Can you keep a secret? Maybe you can or maybe not. Secrets are mysterious, hidden, and concealed sometimes for good reason. But sometimes secrets are meant to eventually be revealed. Do you think God keeps secrets? Of course, He does. Some of God’s secrets we will...
Cheek-Crushed-On-The-Carpet Prayers
Cheek-Crushed-On-The-Carpet Prayers The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you but will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV) My dear friend and my dad recently...
Resistance Training
Our muscles grow stronger when we repeatedly push against a weight or force. Similarly, as followers of Jesus, we can grow spiritually stronger when we encounter resistance. Today, we’ll identify the three primary forces that push against us on our path towards...
Unchanging God
Unchanging GodJesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8 (ESV)he weather forecast looked promising for a smooth trip home to New England in late November, 2019, but forty minutes in, a sudden snow covered the road and...
God Gave
We’ve just come through a time of gift-giving and joy. Of course, the most significant gift of all was God’s gift of Jesus to the world. We find this profound truth simply stated in what might be the most famous of all Bible verses: John 3:16. Maybe this verse is so...
Look Out & Look Up
As we survey our current surroundings, we find a wealth of perspectives on “how the world works.” Which of these ideas we embrace will determine how we act and behave. The same was true in Colossians when Paul warned against “fine-sounding arguments” or “hollow and...
The Abundant Church
Despite our romanticism about the early church, they had their fair share of problems - favoritism, theological arguments, and divisions (to name a few). Yet there remained a vision of an abundant church - full of energy, unity, and life. While the church today...
The Dark Night
Following Jesus on the path towards spiritual health sometimes leads us up mountaintops. Here, God's presence is a tangible experience, and activities like prayer, scripture reading, and worship are fulfilling. However, as we continue to follow Jesus, we will...
A Theology of Work
One-third of our lives are spent at work. When you consider errands, chores, hobbies, or raising children, the percentage of our lives we spend working can be significantly higher than 30 percent. Considering how much time we spend working, is there a connection...
Upside Down Authority
When you think of the word authority, what comes to mind? You might think of someone who used their authority to control or manipulate you. If that's the case, the word authority may cause a negative reaction. But as Jesus used the authority given to him by God the...
The Glory of God
The glory of God can seem like a confusing idea. The Bible makes a big deal of it, even making it a matter of life and death. But we tend not to think about it very much. What exactly is God’s glory? What if understanding and seeking God’s glory dramatically changes...
God’s Unstoppable Purpose
We tend to get frustrated when things don’t go our way. And if we’re honest, sometimes our frustration is tied to our stubbornness. But what if God uses tough circumstances to get our attention for a reason? What if He wants to give us a second chance to overcome our...
Where are you, God?
Ever felt like God was far away, uninterested, or worse yet, that He had abandoned you? You’re not alone. In Psalm 13, David expresses the raw emotion of wondering where God is when he needs Him the most. Far from being unspiritual, cries of lament create a dialogue...
You Are Above All
God invites us to authentically express what we’re feeling when we ponder life’s realities. Many of these expressions are recorded for us in the Psalms—the songbook of the Bible. Psalm 8 is a Psalm of praise. In it, David encourages us to instinctively look up and...
Your Life with God
Salvation is often viewed as a singular “event” or moment in our lives. By God’s grace, we receive salvation by believing in the death and resurrection of Jesus to save us. There is a sense in which this is absolutely true, from the moment of belief we are saved...
He’s Got Your Back
“No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord." Isaiah 54:17 OBSERVATION Reading this verse we can be assured...
A Good God
Nothing challenges our view of God like challenges. Maybe, lately, you feel like you’ve had your share of obstacles and hardships. When we’re pressured with difficulties, our idea of a good God can end up on the chopping block. How can God be good when evil exists and...
Here I am, Send Me – Who Will Go?
"Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs form the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: "Behold, this has touched our lips; Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged." Also I heard the...
Here I Am, Send Me – I saw The Lord
"... I saw the Lord high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one with six wings: with two they covered their face, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And they cried to one another and said:...
New Direction
When we find ourselves moving in a certain direction and focused on our goals, it can be jarring to feel like God suddenly is taking us in a new direction. It's hard to consider that what we are currently building is no longer necessary or worse, futile all along. We...
The Throne of God
"Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “ ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” Whenever the living creatures give...