There have been times in my life when I have allowed worry to create a barrier between me and God. He wants us to come to Him, with open hands, palms up (figuratively) releasing our burden to Him. “…The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, …
In just one day during Jesus’ earthly ministry, he fed over 5,000 with 5 small loaves of bread and two small fish, walked on the water, declared that He was the true bread from heaven that gives eternal life and then…many of his disciples left Him! After all of this, Jesus looked at the 12 …
Emotional maturity, spiritual maturity and success will not occur without perseverance. “Men fail much more often from want of perseverance than want of talent.” (William Cobbett) “…you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:3,4)
This morning I was thinking of a Southern Gospel song I heard as a small boy. The title says it all, “Brighten the Corner Where You Are.” The song challenges us to ‘make a difference’ no matter what circumstance we find ourselves in. Make someone in your “corner” brighter and better today. Encourage someone. Challenge …
We live in a divided nation. States, cities and even some churches our divided. I hate to admit this, but I’ve coached teams that were divided. Our state’s (Kentucky) motto is, “United we stand, divided we fall.” It’s not possible for us as independent thinking people to agree on everything, but that doesn’t mean we …
British author C.S. Lewis once wrote, “A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.” As we witness the beauty of God’s creation and reflect on His great love for us, our …
Sometimes God allows us to go through adversity in order to teach us lessons we couldn’t learn any other way. This next point is easier said than done…don’t lose faith, press on. Paul gives this advice: “…I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do …
Prayer has been on my mind a lot lately. I hope I’m actually praying more than I’m thinking about it! Most of us don’t have access to the President or a King or a Queen, but we have the honor and the ability of communicating with the Creator of the universe 24/7. We allow many …
The Great Exchange…”God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Grace…we give our sins to Christ where they are nailed to the cross. In exchange, He covers us with His righteousness! The greatest gift imaginable!
In this life we will be criticized, slandered and discouraged by those who would enjoy holding us back. But it’s a waste of time to respond to every negative thing said about us. “…Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race …