February 2013
3 posts
11 tags
Do trials keep on coming? Here's some...
Our 2011 NASCAR season had been an extremely frustrating one… but our family had also suffered through a lot of personal challenges… Pat summed up the frustration we felt one night when we were talking at home: “It just keeps coming, doesn’t it,” she said. I looked her right in the eyes and all I could say is, “It seems that way.”
Now, as you read through...
5 tags
How to accomplish your very best
We feel like we can handle our business on our own. That must be how Simon Peter felt, too, when it came to his profession as a full-time fisherman. The Bible recalls a time when he and some of his companions had been out all night fishing, catching nothing. Then Jesus showed up along the shoreline, telling them to try casting their nets on the other side of the boat.
These men were seasoned...
8 tags
The audience you play for
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’” -Matthew 25:23
We all tend to play to the audience that we believe is most vital to our success and well-being. If you’re a football player, your audience might be your coach or...
January 2013
1 post
3 tags
The principles and pratice of prayer [1/3]: In... →
December 2012
2 posts
6 tags
Free download of Billy Graham's Advent devotional →
7 tags
When Christmas is Hard →
Billy Graham has shared practical, biblical advice for dealing with holiday-related difficulties.
October 2012
4 posts
Bearing a biblical witness
Law is but a body of rules regulating human behavior; it establishes, from the view of the state, the rightness or wrongness of human behavior. Most laws, therefore, have moral implications. Statutes prohibiting murder, mandates for seat belts, or regulations for industrial safety are a reflection of the particular moral view that values the dignity and worth of human life. And efficacy doesn’t...
2 tags
A prayer for when you face disappointment
When we face disappointment, rather than wallowing in it, we can pray,
Lord, I don’t understand why all this has happened. But I do know you want me to keep walking, keep looking for you, keep remembering that it’s what I do with disappointment that matters. Help me…to surrender both my memories of the past and my hopes for the future to you.
- Undaunted: Daring to Do What God Calls You to...
September 2012
1 post
10 tags
August 2012
8 posts
Known and Loved
You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. -Psalm 139:1-3
Popular TV shows and movies often picture a sinister government agency spying on citizens — reading correspondence, recording calls, checking financial transactions, watching movements....
Our Great Physician and King and Lord
“News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.” -Mark 1:2
Good news has a way of getting around. If you were to begin a ministry to hurting people, word would spread and you — like Jesus — would never lack an audience.
But the price of serving is often suffering and inconvenience, as Jesus exemplified. And as Eusebius acknowledged 1,700 years ago, you must first...
How to Be Saved, by Don Wilton
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Romans 10:9-10, ESV).
The Bible assures us that we “will be saved” if, in fact, we comply with the two essential requirements for salvation. First, we have to...
The Privilege and Price of Being a Servant
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” -Mark 8:34
When Jesus spoke to his own about the demands of discipleship, the words were strong and foreboding.
“Deny … take up [your] cross … follow.” Those are the words of Jesus.
“Pamper yourself … indulge … grab the gusto.” Those are the...
How to Prepare for More Responsibility
“The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘…Get Aaron and his son Eleazar and take them up Mount Hor. Remove Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar, for Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will die there.’” -Numbers 20:23-26
Eleazar, son of Aaron, was an excellent understudy, well trained for his eventual leading role as the high priest of Israel.
In...
July 2012
10 posts
Are you getting what you want? [7/7]
7. Delight In God’s Love: This offer is for everyone: “All you who are thirsty, come to the waters” (Isaiah 55:1). God’s grace leaps over racial barriers, skips across class distinctions, soars over social bars and finds its way to every hungry, languishing soul—to every class, caste, race, color and nation. Are you getting what you want out of life? Have you found peace and...
Are you getting what you want? [6/7]
6. Repent, And Receive God’s Free Gift of Grace: Just as the body of a person cannot live without water, the spirit of a man or woman cannot be satisfied apart from God. It is not a religious cliché when we say: “God satisfies.” He alone can satisfy our spiritual thirst. This is the secret of soul satisfaction: Remove the obstructions, tear down the barriers, and let your soul find...
Are you getting what you want? [5/7]
5. Listen To What God Is Saying: The next truth in the prophet Isaiah’s message is this: God satisfies! “Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live” (Isaiah 55:2-3). Jesus said to the dejected, rejected, thirsty, unsatisfied Samaritan woman: “Whoever drinks the...
Are you getting what you want? [4/7]
4. Use What You Have Wisely: It wasn’t primarily money against which Isaiah was preaching—it was the wrong use of it. “Why squander your hard-earned money for that which is not bread?” he said. “Why squander your hard-earned money for that which brings no satisfaction?” Solomon, who acquired more property, more knowledge and more fame than any man who ever lived,...
