It is among popular “Christian” belief that an abundance of material and other blessings follow those whose hearts are truly after God and that those who seem to consistently struggle to that end, cannot possibly be in God’s perfect will. I want to submit to you a realization I had about this very thing. I think we might have it all backwards. Almost all
When I was in school, it seemed they ran a “fire drill” at least once a year. A long, loud, kind of scary bell would sound, and we knew it was either a real fire, or more likely, just another drill. We were formed into lines, ushered down the halls, and out the doors we went. Of course, the point was practice, so we
We all know the world is in turmoil because of the Coronavirus outbreak. Many people are under mandatory stay-at-home rules. Many are afraid they will be infected. You may have fear right now. Am I going to get sick? I’m sick now, do I have Covid-19? While it is a serious illness, we serve a seriously powerful God. This pandemic is no surprise to
When missionary Dr. David Livingstone was working in Africa, a group of friends wrote him. “We would like to send other men to you. Have you found a good road into your area yet?” Dr. Livingstone sent this message in reply: “If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men
We are living in a world that has been turned upside down by the Coronavirus. But, as it says in the book of Ecclesiastes, there is nothing new under the sun. The 16th-century theologian Martin Luther had this to say during the bubonic plague, offering his thoughts in a letter titled “Whether One May Flee From a Deadly Plague” on how best to practically and spiritually
Charles Swindoll wrote about men who bring in animals from Africa for American zoos. They say that one of the hardest animals to catch there is the ring-tailed lemur. For the Zulus of that continent, however, it’s simple. They’ve been catching this agile little animal with ease for years. The method the Zulus use is based on knowledge of the animal. Their trap is
Do you ever feel weak, inept, unable to do what you want to do? Not strong physically, emotionally or spiritually? If so, you are not the first person to feel that way. Gideon was one of those people. In Judges 6:12, an angel comes to Gideon and says “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Gideon probably looked around him to
I heard a story about a man who was imprisoned during Napoleon’s reign. While sulking in his dungeon one day, he etched on the wall the words “Nobody Cares”. A few weeks later, through a crack in the dungeon floor, a little green shoot sprang forth, reaching toward the tiny ray of sunlight that came from his small prison cell window. The prisoner began
How many times have we heard our children say “Are we there yet?” Or we’ve said it ourselves! Sometimes it feels as if we will never get to our destination. We can feel that way about heaven as well. We deal with the drudgery, sorrow, pain and sin in this world, and wonder if Jesus is coming back in our life time. Will it
Murmuring or complaining is one of those sins that are overlooked. Sometimes, we get so focused on the “big sins” such as murder and adultery that we overlook this sin. But the Lord doesn’t give this sin a free pass; quite the opposite. It’s a hidden killer! This sin unleashed a plague that killed thousands of Israelites. The Israelites quickly they forgot their God
