Tag Archives: faith

December 5, 2016 · 6:25 AM

The Greatest Gift


Since it’s Christmas time, I have a question for you. What’s the best gift you ever received? Some of you might say a ring, or a car, or a bike, or a child. Each of us will have different answers depending on where we are in life, but I’m pretty sure that none of you said that going through difficult times was the greatest gift you ever got. However, looking back on your life, and seeing how that dark time made you into who you are today, you might want to reconsider. Yes, I’m suggesting your darkest days could be the greatest gift you’ve ever received. 

Most of us think of those times, and try to put them behind us, or pretend that they never existed. But I believe God uses those times to move us into position for our future, to develop in us the qualities of character necessary for the future He has for us, and to grow our faith in Him. James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way” (MSG).

Those final sentences are tough for us to hear. When we are in a trial or test, we want them to end quickly. We pray and beg God to get us out of them. When we do get out of them early, the work is unfinished that He was trying to do. In Max Lucado’s book “The Anvil”, he writes that of God has you in these times, rejoice. It means He still thinks you’re worth reshaping. He hasn’t discarded you as useless and put you with the other tools the He no longer uses.

If you happen to be going through one of these times right now, I’d like you to look at the next verse in James. It says, “If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it.” God will be there to help you through instead of out of it. Pray for His help, but also pray to ask Him to develop in you what He needs to during this time. Right now it may not seem like a gift, but what God does in us during the hardest times is often one of He greatest gifts He gives. 

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December 2, 2016 · 5:00 AM

Encouraging Words 


If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s that we all need some encouragement in one way or another. Some of us need encouragement to get up and face the day. Others need encouragement to try one more time. Some receive love through words of encouragement. I also think we all need our faith encouraged at times because we all face difficult times that challenge what we believe. The great news is that all of us are capable of encouraging someone else.

Each of us can send a text, a meme, make a phone call, or talk to someone today to encourage them. It can be as simple as, “I’m praying for you.” It could be, “Smile. God loves you.” It doesn’t have to be complicated. There are a lot of people who struggle this time of year and they need your words of encouragement. Today, ask God to put people in your path and on your heart who needs words of encouragement, then speak to them what He puts on your heart. B an encourager today even if you need encouragement yourself. You’ll be surprised how it encourages you too. 

Here are some Bible verses on encouragement. 

1. But those who proclaim God’s message speak to people and give them help, encouragement, and comfort.
1 Corinthians 14:3 GNT

2. Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.
Ephesians 4:29 NLT

3. Therefore encourage (admonish, exhort) one another and edify (strengthen and build up) one another, just as you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 AMPC

4. The words of the godly encourage many, but fools are destroyed by their lack of common sense.
Proverbs 10:21 NLT

5. Everything written in the Scriptures was written to teach us, in order that we might have hope through the patience and encouragement which the Scriptures give us.
Romans 15:4 GNT

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November 29, 2016 · 5:24 AM

Strange Obedience 


My uncle told me the story of how my grandfather once pastored a small town church. They were dependent week to week on the offerings to make a living. For whatever reason, there wasn’t enough in the offering one week for them to get groceries. As my grandfather prayed about it that Sunday afternoon, he felt God telling him to go to the post office. He argued that it was closed, but he went anyway. When he arrived, sure enough, there wasn’t anyone there. After sitting there a while, he decided to get out of his car and check the door. When he did, a man walked up, handed him money, and walked away without saying anything. 

I don’t know if the other guy argued with God or not, but I do know that he showed up to a place that was closed. It took faith on both sides. It’s hard to obey God when it doesn’t make sense, but that’s what God asks of us sometimes. Part of it could be that He’s testing us. Part of it could be that we ask God for ridiculous signs so we can make sure it’s Him. Whatever it is, obedience is key. A Biblical example of this is a Phillip in Acts 8. He was preaching in a town, people were getting healed and saved to the point he needed help from the other disciples. That’s when God asked him to do something that didn’t make sense. 

