How much of your life is beyond your ability to control it, or fix it, or even understand it? Joseph prevailed in Potiphar’s home because he thought it was normal to be awesome because of his identity rather than waiting until his circumstances confirmed it. He prevailed in Pharaoh’s prison because he thought that it was normal to be in difficult circumstances, but that not being awesome was not normal. […]
Category Archives: Discipleship
Seeking First
Seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness. How very different will our lives be today if we make no change other than to pray before we have problems?
Step by Step
I know, Lord, that a man’s way of life is not his own; no one who walks determines his own steps. Discipline me, Lord, but with justice— not in Your anger, or You will reduce me to nothing. (Jeremiah 10:23-24 Holman Christian Standard Bible®©) If you knew all the details about your future, you would likely be more focused on the plan than on Jesus. If you were convinced that […]
Teachings of Jesus
John 7:17 “If anyone wants to do God’s will, he will know whether my teaching comes from God.” Perhaps the opposite is true, too – if you are convinced that what Jesus teaches is true, you will be more certain to discover what God’s will is for your life and be empowered to walk in it.
Tag
The more distance you either put or allow between yourself and Jesus, the less you know Him. The less you know Jesus, the more distance you either put or allow between yourself and Him. The more you know Him, the less distance between yourself and Him you will tolerate. The less distance you tolerate between yourself and Jesus, the more you will know Him. The first step toward eliminating the […]
How Firm a Foundation
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!What more can He say than to you He hath said—To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled? “Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismayed,For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,Upheld by My gracious, omnipotent hand. “When […]
Useful Pain
No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but healed instead. (Hebrews 12:11-13 Holman Christian Standard Bible®©) Co-operation between yourself and your Lord is what causes […]
Trust Your Father
I marvel when I think about how much torment fellow humans suffer at the hands of “health care providers” without complaint. While managing a health care facility for 6 years, I frequently tried to cheer patients who did have complaints, with the idea that physicians invented the term “patients” to describe the people who were patiently enduring their services. I had little problem convincing them. There is usually a stark […]
Be Filled!
Being filled with the Spirit of Jesus is important. Luke’s descriptions of being filled include the fact that some of the people who were filled with the Spirit in chapter 4 of Acts had already been filled in the event he had described in chapter 2. The idea that someone should be called “Spirit-filled” as if it were a condition that was not affected by our leakiness doesn’t seem to […]
The Joyful Dead
It’s a very odd contrast that we are called both to take up our crosses (or some fresher method of accessing our deaths) daily, but also be the most joyful creatures in the universe. Therefore since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that lies before […]