Posts from 2022 (Page 3)

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…

*The God Of Increase I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 1 Corinthians 3: 6-7 It’s easy to get mixed up about the role we play in the Kingdom of God. The Lord has given us the inexpressible privilege of being partners with Him in the greatest venture of all time: reaching every person on the planet with the message…

He Made It All All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. John 1:3 When John penned those words in the first century, he and some of his readers had been eyewitnesses to the life of Christ. One of their tasks of faith was to hold Christ’s humanity on one hand and His divinity on the other, something we also must do. We must remember that the One who was born in a…

Integrity He also chose David His servantAnd took him from the sheepfolds; From tending the ewes with nursing young He brought himTo shepherd Jacob His people,And Israel His inheritance. So David shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart;And guided them with his skillful hands. Psalm 78: 70-72 We know King David as one of the most gifted leaders the world has ever known. His bravery inspired incredible exploits by the Mighty Men, his battle strategy won many conflicts,…

Getting Back To Work Now when our enemies heard that we knew about their plot against us, and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each one to his work. Nehemiah 4:15 If the measure of a man is how much it takes to get him to quit, then Nehemiah would rank near the top of anyone’s list. Nothing could keep this guy down! He began with an almost impossible task, and his”staff members” were…