The safest place in the universe with regard to unclean spirits who might be trying to harm us is the place of absolute surrender and humility before our God. When we begin to defend our actions and failures in answer to the Holy Spirit’s conviction, we insulate ourselves from His help and offer our lives to our enemies. Finally, be […]
We have been given great liberty. It is not license to sin, though. It is license from sin. That doesn’t mean that our liberties won’t be called sin. The more liberty we walk in, the more dangerous we will become to our enemies, and the scarier we might become to our friends. John the Baptizer announced that Jesus was the […]
The laws Yahweh gave to Israel through Moses were not instruction for righteousness. They were revelation of their unrighteousness and how to maintain relationships while under the influence of that unrighteousness. “For no flesh will be justified in His sight by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:20 Holman Christian Standard […]
Herod’s conscience was John the Baptist. Herodias disliked the influence John had on Herod, so she deceived Herod into having his conscience removed. We are usually under the influence of one or more people whose opinions about our actions have weight. Sometimes that influence is great enough to make us serve their values instead of our own. If their directions […]
The greatest victory over your life was won in a place called “place of the skull.” The greatest victory you will win as that war continues will happen in your skull, as you allow Jesus to overcome sin in your life by winning a battle for righteousness in your mind. He intends to accomplish it. Invite Him to do so. […]
I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, and that the Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the […]
If I turn my radio on and it is too loud, I have a volume control knob, and I can turn it down so low that it makes no sound at all. The station is still broadcasting. My radio is still on, and receiving the signal. I can hear nothing because I have closed the door to the sound, though. […]
We are not called to optimism. Some of the ideas in Norman Vincent Peale’s 1960 best-selling book “The Power of Positive Thinking” could help me perhaps have a better life, but would probably be insufficient strength to move me from being called to fulfilling my calling. That is because just having a positive attitude does not make me strong enough […]
We are much more inclined to be upset by the results of our sin than we are to be astonished by our sin. My 40 years of incessant alcohol consumption do not bother me as much as my terminal liver disorder. My loneliness bothers me more than my years of being mean. My stomach ailments need repair much more than […]
Stereotypically speaking, Looking back is done in sorrow or angerLooking around is done in fearLooking forward is done with humility and hopeLooking up is done in faith You cannot change the past. Most people who bring it up the most often are trying to control people by controlling their narrative of it. You can create the future. Do it with […]