Until you have learned to laugh at yourself, you have a problem with honesty. If something is funny about someone else, it is funny about you, too. If something about you is funny to everyone but you, your pride is more powerful than your desire to enjoy life. One reason for these weaknesses with regard to our abilities to laugh […]
On days when it seems good to us to accuse someone of failure or to expose their weaknesses, it is more good when we have processed the information and the possible responses through the fruit of the Spirit of Jesus. Asking questions, like, “Is my assessment of the situation from the perspective of the throne of grace, where I find […]
Vulgarity literally means “commonness.” When religious people wanted to control people’s access to the Scriptures, they made rules against translating them into “vulgar” languages that people understood. When religious people get offended by certain words, they call some of those vulgar words “cuss words.” What slang word you may use for feces does not change the matter you are speaking […]
I know it is possible that some people reading this have never been “in love.” To set the parameters a bit about what I mean, there is a difference between saying “I love you,” and saying, “I am in love with you.” There is a sense of being lost in the power of influence of someone with whom you are […]
Saul went to the Jewish national leadership in Jerusalem to get letters of authority to persecute followers of “the Way” in Damascus. When he arrived in Damascus, he still had the authority to imprison and kill believers. The Spirit of Jesus spoke to one of the people Saul came to town to persecute and instructed him to heal Saul of […]
Kindness should be no more thought about and weighed out in terms of how we interact with others (especially the difficult ones) than faith or love should be. It is the kindness of our God that leads us to having changed minds and hearts (Romans 2:4). His kindness through us can bring the dead to Life.
Jesus was crucified. Then He appeared to His disciples. Then He taught them about His Kingdom for 40 days. Then He told them to wait in Jerusalem until they received power. In the most threatening environment they could have found themselves in out of the whole earth, Jesus poured out His Spirit on them – when they waited through the […]
There is a beggar who asks me for money every few days. He frequently starts the conversation by thanking me for the help I have given him. Then, he makes small talk about weather or music or his family or neighbors. Then always comes the “by the way…” He is not my friend, though he wants his conversation to make […]
Hagar was a slave from Egypt. Her owner Sarai made her get pregnant by Abraham. She had Abraham’s son, Ishmael, and then Sarai (Sarah) had Abraham’s son Isaac. When Sarah saw Ishmael insulting and mocking Isaac, she became angry and made Abraham throw his son and Hagar out of their camp: Now this was a very difficult thing for Abraham […]
– you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. –(Luke 10:41b-42a Holman Christian Standard Bible ©®) It is good to take our responsibilities seriously. We will be judged with regard to our Heavenly citizenship and our home attitudes and behaviors. It is not good to worry about any of it, though. Not food, clothes, relationships, […]