Fasting? Fasting? Why? Do I desire a close personal connection with God? Do I desire a relationship with my Lord like no other I experience? A fasting day dedicated to seeking a close connection with God and a greater understanding of my need for Him provides a perfect time to reflect upon my calling and the condition of our relationship. …
Judging Others the Way You Want to Be Judged, Matthew 7:1-6
Judging others is wrong I am told. I hear this and I think perhaps I cannot decide what a person has just done is wrong. This passage doesn’t mean I if I see a bad behavior or hear an unkind word or witness a crime, I can’t think it wrong. What I cannot do is make a decision about that …
Poor In Spirit: The Beginning, Devotional, Matthew 5:1-12
First of the beatitudes, Am I poor in spirit? Matthew 5:1-12 When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain. After he sat down his disciples came to him. Then he began to teach them by saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will …
Temptation: It Depends on Your Direction, Devotional, Matthew 4:1-11
Temptation: Relevance? A discussion of temptation is only relevant when I seek a relationship with God. If my desire conforms to my own definition of good or to a casual, convenient, socially, postmodern, acceptable definition of good; a discussion of temptation remains relative. With no outside standard, I do essentially what I want as long as I don’t commit a …
Miracles Part of the Journey Not the End: June 3, Devotional Readings
This post Miracles Part of the Journey Not the End and the previous two are an experiment to make the blog more relevant and useful to readers. Starting with tomorrow’s post, I will narrow the discussion to one chapter from the New Testament. Miracles part of the spiritual journey, not the end, in other words, the purpose of miracles was …
Your Best Life Now? I Thought that Came Later
Your best life now depends more on the angle of your view rather than on your circumstances. Although anyone dealing with difficult circumstances, chronic disease, economic hardship, persecution, or difficult people agrees that it would be better if these circumstances would change, having your best life now is more about your inner life than your outward life. Perhaps Jesus wanted to …
Pride Wars
If intend to become what God intends for me, I must win the pride wars. Like most of us, God assigned my present circumstance as my mission field. Here and now, I can effectively serve him if I will only trust him and obey. Too often I think my mission is someplace else or some other time. If I listen …
The Heart of Plan B
The heart of plan B? In Prayer II, Believing is Seeing, I wrote: ‘Those of us who are intensely analytical, like me, need to practice patience and persistence in prayer and avoid going to plan B before God has given us an answer. We need to wait for God’s answer. We need to make sure beliefs, thoughts, and actions align. …