The Hope of Healing

Tomorrow I will be attending the funeral of the most significant individual to ever have come into my life. Better said she brought me into this life. Mom recently celebrated her 100th birthday. It was a great day. Not a day she would have ever predicted seeing. We called her the “energizer bunny”. She kept going and going. Always the one in her personal care home with a smile and a word of encouragement for someone that needed it. She made certain that all…

We all have a way that we do life. We might call it our personality, or our natural bent—the way we handle pressure, the way we listen, the way we look for happiness, the way we control our world. We didn’t sit down one day and willfully choose to adopt it but it remains a choice nonetheless. Call it your style of relating. It is a carefully crafted approach to life—and especially to relationship—that colors the way we work and the way we love and…

Christ did not die for an idea. He died for a person, and that person is you. But there again, we have been led astray. Ask any number of people why Christ came, and you'll receive any number of answers, but rarely the real one. "He came to bring world peace." "He came to teach us the way of love." "He came to die so that we might go to heaven." "He came to bring economic justice." On and on it goes, much of it based in a partial.…

Are you hungry? Not physically hungry, but do you have a hunger for something more in life? Is there something deep inside of you that never seems to be satisfied? If so, Jesus is the way! Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35). Are you confused? Can you never seem to find a path or purpose in life? Does it seem like someone has turned out the lights and you…

Ultimately, submission centers us directly in the will of God and gives us the opportunity to experience the best we could ever imagine. Surrender. That’s the key. Orient yourself toward a posture of obedience—up front!— that’s how the door flings open for His voice to be heard and His will to be accomplished. The Lord says to those of His children who freely submit their wills to His: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you…

Part of our healing comes with forgiveness (of ourselves and others), and part of it comes with repentance. But first, we have to begin with how God sees us. How he sees you. Do you know? You are deeply and completely loved  (Rom. 8:38–39) You are totally and completely forgiven (1 John 2:12) When God sees you, he sees the righteousness of Jesus (2 Cor. 5:21) You mean the whole world to him (John 3:16) He thinks you are beautiful. Right now (Song of Sol. 4:1) He…

Hope is essential for life in a fallen world. Unless we believe something better awaits us in the future, we might sink into utter despair. But optimistic anticipation can also bring disappointment when we look forward to something that doesn’t materialize. So how do we determine where to place our hope—and what our response should be if it isn’t fulfilled? Hope is secure when it’s aligned with the Lord’s desires, which are revealed in.…

There is a famous passage of Scripture that many people have heard in the context of an invitation to know Christ as Savior. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in (Rev. 3:20 nkjv). He does not force himself upon us. He knocks, and waits for us to ask him in. There is an initial step, the first step of this, which we call salvation. We hear Christ knocking and we open our hearts to him as Savior. It is the first.…

When the Bible tells us that Christ came to “redeem mankind” it offers a whole lot more than forgiveness. To simply forgive a broken man is like telling someone running a marathon, “It’s okay that you’ve broken your leg. I won’t hold that against you. Now finish the race.” That is cruel, to leave him disabled that way. No, there is much more to our redemption. The core of Christ’s mission is foretold in Isaiah 61: The Spirit…