Encouragement Want some really good news? During this pandemic season, we are all needing some encouragement. Well, I’m not sure I can top these fourteen verses. Ephesians 1.1-14 So, we’ll look at them together and I’ll highlight what we have received in Christ. Click here to read Ephesians 1.1-14 Blessed vs. 3 Chosen vs. 4 […]
“What ifs” are weighing you down I recently watched a video made by John Barklow with Sitka Gear. John is the head of “Big Game Research” for the outdoor clothing and equipment company. He has extensive knowledge on conducting extended back country hunts for elk and mule deer in some pretty inhospitable environments. In fact, before he […]
Victory Want to be able to live victoriously one day at a time? You just read it. God wants and must be first in your life, in everything. The very next verse says you are not to worry about tomorrow, it still belongs to God, not you. And the preceding verses address your basic human […]
“No pain, no gain” Endurance and perseverance…go hand in hand, in every day of our earthly journey. Endurance is experiencing or surviving pain or hardship. Perseverance refers to continuing in spite of difficulty and lack of success. Neither word provides a tone of comfort or encouragement. The U. of Tennessee track coach years ago coined […]
An invitation What an invitation to an intimate relationship. Here, Jesus is speaking to the churches. In my early thirties I was a religious Christian. I seemed to work very hard at keeping the scales balanced with my good deeds to outweigh my bad deeds. Not a very joyous lifestyle. Through the working of the […]
Is that really what I saw? So many times we see things others don’t or vice versa. Some may look at the same object or scene and see entirely different images or circumstances. Art, especially abstract, can create all forms of visual thoughts to many different observers. What I see may make no sense to […]
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything…” This is so very all-encompassing. There are no cracks, no backdoors, no exceptions. All or nothing sums it up. The Holy Spirit, through Paul, is telling us that anxiety of any nature is redeemable, curable. In fact, there is a vaccine. Wow, give me the full dose! Just […]
In control Most men have a real issue with not being in control. Seems to be a part of our nature. You are married, have children and you are in control; you have a business and people work for you and you are in control; you own a car and can come and go when […]
Deliverer The nation of Israel had grown to over a million people in 430 years from a mere 75. They had become the labor force for Pharaoh in Egypt. It shows that they were to the point of groaning. It was not as if God had turned his back on them and closed his ears […]
A reflection of God Have you heard the expression—spitting image? My dad’s friends would tell me that I was the spitting image of him. We see here in this verse, Jesus was answering Philip’s question, emphatically. He was telling him that if he wanted to know what the heavenly Father is like, then he simply […]