Author: Dwight Clough

Now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. — Acts 20:32You will have, from time to time, those in your life who depend on you to provide what they need – physically, financially, emotionally, spiritually. While that may be okay and appropriate for a season, the time will come when you need to transfer their dependence to God, whether they are ready for it or not.When Jesus walked this earth, He healed many people. But He also left many…

"For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me." — Psalm 51:3Sometimes it seems that God’s eyesight has gone bad. Doesn’t He see what a rotten sinner I am? Why would He want to hang around me?In this passage, David has fallen from great heights to horrible depths. Others have gone lower, but they started lower. Few in history have fallen the distance David fell. It took him by surprise, as sin often does. He had no idea what was in his heart, until he was trapped by the inescapable reality of what he had done.For most…

"Have you considered my servant Job?" — Job 1:8The LORD initiates a dialogue with Satan, and He brings up the topic of Job’s righteousness. What can we learn from that?First of all, consider this: God doesn’t lose. He went into this exchange fully knowing that He would win Satan’s challenge. God was very willing to put one of us (i.e., Job) on display, fully knowing that He (God) would emerge triumphant and would bring us along with Him.Satan would like us to believe that Job was righteous because he was well paid to be righteous. But God took this opportunity…

When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. — Mark 10:14 Behavior is a barometer. Transformation is the thermostat.By this I mean that our behavior reveals what is in our hearts. Transformation changes what is in our hearts. For me, one of the things that grieves me most is the mistreatment of children. I have mourned my own mistakes and failings with my own children; many times I have cried out to God over this. …

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. — Isaiah 41:10 What we fear controls us. On one side of the fear line we are willing and obedient, ready to serve God and do whatever He commands. On the other side, we say, "God, I cannot do that. It’s too scary."Some time ago, a missionary told this story. A group of militant anti-Christians shouting angry accusations surrounded and broke into a Christian compound. When…

As [Jesus] went along, He saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?""Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." — John 9:1-3Every person is a miracle waiting to happen. Notice the players here in this little story. There is the man blind from birth. He has given up. He knows he will never see. He doesn’t even know what seeing is. He is helpless and there is no…

… apart from Me, you can do nothing. — John 15:5Are we prescribing problems or solutions?Let me give you an example. Suppose a man comes to us and says, "I hate my father." (This is a pretty common discovery once people start getting honest with themselves.) Suppose we say, "You need to forgive your father."Have we offered a solution?No. We have simply restated the problem. He hates his father. He is holding on to the anger and cannot release his father from his father’s offenses (real or imaginary). But suppose we help this man find his anger, figure out why…

… teach us to pray … — Luke 11:1Real prayer requires two things:1. The real God2. The real youOne night a couple years ago, I was telling my then 9-year-old son that if we really knew God – if we went to heaven and saw Him and experienced Him in all His glory, nothing would ever frighten us again. No one could threaten or do anything to us that would ever scare us, no matter how mean or cruel they might be. I say that because connecting with the real God is more than just connecting with the theologically correct…

Tomorrow my daughter takes her driver’s test. I’m sure she would appreciate your prayers!… apart from Me, you can do nothing. — John 15:5Most of us would agree that Jesus is the Solution. But what exactly does that mean?It means that we need to prescribe the right Medicine to a sick world. Sometimes we get confused about that. We prescribe all sorts of things that cannot cure. Faith, by itself, cannot cure. Religion, in my view, has done more harm than good. Repentance is not the Solution. Obedience heals nothing. Character is not the Cure. Hard work won’t help. All…

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. — Mark 16:15There is a shortage of good news in our world. Imagine what it would be like if you turned on the TV and instead of hearing about wars and disasters, about crime and political scandals, you heard a report that went like this: "The president has just announced that he is going to pay off everybody’s debt. If you owe anybody anything, just send the bill to the president and he has agreed to pay it."Now that would be good news!We…