Sufficient. What does that mean? I looked it up to find similar words. Adequate. Enough. Do you feel like you have enough to do life or do you suffer (like many people) from inadequacy? As believers in Christ, we want to please Him, and yet so many times we fail, make a mess of things, find we are inadequate. Paul’s Sufficiency Apostle Paul dealt with an ongoing troubling problem and asked God to remove it. Did he claim it by…
I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not only a book which was once spoken, but a book which is now speaking…If you would follow on to know the Lord, come at once to the open Bible expecting it to speak to you. Do not come with the notion that it is a thing which you may push around at your convenience. It is…
What would you give to know forgiveness, to know there is nothing against you, or to know that you are clean before God? Memories of the wrongs we have done in the past haunt us. Do you hear the whispers, “You are guilty. You committed a terrible thing.” Maybe they aren’t whispers, maybe they are shouts and screams in your mind that torment you whenever the memories come to mind. I think even believers, born-again Christians, struggle with knowing they…
Seeing Clearly I pray we would see You, Lord Jesus, as the prize above all else. That seeing you, we will see clearly. You, who have been before all time, set aside Your royalty to take on the human form so You could live as one of us. You, who set aside Your rights, personal needs, and desires to learn obedience, making You the spotless lamb that would be sacrificed for our sins. Although You came as a baby and…
Lord God, I have experienced such highs in Your presence and have walked in cold darkness wondering what happened. Where did the feelings go? Why do You seem so distant? I thought that I had achieved a place of spirituality that would carry me only to find the euphoria evaporating and my default setting of flesh still active and ready to assert itself when the feelings died down. What happened? Why can I not stay in that bubble of euphoria?…
Trust enough to obey? Do we trust God? Completely? Trust enough to obey Him? That was my question when He asked me to go back to Washington to spend 4-6 weeks with my brother to help in a time of crisis. It was only 4 weeks and I am back home, but I can say without reservation that God is faithful. What He asked of me, He performed through me, even driving through Seattle on I-5. He is so good….
Behavior or Birth? What Determines Your Identity? We can train a bird to “speak” or sing a song with a human-like voice, but the bird is still a bird. His behavior might be human-like, but he is still a bird. We can teach humans to be better humans, but they are still human. A better human is no more connected to God than a bad human. Both are separated from God by birth. We can behave like a Christian, but…
We are programmed to think that when we are the most important and when we take care of ‘me’ first then all will be well. But that is false. It is a burden. A slavemaster. It is living in a self-made cage of your own abilities, desires, and character traits. Self is never satisfied. Best to throw away that idea. Living from the cross brings freedom. The cross is the key that unlocks the door of our self-made cage. We…
Power – potential, capability, Ability to do or act; capability, to give power, to make powerful If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you…Romans 8:11 Did you know the power that set the sun on fire lives in us? We house the presence of God. We are His temple. Do you feel the vibrating, quivering, life-giving power coursing through your being? It is there. “All the worry and fret of God’s children would end…
As believers, we desire to be refined by God to bring Him honor and be used by Him. But the process of refining isn’t something that feels good, nor does it give us an emotional high. God accomplishes the refining during the normal course of life. On our average day we don’t notice it or recognize it but typically are irritated and complain wishing life would be better. God uses those closest to us to reveal our inner character so…