Not Made Up
The story of Jesus was not what someone decided to make up. It is the story of one who came to live among humans; they bore witness of who He was and what they saw. “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of
Our Reaction to Trials
We don’t like them. We think they are an unnecessary interruption to life; truth is, they are just life. Life is made up of these difficulties; the believer may have a whole new set of troubles. James taught that we are to count it joy when we enter into trials, not because of the
God Uses Aliens
Rahab, the Canaanite, protected the spies and became a part of the Messianic bloodline. Uriah, the Hittite, was more faithful at one point to the cause of Israel than was David the King. Ruth, the Moabite, possessed a righteous faithfulness to Naomi that brought her a new future as well as a place in
Unity Matters
Unity matters to the Father; it matters so much He sent His Son on a gathering mission. Jesus came to save Jew and Gentile, male and female, black and white, brown and yellow, poor and rich, etc.; He came to unite then into one family. Parents want unity and harmony among their children. They
Life’s Burdens
“Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you” Psalm 55:22b (NASB). This is a wonderful promise. Most of us find that it is not always easy to do. Sometimes we have short-term burdens. Sometimes we have to deal with life-long burdens; these are the kind that we end our day with
The Christian Life
The Christian life is not an achievement; it is a deep surrender. It is not an arrival, but a journey. It is a poverty that has found true riches. It is a discovery that makes you desire to sell all else to have it. It is not our possession; it is the One
Marks of the New Birth
Belief in Christ: “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him”. (1 John 1:5:1 ESV) Loving each other and obeying Jesus’ words: “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His
A True Shepherd
David was a “shepherd” who became a king; David’s descendent would be our shepherd. Jesus was a king who became the Good Shepherd. The standard for OT kings was that they had to truly shepherd, to truly care for the people. Most of their kings and leaders only cared for themselves; they consumed and
God Seekers
The Father has sent out an invitation for you. “Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near” (Isaiah 55:6 NASB). We seek God until we are found by Him and we continue to seek God to get to know Him more and more. Seeking God is not
On Confessing Jesus
“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:15 ESV). This is deeper and more profound than at first glance. We read it as instruction/formula for conversion; this is much much more; it is a profound insight about the nature of conversion itself.
“Depart from Me”
“But Lord, I accepted you as my personal Savior”. Might He say, “But you never accepted me for who I am. You never let me be the true Lord of your life. You shaped me like you wanted Me to be. Yes, you believed that you could use Me only for salvation. I often
Facing Death
All of us are headed to our moment of physical death. Death is total for every generation, 100 percent! We need not dread it nor fear it. Since we are following the One who is called Life, then death does not have the final word. John Wesley said, “Our people die well”. We can
Lion and Lamb Ways
When the Lion lies down with the lamb, the lamb wins. A lamb cannot defend itself against a lion. Lions roam, compete, hunt, fight, kill and devour the weak. It is a world in which the strong triumph and the weak are sacrificed. The Lamb of God said “Blessed are the meek, for they
Co-Reigning
The NT tells us that we currently reign with Christ. That is, we are currently allowed to share the throne with Him. Digest that! He is the Prince of Peace. He refused to establish His kingdom with the sword; He is also opposed to using it to enforce His rule. If I am going
Right with Each Other
We cannot truly get our relationships with our fellow humans right until we get our relationship right with God. He is the One we are to love and serve with our whole being. This is the foundation of putting things right with ourselves and with each other. The further we get away from God
Sin and Deception
There is a deception that precedes sin and a deception that follows it. The former we think about but the latter we don’t. When one sins, the deception that follows can come from the Accuser or it can come from one’s own rationale. These deceptions are all designed to avoid responsibility or to minimize
Ask for Jesus
Solomon did not ask for “riches, possessions, and honor”, instead he asked for, and received, wisdom; because he asked for wisdom, God also gave him “riches, possessions, and honor” (2 Chronicles 1:12). We ask for lots of things. God is not a genie with a bottle; though many would like that. We are often
Leaving the Past
Don’t let your past destroy your present; it is so easy to do. Our failures can loom so large that they can paralyze our actions, if we let them. Sometimes it is the shame of the past that defeats us; at other times it is regret over poor decisions. We mourn lost opportunities; we
The Simple Way
We are often given to making our walk with God complicated. We want to boast about doing great things for God when the simple things we do will be the best. He wants my whole heart to love Him and His other children. When I encounter a human need I am to love being
This Moving Moment
The past has a way of intruding into our present. There is nothing about it that we can change, though we bear its scars and try to learn its lessons. The past was gone one second ago. The future starts one second from now. The present, this moving moment between the past and the
Unique You
Every person is unique. It is a testimony to the unimaginable creativity of our Creator that everything is different, even things we naively think are the same. God is at work through each person’s uniqueness to reveal His multi-splendored glory. He reveals Himself to you like He can reveal Himself through no other. When
Do Days Teach?
What has this year taught you? Patience! Endurance! Fortitude! Did you learn from your mistakes? Did you learn better ways to relate to life and the folks around you? Did you learn to value family and time together with friends more? Are you more generous, more caring, more compassionate? We profit most from life
Wise Men
The coming of the wise men to worship Jesus conceals a prophecy that is inspiring to contemplate. It is an advanced picture of all kings and kingdoms bowing before King Jesus. It is about Gentiles coming to bow before a Jewish King; the OT prophecies speak often of that. Jesus’ Kingship is global and
Giving’s Motivation
Give to those who cannot repay you. Parties are thrown to get to go to bigger parties. Gifts are given expecting equal or larger gifts in return. Laws often get passed by trading votes for some expected repayment. Favors are given for favors in return. What if we learn to give not expecting the
Bring Your Gift
One of the great Christmas traditions is the giving of gifts. The wise men brought gifts to the toddler Jesus about two years after His birth. Some have felt that giving a gift to others is a perversion of Christmas. I think not. Consider this, do we not love Jesus by loving others? Do