There is no fear in love. This is what the Holy Spirit told John to write to believers. Yet we see fear running rampant everywhere — fear of death, fear of illness, fear of lack, fear of fear. My daughter struggled with fear of everything when she was a little girl. I was constantly trying to redirect her thoughts and ...
Christianity is meant to be lived out loud so when I learn something, I can’t help but want to share it with others. And my current lesson is this: be slow to emotion. James 1:19-20 says, “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of ...
I’ve been reading Ephesians 3 every day and this verse has caused me to pause every time: “[that I may] …know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that I may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). To know the love of Jesus is to be filled with all the fullness of God Himself. I want to ...
I went to bed kind of mad at myself for how I reacted to something. It seemed silly in hindsight. There was no reason to respond that way, except one thing… the flesh. Paul expressed it best when he said, “What I don’t want to do, I do; and what I want to do, I don’t… oh wretched man that ...
“Come and listen, all who fear God,and I will tell what He has done for me” (Psalm 66:16). I think the greatest weapon believers have against the enemy of doubt is their personal testimony. What I mean is, it’s not enough to know someone else’s story of deliverance. I could tell you the story of King David, or Paul, or ...
To be loved is at the core of every person’s identity, whether they acknowledge it or not. It’s how God created us– to love and be loved; to be a reflection of Him. So I want to look at something Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians. He said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus ...
Not all noise is audible. But even inaudible noise can be loud and distracting — especially when the goal is to quiet the soul. My morning routine is up early, about 5am, fix my cup of coffee and sit in my “quiet” place for time with God. That’s what I call it– my “quiet time.” It is honestly my favorite ...
As I was contemplating whether I should share something with someone or not, the Holy Spirit whispered to my heart: My grace in you helps you give grace to others. I immediately thought of 1 Peter 4:8, “And above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins.'” Love covers. Love doesn’t have ...
As Christians, we know God has called us to reflect Him to the world and to each other in love, kindness, strength, peace, and so forth. We could say, it’s expected. Not that it’s always easy, but for the most part, we understand these expectations. So I understand that my decision to choose love, have patience, forgive others (and myself), ...
We become what we believe about ourselves– not what others say, or even what God says, but what we say and believe about the person reflected in our mirror. Do you know the verse that explains this? Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” This isn’t a hard principle to understand. Even Jesus said, ...
I think a lot about the tug-of-war between our spirit and our soul. The Bible helps us understand that humans are made up of 3 major parts: body, soul, and spirit. Much like an egg that has a shell, a yolk, and egg white, each part is individual yet together make a whole. Our spirit, soul, and body make up ...
For all the mere moments we have before an audience, it is all the time alone with God that can add any substance to our message. Your audience might be your child, your spouse, a coworker, or a small group having coffee together. An audience is defined as gathered spectators or listeners. Who’s your audience?Better yet, what are they observing ...
Agitating passions. Moral conflicts. I don’t know why these two phrases jumped off the page to me, other than they perfectly described what I was looking for help with. Agitating. Like a washing machine. The dictionary says it means to move or force into violent, irregular action. Or we could say, rolling something over and over to the point of ...
A lady in my church once told me, “Pastor Tod shouldn’t get upset if he sees us fall asleep in church. Some of us live in such chaos that we just can’t help but nod off in the peace and presence of God.” I laughed when she said this, but then realized how true it really was. Our world has become ...
People pay big money to attend seminars on how to be successful. It’s in the heart of every person to succeed (at something). It’s our heart because God wired us that way. And although I could go down a proven list of steps for success, I want to highlight one that can be overlooked– but is no less crucial than ...
Here’s a quick lesson in reconciling: Most of you have some type of bank account, and every month you receive a statement from the bank showing the pluses and minuses for the month. Now whether you do it or not, the bank sends you that statement so you can reconcile your information with what they have on file. Reconciling is ...
People who struggle with insecurity know what it feels like to be an “outsider.” Whether they really are or not, there’s a real feeling of being left out or pushed to the back. It’s a tool of the devil to keep them timid– and therefore, quiet. I was once that person.I still could be if I let myself go there… ...
I had to look up the definition for clarity. As I was praying for several people around me, I realized the common denominator was struggle– they were all struggling in some form or fashion. The dictionary defines struggle as “to contend with an adversary or an opposing force.” This is the first definition and was honestly what I expected. But ...