Walking With God

Do you trust God? Most believers will quickly answer yes. But stop and consider if that’s true in your prayer life. When your need is urgent but God isn’t answering as soon as you desire, do you still trust Him? Scenarios like this lead some believers to doubt that the Lord has His children’s best interests at heart. However, Isaiah 64:4 assures us that God “acts on behalf of those who wait for him” (NIV). Joseph had to wait in very difficult…

Practicing patience is difficult because it often goes against our expectations and desires for immediate results. This is especially true when we are waiting on the Lord and His timetable doesn’t match our own. In such situations, it’s important to remember we can’t go wrong waiting for Him. Blessings will come in God’s good time when we refuse to run ahead of Him. We ask the Lord for what we think we need, based on our limited information. But His…

The Scriptures employ a wide scale of metaphors to capture the many facets of our relationship with God. If you consider them in a sort of ascending order, there is a noticeable and breathtaking progression. Down near the bottom of the totem pole we are the clay and he is the Potter. Moving up a notch, we are the sheep and he is the Shepherd, which is a little better position on the food chain but hardly flattering; sheep don't have a reputation as the most graceful…

“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”  JOHN 15:11 What was the joy that Jesus had? Joy should not be confused with happiness. In fact, it is an insult to Jesus Christ to use the word happiness in connection with Him. The joy of Jesus was His absolute self-surrender and self-sacrifice to His Father— the joy of doing that which the Father sent Him to do— “…who for the joy…

It’s a good idea to pause every now and then to evaluate our spiritual development. Although we will experience different phases of faith throughout life, our goal should be to continue growing. Which phase sounds like you? Hesitant faith is characterized by struggling to believe God: We hope He’ll answer our prayer, but we’re just not sure. Sometimes doubts creep in because we’re looking at the situation, not at the Lord and His Word. Or maybe our…

God gave me an image in my mind and imagination. That when the veil tore--we could freely step back into the garden of Eden where we could once again walk and talk with Him. As he shared this image, I realized the significance of this representation of the journey for all of us. The need for each of us to give up the law and any notion that we can work our way back to God. That we must accept all of the rites that come with accepting Jesus' sacrifice. This sacrifice…

…and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28) Whenever anything begins to disintegrate your life with Jesus Christ, turn to Him at once, asking Him to re-establish your rest. Never allow anything to remain in your life that is causing the unrest. Think of every detail of your life that is causing the disintegration as something to fight against, not as something you should allow to remain. Ask the Lord to put awareness of Himself in you, and your self-awareness will.…

“Come at once. We have struck a berg.” Those were the first words Harold Cottam, the wireless operator on the RMS Carpathia, received from the sinking RMS Titanic at 12:25 a.m. on April 15, 1912. The Carpathia would be the first ship to the disaster scene, saving 706 lives. In the US Senate hearings days later, the Carpathia’s captain Arthur Rostron testified, “The whole thing was absolutely providential. . . . The wireless operator was in his cabin…

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…