Practicing His Presence

I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. (John 16:12-13) There's more that Jesus wants to say to you, much more, and now that his Spirit resides in your heart, the conversation can continue. Many good people never hear God speak to them personally for the simple fact that they've never been told that he does. But he does—generously, intimately. "He who belongs…

…one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray…"  Luke 11:1 Prayer is not a normal part of the life of the natural man. We hear it said that a person’s life will suffer if he doesn’t pray, but I question that. What will suffer is the life of the Son of God in him, which is nourished not by food, but by prayer. When a person is born again from above, the life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve or…

Colleen and I have embarked on a long and arduous journey to capture the essence of what's available for each believer in a book we've entitled Embracing Brokenness. Sound familiar? We've been writing off and on for over 2 years now. There's much that God has for us to communicate in this project. The most significant being the discovery of our true-self through the brokenness of our past. If that sounds like a big topic to tackle you would be correct.…

One of the keys to success in God's kingdom is learning to walk with him in humility. "Success" is subjective and will likely look different as we grow and change with the seasons of life and the seasons of our Christian journey. But it is a universal need to humbly partner with the Godhead, to adopt this posture and attitude in every area of life where we want to see success and Godly momentum. Being humble is showing deference or respect - it is the…

Reminding myself of what my step 4th cousin 6x removed, John Adams, once said, “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” See how I worked my lineage into that? Ancestry.com holds a treasure trove of facts if you're willing to do your homework. As has become an annual tradition for me I ask God what His focus word is for the coming year. A…

Here we go again. Another one of those mornings when I wake up, put on a few audio devotionals and hear God speak in parallel places. You know – when the exact message is delivered to your “inbox” and you just shake your head. First, it started with Craig Denison, from First 15. The topic for the day was hearing from God. Posing the question, can we hear the voice of God? He went on to propose that we do so through scripture, through other people, and…

As part of a program offered by Healing Care Ministries entitled Rooted Colleen & I facilitate a nearly year-long cohort meeting in our region. As participants, we have weekday assignments following teaching on specific topics designed to aid us in our journey of spiritual maturity. At the top of the page in our workbook, we open our quiet time by considering a simple question. “Holy Spirit Come, My Prayer Today…….” In one of those moments, I…

“May 14, 1948, changed everything. Suddenly the state of Israel was back in existence. Jews were returning. They were making the desert bloom and constructing great cities and building a mighty army.” “What could explain such dramatic, unexpected developments? I didn’t have an answer. True, there were certain historical and sociological and geopolitical realities that made the rebirth of Israel as a modern nation more likely in the mid-20th-century…

So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing lthe ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and mthe feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now nthe Jordan overflows all its banks othroughout the time of harvest), 16 the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very…