September 2011
1 post
Psalm 16:8: I keep my eyes always on the LORD....
Psalm 16:8: I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. The Lord keeps things incredibly simple, doesn’t he? While theologians and preachers often complicate God—and life with God—God himself makes it very easy to grasp what I have to do. He is always building bridges to me; He is tearing down walls. He takes vast, mystical truths and is...
August 2011
6 posts
“Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;...”
– Psalm 95:6-7
“For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.”
– Psalm 149:4
Genesis 41:16 "And Joseph answered Pharaoh,...
What do I want out of life? If it’s a “good life,” I am certainly on the wrong path! There are preachers who say that trusting in God is a key to prosperity and getting everything you want. What Bible are they reading? I am puzzled by people who follow God, but have no desire to serve him. Is it possible to live for God, while pursuing all your selfish, fleshly desires? I don’t think so....
“As Joseph shaved and trimmed his hair, he probably thought, “This is the...”
– even more from David Wilkerson Daily Devotional
“Joseph responded to the Spirit’s call, surrendering all, and as a favor...”
– from David Wilkerson Daily Devotional
“God will not begin a new thing in his church until he does away with the old”
– from David Wilkerson Daily Devotional
July 2011
8 posts
"You do not know what your life will be like" -...
There was a prayer many of us prayed in Bible College: “Lord, take my life.” We said it in moments of great emotional swelling, while music was playing and we knelt at an altar. Visions of heroic ministry, of preaching to thousands, of dying in foreign lands for the gospel, filled our minds (put there by verbose and persuasive preachers). To us at that time—surrounded by our friends in...
James 4:8 “Come near to God and he will come near...
James 4:8 “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” Last time I wrote in here I said how I believe God is intimately involved in all our lives, even the lives of unbelievers. I still hold to that. But that is not the same as being in the will of God. “For though the LORD is exalted, Yet He regards the lowly, But the haughty He knows from afar.” (Psalm 138:6) There is an obvious...
“All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or...”
– 1 Corinthians 4:21-23
“The Holy Spirit doesn’t comfort us by manipulating our feelings.”
– Dave Wilkerson Daily Devotional
“Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the...”
– Matthew 20:25-28, why aren’t more pastors and ministers following these words?
Matthew 10:29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a...
Matthew 10:29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.” I admit that sometimes I consider God to regard much of the world like a great clockmaker. He created it, long ago, but since the entrance of sin, he’s let it operate on its own, with little involvement. This is how it feels, how it seems, when you look at the world at...
Matthew 7:12 "So in everything, do to others what...
Matthew 7:12 “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” It is obvious I need to be kind. But unfortunately in a world, in a city, that rewards ambition, self-centeredness, and aggression, being kind is a foolish thing. In my workplace—in this city—there are many times when out-right defiance and anger yield great...
Philippians 1:29 “For it has been granted to you...
Philippians 1:29 “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him” Suffering for Christ? I don’t know if I’ve ever truly “suffered” for Him. Suffered like Paul? Suffered like the persecuted Church in China? I know I’ve certainly endured hardships and difficulties in my life. I’ve even gone through whole seasons where my circumstances...
June 2011
12 posts
“The disciples weren’t chosen because they were good or righteous… Christ...”
– David Wilkerson, Daily Devotions
Psalm 145:13 “The Lord is trustworthy in all he...
Psalm 145:13 “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.” Why am I so quick to forget the Lord’s promises? The Bible is full of promises he has made to his people, promises he’s always fulfilled. There has not been one time, one instance, where a promise made by the Father has...
Some thoughts from the past few days...
Why do some people regard meeting with God as some sort of badge of honor—as if that makes them more worthy of ministry? I just want to know God.
—
I think I’ve resigned myself to waiting earnestly for Jesus’ return. I think I may have given up on making something for myself in this age. My goal in prayer is to urge Him to come back soon.
—
Jesus speak to...
“I keep my knees black and blue ‘cause they often hit the hardwood floor,...”
– from “Angels,” by Owl City, aka Adam Young
New Testament times
I always hear preachers complaining about how they wished they lived in New Testament times. Really? A time when Christians lived among godless neighbors, when the government was corrupt and immoral, when the Gospel of Jesus was a strange and unfamiliar thing, when pagan celebrations and indulgences were more common than spiritual pursuits?
Guess what. You’re living in New Testament times.
1 Corinthians 2:15 “The person with the Spirit...
1 Corinthians 2:15 “The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments.” What does it mean to make judgements about all things? It seems to me that a person with the Spirit is supposed to be understanding the world (and spirit world) very well. But I often don’t feel that way. Sometimes I go through life having a very little...
Romans 8:25 "If we hope for what we do not yet...
Romans 8:24,25 “Hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” I think there is something to a delay in an answer to prayer. Recently I wrote about how those who have faith in God though they may never see what they’re hoping for are more blessed than those who see it. There is a reason, though it...
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the...”
– Philippians 3:20, the Biblegateway.com Verse of the day. A great thing to remember.
Luke 11:9 “I say to you, ask, and it will be given...
Luke 11:9-10: “I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.” Luke 18:7 “Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?” These are passages I have been reading over and...
Hebrews 12:22-23 "But you have come to Mount...
Hebrews 12:22-23 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. Why do we forget who we really are? I hate this world and puny empty lifestyle it has to offer, when I think of the magnificent World waiting for me. This...
“Endure hardship as discipline”
– Hebrews 12:17, why are we so quick to run from bad things? And why do we always blame the devil?
Hebrews 11:13 "All these people were still living...
Hebrews 11:13 says, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.” It seems to me that having faith, though not receiving what you’re hoping for, is greater than having faith, and receiving what you wanted....
April 2011
1 post
I was on the train...
I was on the train. I fell asleep, or maybe into a trance. I suddenly felt like a little boy, sitting on my grandfather’s knee. I already knew it was the Father. I asked him that I would be in His perfect will for my life. He smiled and laughed, tousled my hair. He said, “Son, I’ve been doing that since day one!”