Acts 8:26 says, “Later God’s angel spoke to Philip: “At noon today I want you to walk over to that desolate road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza” (MSG). The instructions were very specific, but they didn’t make sense. Leave a place full of people accepting Jesus to go down a deserted road? Why would God ask him to do that. He could have questioned whether he heard God or not, but he didn’t. He obeyed. What he found was one man on a chariot on his way back to Ethiopia reading the book of Isaiah. 

He went up to him, explained what he was reading, and the man got saved. I’m sure it still didn’t make sense to leave many accepting Christ for one, but what we now know explains it. That eunuch went back to Ethiopia and started the Coptic church with has led many to Christ in Northern Africa through the centuries. Because of Philip’s obedience, generations have been affected, changed, and saved. God doesn’t just look at the immediate situation, He looks at the future situation. What doesn’t make sense now, may only make sense to future generations. 

Are you ready at a moment’s notice to obey when it doesn’t make sense?

Obedience is decided well before God asks. What can you do now to be prepared to obey later?

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November 24, 2016 · 5:00 AM

Stronger

I’m taking a break from writing this week, but want to give you a scripture each day to think about as we head into Thanksgiving and kick off the Christmas season.

Keep your roots deep in him, build your lives on him, and become stronger in your faith, as you were taught. And be filled with thanksgiving.
Colossians 2:7 GNT

I’m sure you’re going to be filled with Thanksgiving today! While this is a once a year thing, building your life on God and becoming stronger in your faith takes work every day.

What’s something you’re doing every day to grow your faith?

What can you do differently than you’ve done to become stronger in your faith?

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November 16, 2016 · 5:00 AM

Going Fishing


For three years the dis piles followed Jesus. They witnessed people receive their sight having been born blind. They watched leprous skin clear up right before them. They were standing there when Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb four days after he died. They handed out the five loaves and two fish to the 5,000. They not only saw Jesus walk on water, they saw Him calm the wind and waves. They had countless fireside discussions that you and I will never know about. That’s why I’ve always been baffled by this one thing that happened after the resurrection.

John 21:3 says, “Simon Peter said to the others, ‘I am going fishing.’ ‘We will come with you,’ they told him” (GNT). After all they had seen and done, they went back to their old life. It’s hard for me to comprehend how they could experience everything they did, and then just simply go back to their old life. Had they forgotten that Jesus had told them that from now on they would be fishers of men? How could they go back to being regular fishermen? No matter how perplexing it is, I have to wonder if we are any different.

We may not have seen those miracles as they did, but if we accepted Jesus as our savior, we experienced the power of God in our own life. We felt that initially cleansing feeling and the peace that passes understanding. Yet somehow, many times we go right back to our old way of living. We know we are supposed to be a new creation, but that old life that’s supposed to be dead and buried, calls out to us and tempts us to go back. Even though we experienced the power of the resurrection, we sometimes live as though it had no affect on our life.

That life is as fruitless as that night of fishing for the disciples. The great news for us is that Jesus is on the shore calling out to us, “Have you caught anything?” Then He reminds us to cast our nets on the other side. He reminds us to return to Him and to live our life in the power of the resurrection. When we live that way, our nets will be full. Jesus’ words to them that morning were simple: Follow me. That call goes out to us too. You can’t follow Him and go back to your old life at the same time. Each of us have to make that choice. 

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November 15, 2016 · 5:00 AM

The Bus Station


What I love about having been to Israel is that when I read the Bible, I can picture each place in my mind. There are two sites celebrated as the place where Jesus was crucified. One of them is in a magnificent church and the other out in the open. I got to visit both places on this last trip, and both were incredible in their own way. Personally, I enjoyed the one outside better for a number of reasons, but I was a little offended at first by what I saw.

We were sitting on the property of the Garden Tomb, and they read Matthew 27:33. It says, “And they went out to a place called Golgotha (which means ‘Place of the Skull’)” (NLT). They pointed to a hill just about 50 yards away, and asked if we could see it. They showed us pictures of about 50 years ago and another from over 100 years ago. You can see how it looked like the Place of the Skull. But when I looked at the base of what could be Golgotha, there was a busy bus station. I couldn’t believe such a holy place was being disrespected.

