A hand full of briars is very uncomfortable. A stone made smooth in a mountain stream is pleasant in my hand, though. If the stone is in my shoe, it can hurt worse than the briars in my hand. A grain of sand in an oyster can become a pearl. A grain of sand in my eye can blind me. […]
But that is not how you learned about the Messiah, assuming you heard Him and were taught by Him, because the truth is in Jesus: you took off your former way of life, the old man that is corrupted by deceitful desires; you are being renewed in the spirit of your minds; you put on the new man, the one […]
You can’t grow old. By not growing, you just become old. You are either growing or dying. You get to decide, no matter what you perceive your limitations to be with regard to health or wealth or other resources. Plants grow best in manure piles. A worker’s appetite works for him because his hunger urges him on. (Proverbs 16:26 Holman […]
We need to have instruction from the Spirit of God if we expect to get anything in life right. That is righteousness – doing things according to the will of the Lord. We must know what needs to be done. We can’t just do what seemed to work last time – we need fresh revelation about what the Lord is […]
“My sheep know my voice…” One of the best environments in which to learn to discern the voice of the Shepherd is in the reading of Scripture. If you have not yet read the whole Book, yesterday would be a good day to start. If you really are going to read it all the way through, it might be wise […]
Do not let grace and truth leave you — bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and esteem in the sight of God and of people. Trust in Adonai with all your heart; do not rely on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him; then he will […]
Your eternal life has already begun. You are not waiting for death and heaven to begin living the future. Learn who your Father says you are and ask Him for the strength and wisdom and character to be that person. If you hate your job, you live for the weekend. If you love your work, because it is flowing out […]
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 […]