Not A Bully Club
When Jesus said, “I am the way”, He did not say it so we, who know, could use it as a bully club to beat up on the ones who do not know. It is a grand invitation, a winsome mystery. It is a road map to help us avoid detours to the Father.
Pursue The Lamb
Follow the Lamb. He leads us straight to God. He is the revelation of Who God is. “He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature (Hebrews 1:2). ”No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He
Jesus Christ
When we say Jesus Christ, let us not forget what we are saying. Christ is not Jesus’ last name. It is Greek for the Hebrew Messiah. Messiah means “Anointed One”; Jesus is the long promised descendent of David who has come to set up an everlasting Kingdom, the ultimate government. This is way more
Taking A Stand
The angel said to Joseph, “Take the young child and flee to Egypt.” Why didn’t the angel say, “Stay right where you are and I will show Herod a thing or two”? Herod could not have fought against one heavenly angel. There is a time to flee and a time to stand. There is
Kingdom Arrival
The message of the Kingdom of God has become a most neglected theme in the church. This is partly because we have defined the gospel in ways that have nothing to do with the Kingdom of God; in the NT, gospel had everything to do with the Kingdom, God ruling among men. The proclamation
Guard Your Thoughts
Keep your mind and heart clean and your life will be clean. You have heard it said of the mind, “Garbage in and garbage out”. Jesus taught us that evil originates in the human heart, and when it comes out it defiles the person. It is hard to keep our minds clear with all
Time and Repentance
Time is bent toward repentance. Every day is a second chance to get it right, to move from wrong to right, to move from good to better, to move from better to best. It is an opportunity to love more fully, give more generously, to pray more effectively. Each new day is the patience
Truth and Humility
We must not pride ourselves in discovering truth, when in fact it is not ours; we only discovered what was already there. We are to thank God for it; thank God that we see it and humbly embrace it. Arrogance is not the proper stance to carry truth, only humility is. The way we
Mindset (4)
Make up your mind to not be governed by the turmoil around you; don’t let the maddening things around you make you crazy too. Let Christ’s kind of peace rule your life. Let gratitude be your way of thinking; there are more good things to focus on in your life than what might be
Cross Bearing
It has become popular to identify cross-bearing to some infirmity, problem or suffering that life has placed upon us. There is an element of truth in that, but it must be put into NT perspective. Jesus bore His cross by suffering and death, submitting to persecution, rather than fighting or protesting, to demonstrate love
Equipping the Unlikely
God calls unlikely people. Paul the persecutor. Matthew, the tax collector. James and John, sons of thunder. Simon the Zealot (a revolutionary). Peter, the rugged fisherman. God’s grace drew, trained and equipped them. God does not leave us as He found us; He changes us into what He wants us to be. The odd
A Throne Named Grace
My wounds are connected to His wounds; my suffering is joined to His suffering. My sorrows are connected to the Man of Sorrows. By incarnation, He came not merely to suffer for us but to be a co-sufferer with us. He feels our pain and suffering; our infirmities weigh upon Him. He overcame temptation
Surefooted
A mountain goat amazes us with how surefooted they are. He is ever feeling for a solid place for his foot. If he, or we, are standing on unstable ground, it is another story. There are some folks standing on shifting sand, and no matter how surefooted they think they are it is not
A Bit or His Eye
Horses need a bit in their mouth to help them do their job. Sometimes, when fully trained, they can respond to their owner without that tug on the corners of their mouth. If we love our Master, we delight to do His will. To bite the bit is to reject the will of the
Supernatural Energy
Paul describes his work in discipling the church as both “toil and struggle”; it was not easy. But that is not all, he said that in the toil and struggle he had the very energy of Christ at work in him. Now, there is the secret! We are never ever expected to do the
A New Center, A New Mission
“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple…. for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:1, 5b ESV). Isaiah was said to have had a close relationship with king
Our Merciful King
“The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made” (Psalm 145:8-9 ESV). Think about our King. Gracious. Merciful. Slow to anger. Abounding in love. Steadfast love. Good to all. Not just some. His
Our Righteous King
“The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth (Psalm 145:17-18 ESV). Righteousness is about right relationship. It is to be right, as in just and compassionate with other humans. It
Praising our King
“I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.” (Psalm 145:1-3 ESV). King Jesus deserves our verbal praise; He is worthy.
Victory Through Christ
Jesus won the victory for us in an unanticipated way and in an odd place. He won the victory by receiving in His own body the full weight of evil on the cross. It took Him to His grave; it looked like defeat. But His Father raised Him from the dead; at that moment
Command or Invitation
We are instructed as disciples to pray at all times and about everything. “Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication” (Ephesians 6:18a ESV). Is that a command or an invitation? It is a job or joy? Is it drudgery or delight? Prayer is certainly a discipline. Every prayer is
Help Wanted!
We see “Help Wanted” signs everywhere. God has always been looking for much needed help; those who would be co-laborers with Him. God found Abraham in a hotbed of idolatry and as the one true God made a covenant with him. God went seeking Moses for a mission to Egypt. God found Samuel in
Turning Things Around
People can do horrible things to each other. They can mean to hurt you; they may even try to destroy you. They can make you lose your job or make it miserable if you stay. They can slander your name with their tongue; they can kick you when you are down. Joseph found out
Partnering with God for Good
“We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28 RSV). The Greek for “works with those” (“work together” KJV) that Paul uses here He uses in two other places (1 Corinthians 6:1 & 2 Corinthians 3:9); these are about God
Working with God
The Father is at work in our world today by His own Spirit-Energy. He works at creating new stars that populate a billion galaxies and He works in the lives and systems of those who populate the earth. He creates. He sustains. “He upholds the universe by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3