That Good Part

I'm sure you've noticed that everyday the newspaper and local newscasts are featuring stories that shed light on the practical needs in our area. These stories are often heartrending, and rightfully so. I read this morning about a local group that tries to provide a safe place for homeless teens in our area. They currently cannot provide a place for the kids to stay over night, so these kids are vulnerable to not only being victimized by a local gang trying to force them into prostitution, but pedophiles who prey on them for the purpose of finding participants for their on-line pornography. So I read all this at 6:00 a.m, yet another day started with another plea for money and resources for people who clearly need it. I've got to tell you, it made me a little weary. Recently I heard that many charities are suffering from a lack of support, partly because of the economy but also from "disaster fatigue". People are just overwhelmed by the need in this world. ...

From "Daily Light", English Standard Version “No one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.” I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.—The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.—We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.—Your life is hidden with Christ in God. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work...

From "My Utmost for His Highest" "only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you —" Genesis 41:40 I am accountable to God for the way I control my body under His authority. Paul said he did not "set aside the grace of God"— make it ineffective ( Galatians 2:21 ). The grace of God is absolute and limitless, and the work of salvation through Jesus is complete and finished forever. I am not being saved— I am saved. Salvation is as eternal as God’s throne, but I must put to work or use what God has placed within me. To "work out [my] own salvation" ( Philippians 2:12 ) means that I am responsible for using what He has given me. It also means that I must exhibit in my own body the life of the Lord Jesus, not mysteriously or secretly, but openly and boldly. "I discipline my body and bring it into subjection . . ." ( 1 Corinthians 9:27 ). Every Christian can have his body under absolute control for God. God has given us the respons...

Listen: to give attention with the ear; to make an effort to hear something. To pay attention; heed; obey. (dictionary.com) Two weeks ago I was looking at Thanksgiving clearance items in Stuff-Mart when I noticed that Christmas carols were playing overhead. I was struck by the fact that Thanksgiving was still a week away and the pressure was on-get this stuff out of here because the next season is just around the corner! Is there a more pressure-filled season than Christmas? As a Christian I feel a new kind of pressure, the pressure not to fall to the pressure. After all, do I not know the real reason for the season? Do I not have different perspective on the whole month of December, from Advent to the glorious day when we celebrate the birth of the way of salvation for mankind? Do you? Let’s just stop right there. Listen. Does any of that sound like the voice of the Shepherd? Today is the day to listen to something else. I play guitar, and do some worship leading. This isn’t a particu...

"If you would tell me the heart of a man, tell me not what he reads but what he rereads.” Francois Mauriac I know people who will only read a book one time. I have certainly read my fair share of books that didn’t deserve to be read even once, but there are some that deserve a second, third or even annual read. Warren Wiersbe was the person who introduced me to the concept of planned recurring reading. He mentions it in his book “Living with the Giants: The Lives of Great Men of Faith”, a must-read compilation of influential Christians. In it he gives suggestions for reading the material penned by his subjects, and he mentions several titles he reads either yearly or every few years. This has proven to be a profitable practice for me. I have several books that I try to read every year or so, and each time I am amazed to discover something new, be convicted by something neglected, and refreshed by something familiar. I’ve blogged about the benefit that I have received by using “My ...

From "My Utmost For His Highest" by Oswald Chambers Draw near to God and He will draw near to you —James 4:8 It is essential that you give people the opportunity to act on the truth of God. The responsibility must be left with the individual— you cannot act for him. It must be his own deliberate act, but the evangelical message should always lead him to action. Refusing to act leaves a person paralyzed, exactly where he was previously. But once he acts, he is never the same. It is the apparent folly of the truth that stands in the way of hundreds who have been convicted by the Spirit of God. Once I press myself into action, I immediately begin to live. Anything less is merely existing. The moments I truly live are the moments when I act with my entire will. When a truth of God is brought home to your soul, never allow it to pass without acting on it internally in your will, not necessarily externally in your physical life. Record it with ink and with blood— work it into your ...

I know there are people out there who believe that they are the biggest control freaks in the world. They should be relieved to know that they are wrong. While I would like to crown someone else with this dubious honor, I must accept the title as my own. Being a control freak would be great if it actually produced the results you were trying to achieve. But alas, it only brings frustration and discontentment, as does all self centered pursuits. So how does a control freak find contentment? For the Christian, choosing to remember the fact that we gave control over our lives to Jesus needs to become like breathing. In bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, (2 Cor 10:5) our perspective becomes His perspective. It is then we experience that amazing work of being “transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Rom 12:2) Every thought of “What should I do?” should be replaced with the thought...