Lemon Aid
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight You’ve heard it said; When life hands you a lemon, make lemon aid. That’s begging the question, how do you respond to extreme setbacks? Do you explode, implode, go numb, feel […]
Be An Encourager
In any given day we get enough news and have enough experiences that are discouraging. Seldom do we hear good news concerning our society or world. It’s bad news upon bad news. So, like worry, we have a choice about what to focus on and that is worked out through our self-talk. What we tell […]
Overcoming Worry
Last week we saw that we have a choice to worry or not to worry. 1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Cast means to give up or to unload. The cares we are to cast on God are our worries and anxieties. Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they […]
Fear Enslaves
I heard it said recently that two things are needed to bring about socialism to America: fear and free stuff from the government. Sounds like an effective plan. There are many things going on in our world and lives that are causing people to experience uncertainty, dread, fear and isolation. It’s not unusual for people […]
What is Needed
Last week we saw that the Disciples ‘little faith’ was unable to carry out an exorcism, something Jesus gave them authority to do. (Mark 6:12). While we generally equate little faith with the faith of the mustard seed, we saw that was incorrect. The disciples had little faith, what they needed was faith the size […]
Mustard Seed Faith
“Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. Matthew 17:20-21 We all know that faith in Jesus is at the core of the Christian life. We […]
THE BENEFIT OF TOUCH
Numerous times Jesus touched people even when it would make him ceremonially unclean. He touched a man with leprosy and was healed Mt. 8:3. Jesus touched Peter’s mother-in-law and her fever left, Mt. 8:15. A woman subject to bleeding touched Jesus and the bleeding stopped, Mt. 9:20-21. He touched blind eyes and were opened, Mt. […]
Responding to Change
Last week I mentioned that life involves change, and with that come events we didn’t ask for, that makes life difficult. While change is a given, how we respond to the unpleasant change isn’t. We can focus on the negative and waste time and energy fighting what we cannot change or we can accept the […]
CHANGE
We have no idea what tomorrow will bring. We can only manage what comes today. We may plan for tomorrow only to have our plans interrupted by the unforeseen and unexpected. For example: in the Mid-West a tornado can rip through a town in minutes leaving rubble behind, on the East coast hurricanes will cause […]
Victory
We view the state of the true, universal church and we see it neither giving in to darkness nor shrinking from it. In places of great persecution, the church is growing. Reports are that the church in China is strong as well as many converts among Muslims. The Christians around the world are also persecuted […]