Salvation Heals
Sin is more than lawbreaking that needs forgiveness; it is a sickness and brokenness that needs to be healed. Salvation is more than deliverance from guilt; it is the healing of the soul. Sin is a failure to love; when we do not love, it sickens our very being; the sign of our recovery
Giving and Receiving Love
Our purpose in life is to give, receive, and experience love; we were created for no less than this. This is a bundle to be held together, both the giving and receiving of it. Some want only to perfect the receiving. They become narcissistic takers. Some can give but are too proud to humbly
An Instrument of Christ’s Love
We think we have to fully understand someone’s problems before we can act or help them. The truth is, all the facets of their problems we probably cannot know. We may try to draw conclusions about other people that end up being partial and incomplete. God alone can discern, understand or evaluate all the
Surrender to the Cross
Dying to self is not an abstract spiritual experience. It is what you do practically day by day in the circumstances and relationships of your life. Even our spiritual experiences are tested and proven in these two arenas. The call heard and answered is a call to be lived. The surrender at His cross
You Are the Temple of God
Since my physical body belongs to Christ and He dwells in it as His temple, then I must reconsider how I think of myself. I am not free to abuse what is His with the harmful. What I eat and how much I eat is taking care of His body. The gnostics separated spirituality
Unrealistic Expectations
Do not expect to have growth and maturity without discipline. Self-discipline with the discipline of the Lord is necessary for the maturity of the Father’s children. Do not expect to have the joy of the summit without the labor of the climb. The steep grades of difficulty must be conquered. Do not expect resurrection
Feelings and Presence
There are times when the presence of our Lord is so real that it is overwhelming. There are times when we have no sense of His nearness. These are the times that, by faith, we hold firmly to Him. Never doubt the nearness of your Shepherd. Know that He is most attentive to His
The Greatness of the Creator
Creation was designed by a Mind greater than any mind that will ever look at it, even greater than the sum total of all minds that have ever looked at it. We have not even begun to grasp how ‘great is our God’. Be observant, for creation speaks of the matchless majesty of God.
Obedience as Worship
When the believer forgives another, it is an act of worship to the great Forgiver who graciously has forgiven us! To do the things the Lord taught us is indeed adoration to our God. The action of obedience is beautiful worship. Going the second mile, being kind to those who are unkind to
The Gates to Heaven are in Odd Places
“Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it’" Genesis 28:16 (NASB). Have you been there, thinking that you were alone, only to find out later that the Lord was there? In your grief? In your rejection? In your loss? In your
Regaining Strength
“Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his presence continually” 1 Chronicles 16:11 (NRSV). There are times when our strength fails, when it seems like we cannot go on. It is in these times that we must remember that life is to be lived, not in our own strength, but with the strength that
Night and Morning
“Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” Psalm 30:5b (ESV). No matter how long your night is, you can always look for morning. Look back at other nights you have gone through when morning finally came. Hold His hand! He said, “I am the Light of the world.” To
Tenacious Hope
Our hope refuses to die because God has made a covenant with us in His Only Begotten Son. This blood covenant shows God’s relentless love for us. He will return. When He appears, “We will be like Him,” (I John 3:2). This hope will not disappoint us (Rom 5:5). The promises of God are
His Joy
Jesus has joy when we do the right thing. The souls who trust all to Jesus want Jesus to be happy with the sacrifice more than they want their own happiness. To want the joy of our Lord more than we want our own, makes us His love slaves. It is the foundation of
The Great Shaper
The prayer to be like Jesus is heavier than we think. The great Shaper will shape you through your circumstances. There may be rejection, loneliness, wilderness, mockery, persecution, sorrow, tears, weariness and manifold trials. These things that are often a part of everyone’s life will have a special role in your Jesus-like shaping. In
Perseverance Needed
Christian perseverance is persistence with faith in it. It may involve suffering, fatigue and fear, but it keeps on going. It has a goal in mind, an end in view. The believer looks to the Lord and endures. Perseverance builds a legacy and blazes a trail that can be followed. Perseverance invariably trumps talents,
Maturing Faith
The faith at the beginning of our journey is a grace inspired trust in our faithful Father. The goal of that grace is to produce holy character and restore us to the divine likeness. As the Spirit does His character shaping work in us, we begin to show true humility, compassion, gentleness, kindness, etc.
Sins of Others
Gossipers get a feel-good addictive surge out of bad news. Personal sins of others delight them like the discovery of hidden treasure. They are seeking to show themselves righteous by comparison. This is a sick kind of self-righteousness that wants the hearer to conclude, “I am so much better than that.” The solution is to confess our
Lord and Friend
Some friends bring out the worst in each other. The friends we select and the relationships we allow to develop out of those friendships can have great positive or negative impacts on our lives. Henry Ford said, “My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.” Jesus will do that.
Motions of the Spirit
There is a flow and movement to the Holy Spirit that the believer is to move with and not hinder. Our Father is moved with compassion toward the world. When our Father’s Spirit moves in us, in His purposeful ways and planned moments, we touch the needy as Jesus did. The motions of the
Loneliness
Focus on your loneliness and you will feel even more lonely. Instead, focus on the work God has given you to do. Get involved serving those around you. Focus on God Himself. Millions of people, by choice or circumstance, are left to live alone. To focus on your aloneness is to miss the
Creation’s Order
Live in harmony with the created order. Your body and soul gets out of sorts when you allow yourself to be filled with bitterness, anger, un-forgiveness and resentment. Human bodies and spirits work best with the Christian virtues of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and self-control. That’s the way the Creator
Looking at His Face and His Eyes
Some persons avoid worship because they do not want to stand before God and make eye contact. We either love the darkness because of sin or we love the Light and come to it. Some atheist will admit that they would have to change some of their behaviors if they believed that there was
Be a Jesus Bridge
The reason the world does not know Jesus may be because they have met us. The reverse can also be true: the reason they know Jesus is that they have met Him in us. It is a shame when we do not represent Him well. We must never forget whose we are and to
I Am with You
Testing in the life of the Christian is inevitable. We invariably go through dark valleys, rough times of testing and struggles that stretch us beyond what we think we can endure. But there is One who is with us, who will grant counsel and empower us while we are being tested. He is the