“And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”– Matthew 21:22 I received this story via email sometime ago. I have no idea if it is true, but it illustrates simple truths about prayer and our Father in Heaven. Last week I took my children to a restaurant and my six-year-old son asked if he could say grace. As we bowed our heads he said, "God is good. God is great. Thank you for the food, and I would even thank you more if Mom gets us ice cream for dessert. Amen!" Along with the laughter from the other customers nearby, I heard a woman remark, "That's what's wrong with this country. Kids today don't even know how...
The concept of “passion” is a compelling one to meditate on. Am I passionate about the Lord? What evidence is there in my life that would show I am passionate for Him? In Luke 19, Zacchaeus was so changed by meeting with Jesus, that he was passionately moved to make restitution for his dishonesty as a tax collector. In Luke 7:37-38 “a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed...
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” – 1 Corinthians 15:58 The Corinthian church in Paul’s day was quite dysfunctional. They were very active in the gifts of the Spirit, yet they were allowing sin and false teaching to go unchecked. Paul’s letter was one of instruction and reproof. In 1 Cor. 15:58 Paul gives us a great truth: “knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” What awesome motivation this is for us to continue in our faith. The word, “Therefore,” takes us back to what Paul wrote in the chapter: Jesus has risen from the dead. (v20) Therefore, our labor...
What is it about our flesh that wants to earn our way to heaven? Why do we sometimes believe the notion that our favor with God can be increased or diminished by good works? What a snare it is when we get our eyes off of Jesus, and on to anything else. If our enemy can get us distracted from our source of hope, faith, comfort, love, and strength; then we become easy targets for his attacks. The Bible says, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together,...
How many times do you feel distant from God? Maybe you have been obstinate, or even rebellious. Or perhaps you just haven’t felt as connected to your Heavenly Father as times past – not over as a particular sin as much as life and circumstance just getting in the way. There can be a tendency to think we need to “make things right” with the Lord before we can worship Him. This is a subtle lie of our enemy to keep us from devotion. In Psalm 68:18, David writes, “you led a crowd of captives. You received gifts from the people, even from those who rebelled against you.” This is an encouraging thought: the Lord led a crowd of captives, the Israelites,...
