On Pride

Pride separates people from God. Do we realize that when we encourage others to be proud of themselves or their accomplishments? How can we pursue a healthy self-esteem (concept of self) without crossing the line into sinful pride? It seems there is a fine line to be achieved here, and failing to get to it or crossing over it could both be self-defeating. Did you know that pride had such a narrow target?

Helplessness

There are two common (human) responses to helplessness. The first is despair and the second is self-indulgence. For the Christ-follower, neither makes any sense. Helplessness does not have to take away hope. Moreover, helplessness doesn't give me a license to be self-centered and self-serving. It would seem that true defects of character drive me in those directions.

Jesus said that apart from His Father, he could do nothing. He recognized His helplessness. Now what do you suppose Jesus knew about helplessness that you and I may have overlooked?

True Christian

A true Christian must live with the tension of being in the world - but not belonging to it. There is no other way to live for Christ. It's what He calls us to.

God's Help

If you expect God's blessings and His help in times of need, you must be obedient to Him, revere (fear) Him and give Him the praise that He is due. Otherwise, you really have no right to expect anything of God.

Witnessing For God

Witnessing for God comes naturally when our lives have been impacted by God and our hearts are full of gratitude for that. How has God changed you? How grateful are you for that? Answer those questions and you'll see the strength of your own personal testimony.

Making Plans

It is good to make plans - but they will disappoint us if we leave God out of them. They will disappoint us even if it looks like they succeeded - without God in them. Satisfaction, even when carefully planned, still fails without God.

Hard Hearts

When people become so stubbornly set in their ways that their hearts are hardened, they find it impossible to turn to God. this is the result of a series of choices - made over time, to disregard God's will. If you resist God long enough, it is possible that He will stop calling out to you --- because your heart is too hardened for you to come to Him at all, ever!

Value of Time

People who are not emotionally and spiritually mature usually have little understanding of time and don't place much value on the virtue of timing. They only comprehend the present - and just want what they want when they want it.

Source of Truth

Jesus said, "I am the truth." My own life experience confirms for me that indeed He is. Moreover, I find that the older I get, the more I realize that there is no possibility of absolute truth without Christ. It seems that truth has great difficulty living beyond Christ.

Reality Based

There are a lot of reality shows on TV these days. But reality is actually in God, not on TV. If I want to be realistic about life, I just need to stay as close to God as possible - keeping my eyes on Him - and not on the TV.

Exposing Light

If we boldly live out our faith, the light of our lives (the light of Christ in us) will expose the sinfulness of others. This is because light exposes darkness. Of course, the light of Christ in me usually doesn't expose much darkness in those around me until it has finished exposing the darkness in me!

So here is a dilemma that maybe you didn't see coming. If the light exposes all the darkness in me and begins to expose the darkness in others - they are going to find me offensive, abrasive and probably pull away from me. This is most often observed when as we grow in spiritual maturity we tend to drift away from our friends who aren't.

Problems Solved

True relief does not actually come when problems get solved. We just think it does. Problems that are solved are only followed by more problems. So if true relief was based on eliminating or solving problems in my life - I would never get relief! No, true relief can only be found in the enduring hope in God's salvation and in His promises to me. So, knowing that God has promised I will never encounter problems greater than He has equipped me for, is actually where I find true relief.

Problems

I've noticed that when I dwell on my problems, I become both anxious and angry. Bitterness and resentment stalk me. I often want to tell God about the awfulness of my problems. It occurs to me that it may be more productive to dwell on God. And when I feel the need to speak, I would do well to tell my problems about the majesty of my God.

Peace

Jesus said, "Blessed are the peace makers." We are to work hard at peace. A person who wants peace can not be argumentative and contentious. Peaceful relationships come from peaceful people. How are your efforts at peace making?

Adversity

Adversity is easier to handle when we recognize (understand or comprehend) our true relationship with a sovereign God. Somehow, adversity loses its power over me in the face of God.

