What a blasted word. Or a blessed one. Again. To repeat. To mimic a former behavior, instance, or circumstance. Paul said, “In [this] freedom Christ has made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery [which you have once put off]” (Galatians 5:1). We have a choice. ...
“Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3). A young man recently visited our church. I was told that he had given his heart to Jesus in one of our small groups. The first day he attended church, this young man –who seemingly had no prior church experience– went to the altar during worship. ...
Here’s a confession you should make daily: “I have been enabled and endued with Christ’s strength to recover and increase in every area of my life!” When we read the encouragement Paul issued to believers in Ephesus, this is his admonition: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10). Power and might ...
The author is unknown. In fact, I don’t remember where I first heard this story, but it perfectly illustrates the love of our Father and the price Jesus paid to set us free. A man was walking through town one day when he saw a young boy coming toward him swinging an old, rusty birdcage. In the bottom of the ...
“In the way of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death” (Proverbs 12:28). Hold a man’s head under water, and he will fight you to come up for air. It’s in every person to LIVE and not die. This is how God created us… with breath in our lungs, hope in our hearts, and a desire ...
There’s always a lot of discussion about our monetary system, and those who have invested in gold have seemingly made a wise decision because its value continues to increase. But there is one commodity apparently far superior in value– our faith. Hesitant believers will argue that “faith” isn’t going to pay the mortgage or save our country from a fiscal disaster, ...
In his letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul made an interesting statement: “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself” (1 Corinthians 4:3). How many of us make it “a very BIG thing” to be judged? Whether by ...
At any stage of life, our enemy, the devil, loves using the weaknesses of our flesh as a weapon against us; much like the bully who grabs our wrist, swinging it toward our face, yelling, “Quit hitting yourself! Quit hitting yourself!” Satan targets our insecurities and then laughs at our self-destruction, which is why the Bible says we can fall ...
I wonder if we ever thought about the fact that Jesus didn’t interview the people before He fed them? Yet, as His followers today, we are prone to ask questions like, “Why are you in this condition?” “What did you do wrong?” “Where’s your faith?” The account of Jesus feeding the multitudes is one of the few stories that are ...
Part 1 | Part 2 Satan has been defeated, but he doesn’t want Christians to know it. So our enemy, the devil, roams about looking for whom he may devour– and that “whom” is whoever doesn’t know his tricks and strategies. They are perfect prey for attack. In part one, we started looking at some of Satan’s devices because it’s ...
Part 1 | Part 2 If righteousness is the ability to stand before God without inferiority (or fear), then God wants us to stand before the devil that way too. In other words, without cowering. But how do you stand strong against an enemy you know very little about? Good soldiers (soldiers of God) need to KNOW their enemy and ...
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). CONSIDER Once again, I’m reminded of the plague of insecurity that the devil contaminates believers with in hopes of getting them off track. I see it tormenting people of every gender, race, and age. And ...
But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. (James 1:14) CONSIDER THIS It’s easy to read this scripture and think of tempting desires such as adultery, pornography, addictions, and so forth. But let’s not get hasty in that assumption. Satan is the author of all temptations. In fact, the word enticed here ...
With a show of hands, how many of you wish you could know exactly what God wants you to do? Well, I can’t see your hands, but I’m pretty confident 100% of you raised them. How do I know that? Because every person I’ve ever talked with, counseled, or ministered to, has told me so. And I’m with you! But as ...
Which is easier to say, “O you of little faith” or “O you of great fear”? I think we have failed to fully realize the emphasis Jesus was making when He pointed out the measure of people’s faith. It seems like such a put-down to say someone has little faith, but in reality, Jesus was not only identifying what they ...
Interesting question: Is God for us or against us? I’m assuming you immediately answered that in your heart (or maybe even out loud) with a big YES, of course He’s for us! Isn’t this the core behind John 3:16? “For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so ...
“If you don’t fight for your beans, the devil will take your taco, your burrito, and the whole enchilada!” If you love Mexican food like I do, you understand this analogy! I once heard Pastor Mark Hankins say this in light of a story in 2 Samuel 23. It’s just a couple of verses, but a very powerful truth. King ...
Sometimes you can locate where people are by how much response they give to a certain topic, or how much silence they give. We live in a busy society, so I don’t expect people to read or comment on my blog every day (although I secretly love to hear from others). But for the most part I get a certain ...