Things Not Up For Trade
The salesman said, "Anything I have is for sell or trade". About products and merchandise, you would expect a salesman to say that. This morning I've been thinking about things not up for sale or trade in my life. I will not trade the Kingdom of God for all this world has
Ignorance Is Destructive
Knowledge must be preferred to ignorance. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge” (Hosea 4:6 ESV). The original context is the neglect of truth that comes through God’s law, but there is a much wider application. What we do not know, what we refuse to learn, what we
A Table Set by Grace
Come and eat. Come and drink. If you have no money come. If you do have money, you cannot buy your way; this is a table set by Grace. Mary said, “He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands” (Luke 1:53 NLT). Christ has come as
Necessary Power
The disciples were still hungry for political power even after the cross and 40 days of witnessing the Risen Lord. They still had not gotten over their hunger for a Rome-crushing victory, for their side to win. They wanted political power when what they needed was Holy Spirit power. Jesus bequeathed no other power
Blind spots
Good drivers watch their blindspot as well as being aware when they are in someone else’s blindspot. In our spiritual lives we often have blindspots, blind to our own weaknesses and vulnerabilities. We can be sure that the enemy of our soul is fully aware of these. The way we can be cognizant of
“Jesus, I Trust You”!
The most important thing we can do in every moment and every situation is to trust Jesus. Things and people have a way of edging into His spot, so we end up not trusting our Lord. In the middle of your confusion, uncertainty, oppression, temptation, flashbacks, weakness, grief, darkness, storms, etc., start saying “Jesus,
Living out Commitment
"Commitment is doing what you said you would do, after the feeling you said it in has passed” -St. Camillus. Who of us has had our high resolve to act disappear as the morning fog because we never really acted on it? We felt an inward stir that prompted an impulse to action. We
On Forgiveness (4)
“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14–15 ESV). Why is my forgiveness tied to the way I forgive others? Jesus came as the King who announced Jubilee (Luke 4:18-19).
On Forgiveness (3)
Without forgiving the offender, we are into self-justification and into seeking the support of our friends for our position against the “rascal”. When we don’t deal honestly with our own faults, we always find it necessary to rationalize our own behavior while demonizing our adversary. When we rehearse the old hurtful stories with another
On Forgiveness (2)
Jesus give us the way of forgiveness and how not to retaliate on the cross. Heaven’s angelic armies were a voice call away. The voice that could have called angels called on God to forgive His enemies and all sinners. Jesus in His sinlessness and innocence was totally undeserving of the evil done to
On Forgiveness (1)
Forgiveness gives silence to our cry for justice, revenge and satisfaction. Forgiveness gives silence to my rights and winning. In that silence there is not only peace, there is spiritual and mental health. If that silence is not sought, anger can open the door to resentment and bitterness. This gives “place to the
Clay and Fire
How can clay be strong enough to hold water back? I remember going to look for clay when I was a boy. We would find it in layers by the banks of a small stream that we called a branch. It would be oozing with water and the water that came down the creek
Embracing our Suffering
Suffering is a part of the human experience. Jesus chose to enter fully into the human experience of suffering. Beyond human suffering is Christian suffering. This suffering is that which comes from the price of embracing Jesus as the Son of God. Peter rebuked Jesus because he did not believe the Messiah should suffer.
Bringing Order Out of Chaos
God does not cause all things but he does cause all things to work together for the good of those who love Him. The chaos that happens to us may just be life, but the Divine Logos can bring order out of our chaos. God is not bringing all the bad stuff into your
Good and Bad Memories
Some memories we possess can cause us anxiety; some can bring us comfort. Bad memories bring us pain and trigger regrets; they remind us of failures that we can never go back and fix. Good memories can soothe our grief, warm our hearts and make us feel good. But the fact is, we have
Move Forward
We can let our past destroy our present and our future. Those memories of some failure, sin, embarrassment, shame, hurt, loss, grief are very real. We feel that we can’t move ahead with dreams and plans. By this, we veto vision, miss our divine call, and short circuit our own God-given talents. Pastor Mark
Saviors of the Church
We are certainly to “contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). The truths of the gospel of the kingdom, incarnation, and resurrection of Jesus are to be preserved. But here, I speak of another problem; those who think it is their sole duty to set the church straight. Sometimes
Beyond Imagination
“That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT, Quoted from Isaiah 64:4). This is really not a verse about heaven, though we often quote it as such.
The Mind of Christ
Isaiah asked, “Who has understood the mind of the LORD, or instructed him as his counselor?” (Isaiah 40:13 NIV). It seems that the answer is “No One!” Yet the revelation of the NT changed all that. The coming of Christ and His Spirit opened new vistas into the mind of the Lord. So
Using People
Pharaoh lost his job force and wanted them back. He had not counted on his ill treatment of the Hebrews resulting in their departure from Egypt. He had no one to provide bricks and put shingles on his roofs; no one to provide the hard grubby work that had brought prosperity to the Egyptian
An Artificial World
We have created an artificial world, one that simulates and imitates reality, but is, nonetheless, unreal. We do not even see the earth on which we walk. Our noise has drowned out the music of the universe. We prefer our creations to His creation. We think our reality is all there is, and we
Don’t Oversimplify God
We oversimplify God so we can own Him, so we can control Him, so we can dispense Him to others, so we can be the insiders with the true message. When we oversimplify Him we make Him subservient to our narrow thinking about Him. In this way, we not only keep God away from
The Father’s Vision for You
The Father has desires and a vision for His children. Math may see us as a number. Consumerism sees us as a customer. The boss sees us as an employee. The lustful sees others as a means of gratification. God sees us as children made in His likeness. God sees how His love can
Those God Things
From time to time we often have God things that confirm to us that we are not forgotten. More often than not these things involve people and circumstances that assure us that Someone is involved in our lives doing things that have His definitive fingerprints on them. God likes to help other people through
Breaking Generational Sin
Dysfunctional families create one generation after another of “generational sin”. This is the natural consequence of rejecting God and His ways for our lives. We tend to miss something when we quote Deuteronomy 5:9 and ignore verse 10. (9) “You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God