False Idols

When we put today's idols - wealth, job security, material possessions, success, entertainment, comfort, convenience and even health - first in our lives, we can not expect God's Spirit to guide us. It really is that simple. The question then is, how many of us recognize those times when we are putting other things (today's idols) before God?

Happiness & Joy

Happiness is temporary and tends to be shallow if really examined. I think that is because happiness as we understand it is usually based on circumstances. But joy is deep and lasting because it is based on God's presence within us. True joy is not dependent on circumstances. In fact, it prevails against my circumstances.

Trusting God

We must trust God for who He is - and not for what He does. Do you understand the difference?

God's Wiring

God seems to have wired each of us for varying levels of risk. I notice this most in business. Some people are quite comfortable with ambiguity and a constantly changing environment. Others, however, experience great pain in such situations. The latter are wise to seek to work in stable conditions where the rules are well known, the infrastructure is sophisticated and mature, and where there is a known path for solving most of the problems they're likely to encounter. This doesn't make either type of person good or bad. It just makes us different.

How Bad?

People will be as bad as their conscience will allow them to be as soon as they can do so. Want proof? Look at disasters like earthquakes, floods, etc. The looting always takes place right away. Never do the people wait for a while to behave badly. They sense that the normal social barriers to such bad behavior are temporarily incapacitated. And so they go out and be as bad as they can be as soon as they can be. This is how moral failure always acts.

Human Wisdom

Human wisdom is always incomplete and temporary. It is impossible for humans to know all of God's purposes and ways - even if he or she were a great Bible scholar. So it often becomes necessary to trust God with our unanswered questions. Ironically, trusting God with unanswered questions is where we begin to find true wisdom.

God's Enough

When all is gone but God, He is enough. And there is the test of my belief, which I often don't get to pass or fail because I never get to end of myself, my stuff, my friends, my family, my money, my wisdom, my dreams, my plans, etc. Yet --- at the end of it all is when I find the God who is enough!

Obedience Test

Obedience to God's Word and Jesus commands is the ultimate test of a faithful servant of God.

Employment Criteria

We should never let our desire for money, authority, prestige or security keep us tied to a job or position we should leave. So if money, authority, prestige and security aren't the criteria for taking or keeping a job, do you know what the criteria really should be?

Gift of Prophecy

Biblical prophets are well known and well regarded. But prophets still exist today. Most often encounter someone who claims to be a prophet when he or she says something like, "God has given me a word for you." It seems religious. It often seems like something we want to hear. But the true test of a prophet is the direction of his or her words. The essence of prophecy is to give clear witness for Jesus and direction to God - not from Him. (Revelation 19:10)

Life Control

Whenever we attempt to control our life - we inadvertently disregard God and His plan for our life. Moreover, we set a course that leads directly to hell. It is God's job to control my life. If I don't allow Him, where else could I expect to end up?

Divine Guidance

Divine guidance comes only to prepared hearts. Is your heart prepared? How does one obtain such a heart?

Learning Prayer

Prayer cannot be taught by principles or plans. It must rise up out of a whole environment of "felt need." I have to be driven to pray. The more I pray, the more I sense my need to pray. the more I sense my need to pray, the more I want to pray. Prayer is not a discipline or a habit I can cultivate. I talk to God because He matters to me and I have need of Him.

Desires of the Heart

God will give me the desires of my heart if I obey Him and do what pleases Him. I will be asking according to His will. And if I am truly seeking God's will however, there are some requests I will not make. Do I know what those requests are?

Depth of Character

We can not really know the depth of our character until we see how we react under pressure - until troubling or challenging times test us. Do you suppose that may be God's best measure of our character as well?

New Year's Sin

A tendency to sin must be recognized and dealt with swifty - otherwise it may overpower you and bring you down. So the question for a New Year's resolution is to define what recognizing and dealing with tendencies to sin swiftly would look like.