That’s when it hit me that a bus station at the foot of the cross was the most appropriate way to honor it. One of Jesus’ final instructions before His ascension was from Mark 16:15. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” The buses that I saw there were a representation of the Great Commission. Those busses carry people all over the place the same way we are to carry the Gospel. Our message is summed up by what happened at the Place of the Skull.

Where Jesus’ mission was fulfilled, ours began. Where He said, “It is finished,” He was handing the baton to us. That place of death became the birthplace of eternal life. We are the bus drivers of His message. We carry His spirit within us to be witnesses in all the world. Wherever we go, whomever we meet, we are to transport His message of hope and love. We can turn this world upside down at He disciples did, but we have to be willing to get on the bus and go.

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November 7, 2016 · 5:00 AM

The Raccoon Trap


I’ve always heard that the best way to catch a raccoon is to create a trap with a shiny coin dangling, and then put a small hole in her side. A raccoon will reach in, grab the coin, and not be able to get his hand out because it’s in a fist. The simple way to get out is to let go, but the raccoon won’t because he wants the coin to badly. I’ve laughed at how stupid a raccoon must be, but then had to stop when the mirror was turned to me. 

Each time I hear the story of the raccoon, I wonder what things I’m holding on to that I need to let go of. There was a young man who approached Jesus in Mark 10, and he asked Him what he needed to do to get eternal life. Jesus rattled off several commandments, “Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t cheat, honor your father and mother” (MSG). This got the young man excited because he had kept all of those. Just then, Jesus added one more to the list.

Jesus said, “There’s just one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor.” The young man’s face dropped, and he went away with a heavy heart. Verse 22 says, “He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go.” He got caught in the raccoon trap. He was holding on to things God was asking Him to let go of. In the end, he lost it all because he couldn’t let go. Corrie Ten Boom once said, “Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open.”

What are you holding on to that God has asked you to let go of? It could be hurt, regret, pain, bitterness, or something physical that you own. Whatever it is, it’s best to let go of it before God pries it out. Don’t let those things trap you and keep you where you are. Release them, no matter how important they may seem. You’ll find that God’s freedom is greater than whatever you’re holding on to. I’ve also learned that I have to let go of things before God can give me new and better things. The choice is ours. What’s it going to be?

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November 3, 2016 · 5:42 AM

The First Step


One of things I like to tell people people is, “The best way to get finished, is to get started.” For whatever reason, getting started is always the hardest. We like to think of how long it will take, how much work it will take, or anything else that will keep us from starting whatever it is. The Chinese philosopher said, “The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.” That first step is always harder than making the decision to take it. But once you take that first step, you have momentum on your side.

The problem many of us face is that momentum goes both ways. Many times we drift away from God. We quit going to church, we stop reading the Bible, and then we stop praying. The next thing you know, our lives don’t reflect Christ anymore. We can begin to think we are unworthy of God’s grace, so we allow that momentum to continue our drift away. It usually takes a major event in our lives to rock our world enough to get us to take that first step back home. God is not afraid to cause you temporary discomfort if it will bring you home.

There are some of us though, who intentionally walk away from God. The Prodigal Son, in Luke 15, asked his father for his share of the inheritance, and walked away. It took a major event for him to decide he wanted to go back to the father. Just like the other situation, it takes making that first step. Luke 15:20 says, “So he got up and started back to his father” (GNT). It wasn’t enough to think about going back to his father. He had to get up, get on the road home, and start walking.

If you’re drifting away from God or have intentionally walked away, you can still make the journey home. You can’t go so far that God’s grace can’t reach you. The rest of that verse says that the Father saw his son a long way off and ran to Him. While you walk home, God runs to you. James 4:8 tells us if we will draw near to God, He will draw near to us. It just takes that first step to start heading home. What are you waiting for? The best way to get home, is to get started.

