Faith

Do You Give God Everything, or Just Something?

Hebrews 11:4 NKJV
By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

Have you ever given God your best or all that you had, wondering how you would go on from there? The story of Cain and Abel is interesting because it deals with giving God something and giving God everything.

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Do You Believe God Heals?

When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.” [Mark 2:1-5]

Do you believe God heals?

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How To Respond To “One Of Those Days”

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Ever had one of those days?

Well, I’ve already had one today, and it’s only 9:30 am.

Nothing catastrophic; my spinal cord injury decided to remind me of its ability to disrupt plans and make even the simplest tasks rather unpleasant. But I got past the nastiness, everything’s okay, and hopefully the injury’s done with finding ways to assert itself.—though it IS only 9:30.

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Expect Opposition

Nehemiah 4:14 NIV “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”

When we strive to rebuild our lives because of the loss of a family member, marital conflict, divorce, economic instability, addiction, betrayal or some other challenge, we can expect opposition. The devil hates us and uses people to mock us, to threaten us or to block our rebuilding. Nehemiah faced the ridicule and the threats of Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod.

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A Study on Coveting

Lord, dig the earth out of my heart!

You shall not covet. Exodus 20:17

Observe the holiness and perfection of God’s law, which forbids the first motions and risings of sin in the heart. The laws of men take hold of actions; but the law of God goes further—it forbids not only sinful actions—but sinful desires. These lusts and desires after the forbidden fruit are sinful.

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I’d Really Like To….. (Excuses Part 1)

Love will find a way. Indifference will find an excuse.

“I’d really like to get together, but I’m awfully busy right now.”

I don’t doubt that my friend is really busy. But guess what—we’re ALL busy. The message I heard was, “Having lunch with you isn’t as important as the other things I’m choosing to do.”

Is that unfairly harsh? Perhaps, but it got me thinking about the difference between reasons and excuses. I’d like to do a series of three articles about this topic, pointing toward Friday’s thoughts that may ruffle a few feathers.

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Patience Doesn’t Develop in 5 Minutes

Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

God isn’t McDonald’s.

Most fast food joints are now promising your meal within so many minutes or it’s free. And you get it: all the sawdust, processed sugar, and dirt (yes, dirt!) you can eat and within five minutes, no less. And I think we’ve become so accustomed to having what we want when we want it that we’ve forgotten: God isn’t McDonald’s. (Thank goodness.) The really good things in life most often don’t come in five minutes.

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