Haters Gonna Hate
It is a popular notion today that if we believe in Jesus and do our best to follow Him that we will be happy, healthy, and wise. The problem with this view is that Jesus never said any such thing; quite the opposite. Jesus’ message to His followers was that, if we...
Becoming a Friend of Jesus
Last words are lasting words. When someone special says goodbye, the experience can be moving and memorable. Imagine how Jesus’ closest friends felt when He told them He was going away. That conversation shaped them for life. Jesus’ words to His disciples prior to His...
Before You Go
A cast or brace or injection cannot heal fractured hearts or bandage wounded souls. I am aware that my patients desperately need Jesus. But in the few minutes that I have, how do I point them to Him and tell of His love? Sometimes, I feel an overwhelming pressure to meet their needs. I have found a new grace-full, prayerful peace as I go about my day if I practice His “All” before I “Go”.
Stay Connected
Last words are lasting words. When someone special says goodbye, the experience can be moving and memorable. Imagine how Jesus’ closest friends felt when He told them He was going away. That conversation shaped them for life. Jesus’ words to His disciples prior to His...
Valuable Real Estate
I recently discovered that my night stand has a real estate problem. Since I’m a high-maintenance sleeper, it’s already fairly crowded with all the things I like to have close at hand – my phone and glasses, tissues, water, lip balm, cough drops, Kindle and such.
Promised Holy Spirit
With departure can come anxiety on the part of those left behind. Jesus knew His disciples would experience a sense of loss and confusion after he left, so He helped them understand what they were supposed to do and how they would be able to accomplish it. These ideas...
A New Perspective
Last words are lasting words. When someone special says goodbye, the experience can be moving and memorable. Imagine how Jesus’ closest friends felt when He told them He was going away. That conversation shaped them for life. Jesus’ words to His disciples prior to His...
He Is There
Time and time again it is in the hard moments, in the dark moments, in the depths of my despair, that God shows his nearness to me. As I’ve walked the winding road, not sure of my direction, God has shown me that he is right beside me. He loves me fiercely and guides my every step.
Betrayed
It’s hard to imagine anything that is more painful than betrayal. Betrayal, by its very nature, can only be done by someone close to us; by someone we trust. The results are devastating and shake us to the very core. As Jesus was preparing for His departure, He was...
Listening Prayer
The practice of listening prayer has opened my eyes to the “new things” God is doing. It involves making space to hear from God by quieting my soul, surrendering control and listening for His voice.
Role Reversal
Just prior to His death, Jesus did the unthinkable. In the upper room with the disciples, Jesus turned greatness upside down. He modeled servanthood. He taught the disciples the remarkable principle of role reversal and launched an unstoppable movement through those...
Peace on Earth
“Peace on earth” is still an illusion, thousands of years later. Peace in my house is an illusion, to be honest. So often my circumstances are not peaceful. I feel stressed, worried, and overwhelmed. So where is peace in a world that is full of turmoil?
Thirsty
As I was doing some gardening a few summers ago, I was struck by the irony of my thirsty pansies. I’d planted them around our well cover, to camouflage it and keep the mower away. I found it ironic that they were sitting right on top of the water source for our entire house, but had no way to access it. Their roots simply were not deep enough.
Which got me to thinking: How often am I thirsty, sitting right on top of the source of Living Water, but don’t access it?
God is Infinite
Over and over again, the Bible tells us God is infinite. While it’s difficult to understand what this really means, we’ll do our best to try. And as our understanding of this truth grows deeper, it has the potential to change our lives for good.
God is Holy
God is holy, and in order for us be in relationship with Him, we also must be holy. When we accept the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf, we enter into a right relationship with God. From that moment on, God sees us as holy! But that’s only half of the equation....
God is Gracious
We all live in a world full of demands. We can choose how many we subject ourselves to, but we can’t avoid them altogether. Have you ever considered what motivations drive you most and from where they come? What happens when we fail to meet the demands? More often...
God is Present
God is present everywhere and at all times. That is one of the things the Bible says we can know about God. But many of us often feel like God is anything but present in our lives. It can sometimes feel like God is nowhere to be found, like we can’t connect with Him...
God is Generous
When someone is generous they give more of something (like time or money) than is necessary or expected. Sometimes we're generous because we’ve been blessed with an abundance. We can also be generous with scarce resources, as we’re motivated by love or compassion....
God is Just
The fact that God is love is unmistakable. But God is also just. God’s justice reminds us that some things are right and some things are sinful. And sinful actions deserve punishment. When you get to know God better, your suspicions may be confirmed; you may discover...
God is Three in One
The Doctrine of the Trinity—that God is One in Essence and Three in Person—is one of the most ancient and well established beliefs in Christianity. It is also one of the most perplexing, confusing, and seemingly irrelevant beliefs about who God is. Why has the church...
God is Jealous
It’s almost inconceivable to think of jealousy as a virtue. It’s an undesirable attitude to be avoided at all costs. But as we get to know God, we soon discover that He is jealous. How can jealousy be wrong for us and right for God?
God Transforms
All who believe in Jesus are transformed by God from sinner to saint! The Apostle Paul’s letters in the New Testament often referred to the believers as saints. So if God (and Paul) sees believers as saints, why is the behavior of so many Christians unsaintly? As...
God is Trustworthy
Trust can be a difficult matter to talk about depending on your upbringing and your life circumstances. Understandably, many people have difficulty trusting others because they have been hurt many times. Even approaching the subject of trust we may begin to stiffen...
God as Father
On the adventure of getting to know God, we soon discover that God is a father. But God is no ordinary father. He exhibits the best things of fatherhood in a perfect way. And He invites you into a relationship as His child.
God is Knowable
It’s possible we can embrace ideas about God that are entirely incorrect. People often live in a way that implies God is distant and disinterested. What if the opposite is true about God? We can enjoy a completely different experience when we understand we can know...
Reconciling Accounts
At salvation we’re entrusted with a gift that we can invest and enjoy or ignore and squander. But one thing is for sure: we will give an account of our lives before God. Living for Jesus never goes unnoticed by Jesus. He promises to faithfully reward those who have...
Lasting Impression
Understanding the difference between salvation and discipleship is one of the most critical distinctions in the entire Bible. At the heart of this discussion is the question of our behavior. What is required of us to keep our salvation and how much sin is “allowed”...
The Time It Takes
Once you understand the distinction between salvation and discipleship you’re poised to make more sense of the spiritual life. A major piece of the Christian life puzzle centers on the time it takes to get salvation and the time it takes to grow. Get this wrong and...
The Price to Pay
It’s clear that God wants to communicate with us. But sometimes the things of God can be difficult to understand. When we look carefully at the concepts surrounding the spiritual life, we discover a simple, basic distinction that profoundly informs our understanding...
Under Grace Not Law
While many Christians admit that salvation occurs apart from the keeping of the law, they hasten to insert the law as a standard for living the Christian life. What is the purpose of the Old Testament law? And more specifically, what does it mean to be under grace and...