Just because you have failed miserably at something the first time does not mean that you are not called to it. God may have let you fail, so that you may rely on Him rather than on yourself. Moses’s story is retold in the book of Acts through Stephen. He says that Moses wanted to rescue his […]
Matthew 19:24–Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”Matthew 5:3–“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. It’s hard to convince people to believe they are “rich” in our country, unless you have […]
One of the reasons why I can believe that Jesus rose from the dead is the way the disciples suddenly changed. If you read the early chapters of Acts, you see the disciples who are very different from just a few weeks ago. You see people who are not afraid at all of anything! Even when […]
Jeremiah 3:10–Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord.”When you think about what you desire from people you love and care for, it’s that their affections come from their heart, without the need for persuasion. Of course being loving enough to compel someone […]
We have to walk through a desert on the way to the paradise. Before it gets better, it may get worse. That is the way God designed it. When the Israelites were rescued out of their slavery in Egypt, they had to walk through the desert to get to the promised land. And it was not […]
All sins trace back to this one root: God is not enough. When I am tempted to sin is when I’m not satisfied with my current circumstances. A silly example, but I was pretty stressed out yesterday. To relieve some of the stress, I grabbed my daughter’s Nintendo Switch and started playing Galaga. It’s an […]
Matthew 13:36-37-Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” I am a firm believer that what separates the effective, fruitful, influential, etc. from those who are not, is doing what you know to do. That principle is universally spiritual and […]
Do you get the sense that this life can’t be all there is? Somehow, you know deep down, there has to be more to life than this? And we should be freer? (Although we live in the freest country in the world!) For example, I feel limited by my body. I don’t mean that I have […]
Matthew 11:4-6–And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”I truly […]
We are saved by faith, but we will be judged by our works. We get into trouble when we confuse the means of our salvation with the fruit of our salvation. The means of salvation is by grace through faith in Christ. That is HOW we get saved. We have no input in it whatsoever. It […]