Posts from November 2022

Solitude In The Evening After He had dismissed the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When it was evening, He was there alone. Matthew 14:23 It had been a really bad couple of days. Jesus learned that Herod had beheaded His cousin John the Baptist. He tried to get away to grieve, but an enormous crowd of five thousand men- probably a total of twenty thousand, including women and children- followed Him and found Him.…

Solitude In The Morning Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left [the house], and went out to a secluded place, and was praying there. and they found Him and said, “Everybody is looking for You!” Simon [Peter] and his companions searched [everywhere, looking anxiously] for Him, Mark 1:35-37 It’s easy to think of Jesus life as very different from ours. We see Him in stained glass serenely holding a lamb, or we think of…

Forgiven to Forgive Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him [drop the issue, let it go], so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions wrongdoings [against Him and others]. [But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your transgressions.”] Mark 11:25-26 Forgiveness must be a really big deal to God. It lies at the heart of the gospel message: The Good News is that…

The Five P’s of Prayer But when you pray, go into your most private room, close the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:6 Prayer has always been a mystery to those who pursue God. It is our way of connecting with the One who created us, but in some ways, prayer is nothing like any other type of communication in our…

Thankful I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers; [I always pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may grant you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation [that gives you a deep and personal and intimate insight] into the true knowledge of Him [for we know the Father through the Son]. And [I pray] that the eyes of your heart [the very center and core of your…

Modeled Prayer It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1 Every day, before and after every conceivable situation, the followers of Jesus saw Him pray. Sometimes when they were cooking breakfast, He wandered in from the hillside, where He’d been praying all night. At other times, they saw Him burst out in spontaneous…

Called To Count Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called. 1 Corinthians 7:20 “Bloom where you are planted.” These famous words from a 1960’s poster are just as pertinent today as they were then. Many of us look at our lives and wish things were different- really different. We wish we were married, or we wish we were married to someone else. We wish we’d taken another job, or we wish we had gone…

Ultimate Achievement My dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I seek for my work. Philippians 4:1 Sometimes we think of Paul as a grim, determined adventurer who kept going no matter what dangers and obstacles he encountered. Certainly, he was fiercely dedicated to the cause God had given him, but from time to time, he give us a glimpse…

Things God Will Never Take Back The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Romans 11:29 Ultimately, on a national or personal level, God’s purposes can’t be sidetracked. In the middle of his letter to the Romans, Paul leaves his teaching about how to grow in Christ and turns to answer questions many people had asked: So many Gentiles are coming to Christ, but what about the Jewish people? Has God abandoned them? Paul’s answer is an emphatic no.…

Accomplishing His Will After David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died and was buried with his ancestors. Acts 13:36 What a wonderful epitaph: Davis served according to the will of God, and then he died. If we are Christians, on the day that our eyes close for the last time, we’ll be ushered into the presence of Christ, and we’ll celebrate as never before! At some point, He will ask us to give an…