Author: Dwight Clough

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor." — Luke 4:18-19If we are going to follow in the steps of Jesus and bring good news, freedom and healing to our world, here’s where to begin.Seek the healing of those you’ve hurt. As fallen human beings, whether we mean to or not, at times we hurt other people. I hurt…

Can a man be of benefit to God? Job 22:2Yes. The answer is yes. Eliphaz assumes the answer is no, and structures his argument around it. But he is wrong.As this conversation between Job and his three friends continues, they seem to become more and more disconnected with who Job really is and who God really is. Eliphaz paints a picture of a stern God aloof from human existence, intervening only to provide swift and terrible justice. Pastor Cho of South Korea said, "Most people think God has no needs. They are wrong. God is love. Because He is love,…

So that all men He has made may know His work, He stops every man from his labor. — Job 37:7What is a snowflake? It is practically nothing – a small drop of water – crystallized into ice – a mere breath will melt it. But, put enough snowflakes together, and a city of several million people, like Chicago, shuts down. Snowplows, shovels, snow blowers and millions of hours of labor later, the roads are cleared, the sidewalks are shoveled, and life resumes. Yet, if the Lord chooses, another eighteen inches of snow can be on the ground the next…

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. — Genesis 3:6What’s wrong with Eve’s reasoning? In a sense, nothing. All of these desires are good. Read the Bible. God gives us good things – like food – to enjoy. Beauty is God-given and meant to be enjoyed. Solomon and others were commended for seeking wisdom.In another sense, everything was wrong. Eve left God out of the equation. All her good desires were corrupted by the doubts and…

"Let the little children come to me and hinder them not!" — Matthew 19:14At first, this seems like nothing more than Jesus teaching his disciples a lesson about the value of every human being, regardless of age. But, if you dig deeper into this, I think you will find the basis for one of the most powerful prayers you will ever pray.We spend a great deal of time trying to deal with the fruit of sin, and not enough dealing with sin at its root. We find people caught in adultery, greed, lies, addictions, hate, gossip, whatever. And so, maybe…

And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden …" — Genesis 2:16Every choice that made sense to Adam was good, except one. There was no agonizing over "What is God’s will?" God’s will was clear. Be free. Enjoy life.This is the great paradox of life. The closer we get to God, the freer we are. Jesus said, "Broad is the way that leads to destruction … but narrow is the way that leads to life." What does that mean? That means that something terrible has happened. After man sinned, the…

If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in … — Revelation 3:20We recently had some people visit our home. My wife and I wanted to have it all cleaned up and nice before our guests arrived, but one thing after another happened and we didn’t get all the cleaning done we wanted to. They had to see it as it really was.Deep inside we want to clean up for Jesus. But somehow that never works. We want Jesus in the nice clean living room, but He walks right in and asks to open the closet,…

But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. — Revelation 3:17Don’t we hope this verse applies to somebody else? I just finished reading a great book on marketing, Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? The authors do a beautiful job explaining how marketing works. They use the example of the BMW. They explain how BMW markets to the belief that powerful men buy this ultimate road handling machine. Of course, the advertisers are creating an illusion. A car does not make you powerful. But customers are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars…

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock … — Revelation 3:20When was the last time you had a life-changing encounter with God? Today? A week ago? A year ago? 30 years? Never?Let me define my terms. By "life-changing" I don’t mean that you were hyped. TV commercials can get us hyped. Multi-level marketing managers can get us hyped. Shallow evangelists who know how to work a crowd can get us hyped. Neither do I mean that you ended up sinlessly perfect. But I do mean that you walked away a different person.This is not another spiritual chore.…

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?" — Genesis 3:1At the root of every temptation is a lie. This was the opening punch. It wasn’t designed to knock Eve out, just to throw her off balance. Here’s the message behind it: What kind of God do you serve? Why does He deprive you of what is good?You’ll find a lie something like this at the core of every temptation you face. …