Are you getting what you want? [3/7]
3. Reflect On Your Actions And Intentions: Isaiah was also saying that pleasure will not satisfy. Sometimes I think of pleasure-seeking people going to places they do not care for, to drink drinks they do not like, to take their minds off the entertainment they do not enjoy. Isaiah would have asked such people to reflect: “Are you getting what you want here? Does this bring you...
Are you getting what you want? [2/7]
2. Let Go Of The Desire For Endless Pleasures And Amusement: The prophet Isaiah looked out on a people who longed for happiness and security but were looking for it in the wrong places. They were running to the marketplace and to places of amusement, spending their money madly for things that brought them no permanent satisfaction. Isaiah stood before them one day and said: “Come, all you...
Are you getting what you want? [1/7]
Too many people associate Christianity with restrictions, with arbitrary dos and don’ts and with negative commandments. 1. Don’t Look For Satisfaction in Rules or Regulations: Often the Church has banged away negatively at evils but has left men and women empty, without reminding them that God is tremendously interested in our finding a satisfying way of life here and now. We Christians have...
Lord, use my story for Your glory...
“He shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!’ -Mark 5:7
Jesus brought out the best and worst in people. One of his most vivid encounters was with an unnamed man who lived among the tombs near the Sea of Galilee. Others had long since given up on helping him. They hadn’t even been able to...
What do you trust?
You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. He...
5 tags
"Your Soul Longs for God", by Billy Graham
Many people have knowledge, but they don’t have wisdom. The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). A great British historian said some years ago, “Man, by his knowledge, has brought himself to total annihilation.”
Knowledge without God and without wisdom is very dangerous. That’s one of the problems in the world today. We have a lot of knowledge; we have a...
April 2012
28 posts
“[In Matthew 16:13-18] Jesus turns and asks, “Who do people say that the...”
– Samuel Wells, Power and Passion: Six Characters in Search of Resurrection (eBook)
1 tag
“More than 200 flood legends have been found in cultures all over the world. The...”
– Douglas Connelly, Amazing Discoveries That Unlock the Bible
1 tag
“Scripture teaches us that life is not about feeling good or being happy; rather,...”
– Terry Hargrave, Boomers on the Edge: Three Realities That Will Change Your Life Forever
1 tag
“Let’s face it. Conflict is inevitable. After all, it takes very little for...”
– Drs. Les & Leslie Parrott, Trading Places: The Best Move You’ll Ever Make in Your Marriage
1 tag
“God designs the soul of a man for adventures and exploits. In doing so, God...”
– Rich Wagner, The Expeditionary Man: The Adventure a Man Wants, the Leader His Family Needs
1 tag
“The Wall Street Journal reported that less than one in three kids eats an...”
– David Staal, Words Kids Need to Hear: To Help Them Be Who God Made Them to Be
“When you boil life down to the nubbies, the name of the game is change. Those...”
– New Men’s Devotional Bible
1 tag
“Here, I believe, is the fundamental clue to understanding conversation with God....”
– Tim Stafford, Personal God: Can You Really Know the One Who Made the Universe?
1 tag
“Faith is essentially the practice of trust. And our routine failure to properly...”
– James S. Spiegel, Gum, Geckos, and God: A Family’s Adventure in Space, Time, and Faith
“In his final prayer (see John 17:1-26 ), Jesus prayed that his disciples would...”
– New Women’s Devotional Bible
1 tag
“The Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God in three persons—is often...”
– Charles Colson and Harold Fickett, The Faith: What Christians Believe, Why They Believe It, and Why It Matters
1 tag
“There are some things we view as our rights that really aren’t. We have...”
– Zach Hunter, Be the Change: Your Guide to Freeing Slaves and Changing the World
1 tag
“We human beings have an innate longing to know God, our Creator. We crave this...”
– Tim Stafford, Personal God: Can You Really Know the One Who Made the Universe?
1 tag
“A child frequently needs for a parent to set aside the temptation to instruct or...”
– - David Staal, Words Kids Need to Hear: To Help Them Be Who God Made Them to Be
1 tag
“Voltaire is reported to have said that within a hundred years of his day the...”
– Ravi Zacharias, The End of Reason: A Response to the New Atheists
1 tag
“For two thousand years the historicity of Christ’s crucifixion and...”
– Charles Colson and Harold Fickett, The Faith: What Christians Believe, Why They Believe It, and Why It Matters
1 tag
“By giving his name, God says clearly, I want to have a personal relationship. I...”
– Tim Stafford, Personal God: Can You Really Know the One Who Made the Universe?
1 tag
“If abuse is widely distributed throughout all sectors of society—and it has been...”
– Steven R. Tracy
1 tag
“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person....”
– Albert Schweitzer
1 tag
“The Christian faith has always been characterized by a strong and focused sense...”
– Eugene Peterson
1 tag
“Physical transformation is not all that awaits the believer. At our Lord’s...”
– Author W. Pink 