“God has made a joke of me” Genesis 21:6 I don’t think we know the people of the Bible very well. We are the victims of years of watered-down teaching. The stories of the lives of our spiritual ancestors have been “sanctified”. We know the triumphs of their faith, but we have little appreciation for…
Two quotations: Above all, trust in the slow work of God. We are, quite naturally, impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new, and yet it is the law of all progress that…
God won’t ask what kind of car you drove; He’ll ask how many people you drove who didn’t have transportation. God won’t ask the square footage of your house; He’ll ask how many people you welcomed into your home. God won’t ask about the clothes you had in your closet; He’ll ask how many you…
For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. James 1:3-4 (NLT) Needing Nothing – How often our prayers are motivated by circumstances in which we are acutely aware…
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you doubleminded. James 4:8 Doubleminded – Have you ever prayed for something but not received the answer you wanted? Perhaps you received no answer at all. Then some well-meaning person says to you, “You just…
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. John 15:7 Wish – Jesus’ instruction on prayer is as sharp as a scalpel. “Ask whatever you wish.” It just seems impossible to make such a claim. There are plenty of things I…
Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. 1 John 3:4 Lawlessness – Sometimes the writers of the New Testament tell us something that is so hard to hear we would rather slide past the subject. That’s what is happening with this statement from John. We think we know what sin is. …
For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. Romans 6:19 Present – There is no way to get around it. The bodily actions I take, the way that I use my hands, feet,…
And put a knife to your throat if you are a man of great appetite. Proverbs 23:2 Great Appetite – What kind of suggestion is this? It seems outrageous. Here is a man who has been invited to dine with the king. He is in a privileged position. And Solomon tells him to put a…
So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and did not ask for the counsel of the LORD. Joshua 9:14 Not Ask – It seemed like an open and shut case. Here comes a group of men ready to make a deal. They look like the right people. They talk like the right…
