more than theological semantics—it is the difference between a God who sends and a God who comes.
Was Jesus ambitious or unambitious? We have to say that the answer is…yes.
If Psalms 1 and 2 reveal the Christ who reigns, Psalms 3 and 4 reveal the Christ who remains.
The Christian answer to death is not a disembodied app, but a bodily resurrection.
He has freed you from a selfish fixation on gifts. He has freed you to look to the Giver.
Election is not a riddle to solve. It’s a pillow to rest your head on at night.
God leads us to green pastures. He comforts us with his grace in our darkest valleys.