Our Present Suffering
If we think we are going to get through life without suffering, we are in for a rude awakening; this way of thinking creates even more problems. We may repeatedly say that life is not supposed to be about suffering; but be sure, it will not change what life will dump into our laps.
Attractive Fruit
The Old Serpent knows how to make forbidden fruit look good. By sleight of words, promising a better way, and diversion from the command, he leads us in his way to our demise and our decay. In the wake of partaking of the forbidden, we hurt ourselves and all those around us. Observe what
Pilate’s Politics
The words, ”If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar's friend” (John 19:12) struck terror in the soul of Pilate. Three times he had said, “I find no fault in him.” (John 18:38, 19:4, 19:6) but now his politics “forced” him to crucify the promised Messiah, King of the world. His political
All Kinds of Greed
In the NT greed was taken seriously. Paul forbade the church to associate with or fellowship with a greedy person (1 Corinthians 5:11). The church throughout its history has patronized greedy persons because of its own greed. Jesus said, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed” (Luke 12:15). “Love of
Pray With The Spirit
We are called to pray with Spirit as the Spirit prays through us. Pray until you hear the Spirit praying through you. This is hearing from Heaven. Pray until your asking is changed to what He wants; “we do not know how to pray as we ought”. “If you abide in me, and my
No Chummy God
Jesus taught us to address God as Father in our prayers. Father speaks of close familial relationship. But Jesus also taught us to say, “Our Father, hallowed be thy name.” Our Father is beyond chummy; He is holy. We are to come to Him with complete reverence and high awe. We are never to
Life Will Test Our Love
The privileged have their own particular set of complaints that the poor cannot relate to nor even comprehend. We complain about goods and services not being the best, when sometimes the poor have none of the things of which we complain. Jesus said, “The poor you always have with you”; He certainly did not
Precious Connections
Some of the greatest shaping of my life has been the positive influences of brothers and sisters in the church network. It has been more than fellowship, though I love the ties that bind us. It is being connected with fellow believers that have modeled Christlikeness in the tough and trying places of life.
Follow The Lamb
Follow the Lamb? We prefer to follow a lion. Mr. Lion gets our vote. We want someone who is strong, commanding and triumphant who will devour our enemies. We forget that Satan is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Following the Lamb to His sacrificial death, who dies in weakness and not
The spirit of antichrist
The spirit of antichrist is that which denies the incarnation; it is to deny that the eternal Christ came in the flesh of Jesus of Nazareth (1 John 4:2-3). It is to deny that there is a perfect oneness of Father and Son in Jesus Messiah. God the Father declared physical matter good in
Seven Ways To Emotional Anxiety
Try to please everyone. Try to change other people. Try to fix other people. Try to compare yourself to others. Try to take responsibility for other people’s actions. Try to change the past by your regrets. Try to carry tomorrow’s burdens today. "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.
Acting On God’s Nature
The way believers are to act and react in every area of their lives should be based on the nature of God. What is the nature of God? What is God like? Look at Jesus! We see God in the face of Jesus. We know what He is like because we have seen Jesus.
Deeper! Deeper!
We may have become a generation of Christians who are a mile wide and an inch deep. We have ceased to think deeply about the grand truths of Christianity. We need to think about how Trinity, incarnation, atonement, and other Christian truths fit together as part of a beautiful story. Our shallowness does
Get Up! Keep Running!
Just because we are down does not mean we are out. Just because we stumble does not mean we must get out of the race. Get back up, and keep going. Even though someone deliberately tripped us does not mean that we retreat to the bench. Keep running, even when your muscles and joints
The Aspects Of Maturity
We tend to think mostly of becoming mature in regard to sanctification’s growth process. That is true. That is the broad brush. But I have been thinking about other aspects of maturity. There is the maturity of faith, which is to trust Him at all times without hesitancy or faltering. There is the maturity
Social Life
Social life can be a barrier to true spirituality or a place to live it. To be with God prepares us to be with people. We were meant to bring the life of God to all with whom we come in contact. Loving our neighbor as ourself comes from loving God with our whole
The Way To The Father
“Jesus is the only Way” is not for in-your-face attacks disguised as evangelism. It was given to Christ’s own followers to remind them that they were to walk Jesus as the Road to the Father. It means that we are to seriously follow Christ as the Way to get there. It is more than
Completing Our Conversion
Prayer is devoting time to the completion of our own conversion. It is the communication with God that makes us grow; it is the communion that forms us. Completing our conversion is the work of our sanctification. God is in the middle of our transformation when we surrender, trust and obey. Prayer is where
Nature, Nurture and Grace
Volumes have been written about what makes us what we are, nature or nurture. Both are incredible forces in our lives. Sometimes nature can triumph over nurture and sometimes nurture can redirect nature. What I would like to suggest here is that when nature and nurture are jointly touched, changed and channeled by grace
Gifts and Purpose
The gifts God has given you are your call to ministry and purpose. You find meaning when you are using your gifts; you are confused about the purpose of your life when you are not serving with your gifts. Have you not found that to be true? Purpose is always about helping other people;
Repeated Promises
Why did God keep bringing Abraham back to his call by repeating the promises (Genesis 12-18) of giving him a land and making him a blessing to all the earth? Why do you and I need to keep hearing the promises of God? We forget. We lose track of where we are. We get
Being A Blessing
Abraham was not great before his call; he became great after his call. A nobody became somebody because he heard and obeyed God’s call. He became great because he lived out this call. God takes nothing and makes something out of it. He takes us who have no future without Him and gives us
Justification and Righteousness
Both of these words are from the same Greek word. It helps if we can understand that righteousness is a right relationship; it is a right relationship with God, our fellow humans and the covenant. Justification has been misunderstood because we have made it a legal or forensic word. When we come to Christ
Barren Churches
Israel was preserved a number of times because God touched barren women; you can read it in their history. It started with Sarah and continued through other barren women giving birth in the Messianic line. The church must realize that unless the Spirit of God touches our barrenness that we cannot have life or
Living Hope
The word hope can be a nebulous word. How many times have we been disappointed because a hope was never realized? Hope that does not have a foundation can lead us on, trap us, depress us, and be devastating to our lives. The hope that we have in Jesus is firm hope based on