We used to live in a house that had a cranky screen door. The spring was loose so every time you’d attempt to close it, the door would creak and slam startling everyone in the house. After awhile, we got a new screen door with full glass and a self-adjusting spring. It was much nicer and very quiet to close. ...
May our lives startle hell and bless humanity! This is what came to mind as I had some quiet time this morning. It’s partially a quote by E.W. Kenyon who said, “Righteousness made Jesus absolute master of every situation. If the believer knew that he was the Righteousness of God as Jesus knew He was, he would use the Name ...
Let me begin by saying, although I’ve never felt called to be in the military, I’m extremely grateful for the men and women who have taken on that responsibility for us all. One thing I know for sure is, I’d be a sad candidate for boot camp! But then again, I’ve learned a few things in the spirit that may ...
This article first appeared on The Christian Broadcasting Network When I was growing up, my stepdad was a plumber. It wasn’t unusual for him to have to crawl under houses or up into attics to work on someone’s faulty pipes. One time, he was squeezing into a crawl space under a pier and beam foundation when he saw a giant ...
I’m going to tell on myself. My birthday is February 13, the day before Valentine’s, and so for my entire life, my birthday has been associated with love. I actually believe all birthdays should be celebrated with love no matter what day they fall on, but mine is especially accentuated because of the month and day it falls on. One ...
Why is it that no matter how much we learn about God’s love for us, we struggle with our identity? Because who we are in Christ is the very target the enemy wants to muffle, disable, take-out, or at the least, wound. Every time I think about our enemy, the devil, I can’t help but picture an army at war. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
“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 ...
“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:4-5). If you want to frustrate Hell, let your light shine! Recently, I was in our sanctuary with my husband and our daughter-in-love (who works as our Administrative Assistant) making preparations for a ...
If your name was drawn for a million-dollar lottery win, would casually dismiss it as non-important? No, of course not! You (and every other person on the earth) would be astonished and eager to collect the windfall. Now, throw into this pretend scenario a couple of impostors trying to claim the prize, which belongs to you, as their own. Now what would ...
At one time or another, we have all been rejected. It’s a lonely feeling–but we’re not alone. “Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him… For even His brothers did not believe in Him” (John 6:64, 7:5). We tend to think Jesus didn’t feel rejection because He was God’s Son, but ...
The dictionary defines a pawn as: 1. An object used to deposit as security, such as money 2. A person used as a hostage 3. A piece in a Chess game 4. Someone who is used to further another’s purposes I want to focus on the last definition because it is likely we all read it in a negative sense. For ...
Are you aware of where and how this whole thing started? I’m talking about Christianity. Here’s the story: And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was ...