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October 27, 2016 · 5:46 AM

Faith That Grows

On our trip to Israel, the travel company gave us a bag of gifts as a sign of appreciation for using them. In that bag, was a smaller bag that contained mustard seeds. It was a nice gesture that showed us the size of the seeds since most of us had never seen one before. I’ve heard many sermons preached on them and have been told how small they are. I’ve even quoted Jesus’ famous words in Matthew 17:20, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move” (NLT). The question is, what does that even mean?

One of the things I love about the Amplified version of the Bible is that it puts additional words into verses to show the original intent and meaning of words. For this verse, it says, “If you had faith that was living.” Jesus used a mustard seed because it’s a living thing that has a ton of potential. The seeds in my bag will never grow and reach their potential as long as they are in that bag. They’re dormant until I plant them. We can’t cast mountains aside or into the sea of our faith is dead or dormant.

To reach their potential, those seeds must be planted. Surface level faith doesn’t produce anything. Our faith needs to be buried deep inside of us so that it can grow. Until it has been tested and can grow roots deep inside of us, our faith remains small. It was never intended to be contained in the small package of a seed. Your faith has always been intended to grow. Think of how big a tree is compared to the size of the seed. God’s desire is that our faith would grow exponentially, but we’ve got to plant it first.

In my yard, I have sweet gum trees and oak trees. This time of year, my yard gets filled with the spikey fruit of the sweet gum and also acorns. Year after year, they scatter their seeds all over my lawn in hopes of reproducing other trees. God’s desire is not just for your faith to grow into a tree, it’s so that you will scatter seeds of faith and reproduce as well. A tree that doesn’t reproduce is worthless. Remember the fig tree that hadn’t reproduced figs (with seeds in them) when Jesus walked by?

Today, let’s stop focusing on casting mountains aside or into the sea part of this saying. Let’s focus on having an alive faith that grows and reproduces. Yes it would be nice to be able to do those things, but that is the potential of our faith. It is the end result of a faith that is planted and grows inside of us. I’m thankful for my bag of seeds from Israel, but quite honestly, they’re useless if I just leave them in the bag. Don’t leave your faith in the bag. 

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October 5, 2016 · 5:35 AM

Buy A Ticket


I used to live next door to one of the oldest members of our church. She was quite the character. One evening I was outside when she pulled into her driveway with a car full of groceries. After I helped her take them in, she told me a joke I’ll never forget. She said, “One day, the lottery was really large and a man wanted to win it. He prayed, ‘God, if you let me win the lottery, I’ll give 25% to the church.’ God replied back, ‘Buy a ticket!'” She then told me, “So many times we ask God for something, but don’t do anything about it.”

I think about that joke often in my prayer time. How many times have I asked God for something when I wasn’t willing to “buy a ticket”? God couldn’t help that man win the lottery if he wasn’t the owner of a ticket, and He can’t answer a lot of our prayers if we aren’t willing to put ourselves in position for Him to either. Remember, faith without works (action), is useless. He could have believed all he wanted that God would let him win the lottery, but without action on his part, it was useless.

In John 4:46-54, there is the story of a nobleman whose some was on his deathbed. He heard that Jesus was about 18 miles away, so he walked over a day to get to him. When he arrived, he begged Jesus to come to his home and heal his son. Jesus blew him off. He wouldn’t let up though. He pleaded, “Lord, please come now before my son dies” (NLT). Then in verse 50, it says, “Then Jesus told him, ‘Go back home. Your son will live!’ And the man believed what Jesus said and started home.”

In order for his faith to activate his son’s healing, he had to start home. He had to act without seeing the result. It wasn’t until the next day, on his journey home, that his servants met him on the road, that he found out his son was healed. What if he had stayed and continued to beg Jesus? What if he had never started home? Often Jesus would say, “Go. Your faith has made you whole.” Their healing, their answer to prayer, was always activated by something they did. God has the power to answer your largest prayer, but it usually requires some kind of action on your part first.

What action do you need to take as an act of faith to activate God’s answer? Mark Batterson often writes, “Pray like it depends on God. Work like it depends on you.”

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