Anticipating Complete Healing
The preaching of the arrival of the Kingdom of God came with miracles of healing the sick and casting out demons. This was more than compassion for the hurting; it was saying that the promised future had arrived in the present manifested by these miracles. He still heals, but our present healing is not
I Am Blessed
We say it all the time. Sadly, we measure blessing too often by wealth, health and leisure. Yet there are multiplied millions in the world who do not have these things but are blessed. Do we look at the poverty and desperation of our fellow Christians around the world with a little air of
Focus
Feelings intensify with focus. The more you think about how lonely you are, the more lonely you will become. This is also true of multiple other feelings. To dwell on them escalates them. Someone has said, “We need to feel our feelings and move on.” This is not always easy, but it is always
Prayer Driver
Many motives can drive our prayer life: Guilt. Desperation. Special needs. Real hunger and thirst. Deep hurt. Powerful pain. We have all prayed from these places many times. What if our overall desire for prayer was just to be with our Lord? What if prayer times were about loving on our Abba? What if
Making A Difference
As Christian Sisters and Brothers, we are here to make a difference in the lives of people with whom our lives intersect. It is not about building our reputation, portfolio or resume, and certainly not for our power and influence. There is nothing better than to be iron that sharpens iron. Be a mentor.
Loving Self
Most of us love ourselves quite well. We know what the Book says about loving God and others. Putting ourselves down can be nothing less than pride hiding out as false humility. Even self-loathing can be a perverted kind of self-love. The heart can be deceptive to one’s own self. This is why we
Who God Can Use
The people who do not need to be number one are the ones God can use to make a difference in the world. They have no need to get credit. They have no desire for self-focus. They do what they do out of sheer love and not for self-advancement and reward. They are not
Core Church Members
Priscilla and Aquila were Christian Jews who had been exiled from Rome (Acts 18:2). Paul joined them in their tent making business (18:3). They were fellow workers who traveled with Paul and risked their lives for him (Romans 16:3). They hosted a house church in their home (I Corinthians 16:19). They were disciples who
Dealing with Blind Spots
We are fine-tuned experts in picking out the hypocrisies of others, with more blind spots of our own than spots on a leopard. The self-righteous alway wear blinders. We do not know ourselves enough to cry out for the purging that we really need. We have become too busy guarding our holy image to
Grace, Our Victory
Grace is not permission to sin. Grace is a helping energy to enable you to overcome sin. Grace is more than unearned favor. It is unearned blessing extended to enable you to live victoriously. Grace is not a license to do what you want to do; it is power to enable you to do
Self-Discovery
We cannot escape discovering the realities of who we are. Life has a way of boiling up, bringing out, and exposing what is in us. From the Christian perspective, all of these revelations should call us to the One who loves us unconditionally, to whom we cry out for healing. We can’t escape these
Acts of Love
The Father is at work in all acts of love. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love… So we have come to know and to believe
Heaven Came Down
Heaven was at work with Jesus on earth. He was the living demonstration of “Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Heaven came down to earth via the incarnation of Jesus; we beheld His glory. He brought the actions of heaven to bear on this world. He
Inner Scars
Jesus ascended back to the Father with the physical scars we gave Him: hands, feet, and side. The physical scars we bear, as painful as they are, are nothing like the scars on our emotions, heart and mind. These invisible scars we carry with us throughout our lives and to our grave. Does the
On Being A Christ Follower (22)
Following Jesus is not predictable and it is not always safe. It can disrupt our plans and upset our lives. It can take us in places that may unsettle us, along with our comfort. The disciples were not to let persecution upset the mission. The disciples were sent out as lambs in the midst
On Being A Christ Follower (21 )
Following Jesus is following the Good Shepherd. Shepherd means feeder of sheep. Jesus fed the five thousand physical bread and fish. The Gospel of John tells us that the meaning of that miracle was that Jesus was the Bread of Heaven, the true manna (John 6:32-35). “I am the living bread that came down
On Being A Christ Follower (20)
To follow Jesus is to follow the very Prince of Peace. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9). God is a peacemaker. He sent His Son into a hostile world on a mission of reconciliation. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself”
On Being A Christ Follower (19)
Following Jesus means that we move from a self-centered life to a Christ-centered life. Jesus’ first disciples started following Him with visions of glory for themselves in the new kingdom the Messiah would establish. After the cross and Pentecost, they begin to want Him to have the glory. When I crave the limelight I
On Being A Christ Follower (18)
Following Jesus is about living a life that is as different as night and day, darkness and light. 1 John warns us to avoid the practice of sin, which he equates with walking in darkness. “If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do
On Being A Christ Follower (17)
The high priest was chosen from among humankind to make sacrifices for the people’s sins and his own, so that in his intercession for them he would feel their weakness, having himself the same weaknesses (Hebrews 5:1-2). Jesus also came in weakness, emptying Himself of His divine prerogatives, to show the weak how to
On Being A Christ Follower (16)
Following Christ requires more than an initial decision; it requires daily decisions. He wants our thoughtful decisions because He has included us as partners in the great work of His kingdom. “We are God's fellow workers” (I Corinthians 3:9). To do this we must follow the Senior Partner. He has given us His very
On Being A Christ Follower (15)
He knows me; His divine knowledge and the incarnation guarantee that. He became one with us. He does not use His knowledge of me to leave me where I am; He has come to lead me out. He does not use that knowledge to condemn me; the Great Physician uses His knowledge for therapeutic
On Being A Christ Follower (14)
When we do not intentionally follow Jesus we become idol makers. We do not intend to be, but we often fall into it quite unintentionally. We have this propensity to let stuff edge into our lives that edge the Lord out, or at least to one side. It happens, not because we intend it,
On Being A Christ Follower (13)
Without following Christ we can never be what we were meant to be. We have often heard it said, “There is a God shaped void in us that only God can fill.” But may we remember that God is the God who is revealed in Jesus. Only the Christ of God can fill that
On Being A Christ Follower (12)
In following Jesus, three things have to come together as one. “What we know”, “Who we are”, and “What we do.” When these things do not come together in human personality we become fractured and move away from personal wholeness. Being a disciple of a rabbi meant that the disciple was expected to learn