The cross of Jesus is a stark and horrible picture of what our self-will looks like. When a little child is stubborn and wants it her way, we dismiss it as being cute and strong-willed, but it was for that the Son of God died the most horrific death and His Father sent Him to […]

Matthew 11:28-30–Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. As a parent I think I have learned more than any other time in life on how to be a “burden bearer” for others.  Yet one of the most frustrating and painful things in wanting to help other people, especially loved ones, is […]

As Good Friday is only two days away, I had this to meditate on this morning… Matthew 27:3, “Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” […]

Psalm 18:35–You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great. Have you ever considered the humility it took for Jesus to come down to earth to relate to us and die?  Of course that is the essence of the gospel.  But have you envisioned the […]

It is hard to hear about God’s wrath these days even in conservative churches. In attempting to be relevant and winsome, many churches and preachers will stay away from the topic of God’s wrath. But a God who does not get angry is a God who does not love! Love makes you angry! If you […]

Almost everything Jesus commands, the world commands the opposite. For example, being meek. The world tells us that we must be assertive, make our opinion known, and when accused in any way, counter-accuse. This is so much so that if we keep silent, then we are assumed to be guilty! But Jesus tells us to be […]

Acts 24:16-So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man. My son who is nine years old, mentioned that he doesn’t know why he is so silly at home, while at school he doesn’t act nearly so wild!  Though his teachers seem to confirm this, I thought about how in some way […]

How would you feel if you knew exactly when and how you would die? If the choice was given to me, I’d rather not know! Knowing the time and the manner of death would hang over me so strongly that I would not be able to enjoy the time that I’m alive! Even when good […]

Proverbs 28:26–Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered. It’s humbling to look back on some of the mistakes you have made in life and realize how much you trusted in your own mind.  Usually we listen to our own mind because we are convinced that what we are doing […]

​When we realize just how impossible it is to believe in God, we will give all credit to God Himself. Human will is such that once it chooses to believe in the self (rather than God), no amount of evidence will ever change that – not even a miracle from heaven! When Peter heals a lame man and […]