Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in […]
Some people don’t speak up in conversations because they don’t think anyone wants to hear their opinion. Some are just fearful of making a statement that starts a fight that they won’t be able to survive by defending their ideas in. Most people don’t want to hear anyone’s opinion unless it endorses their opinion. They are not interested in what […]
Now by the time of supper, the Devil had already put it into the heart of Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray Him. Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into His hands, that He had come from God, and that He was going back to God. So He got up from supper, laid aside His robe, took a […]
When Jesus instructs us, His commands are invitations. He is hanging from a crane in a Lifeboat and tells us to jump from the sinking ship into the boat He will pilot. When we stop trying to imagine having the strength and courage to jump that far, and realize the command is actually simply to release our grip on the […]
Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I also may be encouraged when I hear news about you. For I have no one else like-minded who will genuinely care about your interests; all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.(Philippians 2:19-21 HCSB ©®) So many distractions swirl around us. Family […]
Problems frequently lead us into people’s lives with opportunities to introduce them to Jesus or to direct them back to Jesus regarding His access to their lives. Our own problems frequently give us opportunities to be re-acquainted with His power to lead and protect and deliver and heal us. Finding the source of a problem is important, because if we […]
All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain surrounded by smoke. When the people saw it they trembled and stood at a distance. “You speak to us, and we will listen,” they said to Moses, “but don’t let God speak to us, or we will die.” Moses responded to the people, “Don’t […]
Perhaps the best leaders have been the best learners. Someone observed to me recently that Moses spent 40 years thinking he was somebody, then spent 40 years learning he was nobody, and then spent 40 years learning what Yahweh can do with a nobody. Saul had his kingdom torn from his hands. David received that kingdom. David did many, much […]
Responsibility = response-ability Our responses to situations are the sources and causes of successes and failures in our lives. Your circumstances do not produce your person and identity. Your responses to your circumstances do. When your responses are listed in Galatians 5:19-21, you will suffer costly failures, and so will the people who depend on you. When your responses are […]
For Christ’s love compels us, since we have reached this conclusion: if One died for all, then all died. And He died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the One who died for them and was raised.(2 Corinthians 5:14-15 HCSB ©®) Jesus died my death. That means that my death has […]