A dove is frequently seen on the ground under a bird feeder, picking through the grass for the seeds that other birds disliked or carelessly dropped. A cardinal frequents the feeder, picking through the seed offerings for her favorite flavors, casting the others down to the doves and robins. A swallow loves the heavenly places. Feeding on flying things, she rockets […]
Could it be that we have not found the ends of the earth with either the good news about salvation or the good news about the Kingdom of heaven because our favorite songs have been about us longing to be in heaven rather than about our God already being in the earth? I have studied and shopped for many denominational […]
Romans 3:21-24 God’s righteousness has been revealed. He didn’t use the Ten Commandments, the Kosher Laws, the Community Responsibility Laws, or the Financial Laws to make it known. He used prophets and the Law to inform us about it ahead of time, but He used grace to reveal it. His righteousness is revealed in His people, whom He redeemed from unrighteousness […]
Andrew Murray, in “The Deeper Christian Life,” wrote: The Cause of This Discrepancy Between God’s Gifts, and Our Low Experience Dear fellow believer, I want to say to you, that, if you are not living in the joy of God’s salvation, the entire cause is your unbelief. You do not believe in the mighty power of God, and that He […]
Despite what your mom told you when you tripped that kid in the third grade and thought it was funny, an apology is not saying, “I’m sorry.” I should say more appropriately that it didn’t mean that. A dictionary is not an authoritative rule book on how to use words – it is simply a record of how words are […]
1 Samuel 13&14 When Saul was afraid of the Philistines on whom he had declared a war, he froze and his army therefore hid. One reason they were afraid was that even though there were 3,000 Israelis, only Saul and his son Jonathan had swords! Jonathan decided to use his sword. He and his armor bearer attacked the nearest group […]
1 Corinthians 12:4-26 (6,7) There are different gifts, different arenas in which they are useful, and different kinds of work that the Holy Spirit wants to empower us to do. There is only one Spirit giving all the different gifts and ministries. The Holy Spirit is manifested (revealed or unveiled) in each believer through gift and work, for the good of […]
Mark 6:30-52 Jesus’ disciples participated in the miraculous feeding of 5000 men and their families. When everyone had as much as they wanted to eat, the disciples each gathered a basket of leftovers from what began as five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus then sent His disciples by boat across the sea. At 3am, when they were halfway across, […]
Peter wrote that we should “gird up” our minds. Even flabby weak things look and behave better when you stuff them in a girdle. If you haven’t read 1 Peter 1:10-25 lately, I recommend that you do it today. It is good advice for building a good attitude and perspective on values.
When someone is offering me $12K I look at it differently than when someone is billing me $12K. The “point of view” that I take in any situation can turn it into any number of misunderstandings or re-presentations. If I make all of the observations I answer situations with all day be influenced by the cross of Jesus and the […]