We have read the fine print that came with the medication. We have witnessed the commercials. The side effects of the product can be mild or serious. Perhaps we have even changed our minds about how sick we felt based on our perception of the risks! Although greed is not necessarily a medication, it does…
Month: October 2019
What Might Please God?
Have you ever felt like you were not good enough to approach God? Have you ever felt intimidated or disgusted at the idea of going to a church? Where do these feelings come from? How will we address them today, if ever? With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God?Shall I…
The Secret of Greatness
Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. “What is your request?” he asked. She replied, “In your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your…
Grief
“Good grief!” the exasperated Charlie Brown would often exclaim. Try as we may, we can never fully escape encountering some measure of pain in this life. Thankfully, we are also never without any solutions. Some pain requires special human interventions, such as counseling, medication, and radical change in environment. Let us consider today the spiritual…
Lessons Learned: Suffering
Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief.My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning;my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak. Psalm 31:9-10 OUR HUMAN CONDITION Life isn’t fair. Sometimes the wicked prosper and the good are cut down. Some…
Psalm 119 (part 20)
153 Look on my suffering and deliver me, for I have not forgotten your law.154 Defend my cause and redeem me; preserve my life according to your promise.155 Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek out your decrees.156 Your compassion, Lord, is great; preserve my life according to your laws.157 Many are the foes who persecute me, but I have not turned from your statutes.158 I look on the faithless…
The Choice
Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask,…
Some Benefits of Wise Counsel
Plans fail for lack of counsel,but with many advisers they succeed. Proverbs 15:22 Surely you need guidance to wage war,and victory is won through many advisers. Proverbs 24:6 For lack of guidance a nation falls,but victory is won through many advisers. Proverbs 11:4 The way of fools seems right to them,but the wise listen to advice….
A Hopeful Promise
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight;I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not…
If Faith Really Works…
People often refer to Hebrews 11 as the “Hall of Faith”. It details various people who placed their faith in the living God. We may expect things to end well for each of them. Contrary to our temporal perspective, some of these people do not get to ride off into the sunset at the visible…
Food for Thought 