encouraged
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. …
Fifty men of the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. — 2 Kings 2:7In the previous chapter, Elijah called down fire from heaven on two groups of fifty soldiers sent by an evil king with the intention of bullying the prophet into blessing the king. Now good men — another group of fifty — stood at a distance. They knew that this prophet and his God were not to be trifled with. I suspect they were afraid.There is a fear of God that is based…
Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Mark 1:41 NIVWhat we touch can make us unclean. Pornography is a perfect example. Touch it and be stained. This is one reason why holiness seems so painful to so many of us. We imagine we will achieve it by not touching. I won’t touch lust, greed, envy, bitterness, pride, gluttony, hatred, perversion, gossip, and the list goes on. Keeping clean in this way can be very tiresome. Especially if something inside me wants to lust after that woman walking down…
I originally wrote this on 9/12/2003, but I think it might be a good thought to come back to."Have you noticed … ?" 1 Kings 21:29God is talking here to the prophet Elijah. "Have you noticed … ?" He asks.I just finished taking an hour walk in the rain. I was walking through a nature preserve and, predictably, it was deserted. Who would be crazy enough to be out in a rainstorm? But there I was, walking along, getting soaked, not much minding because my heart was full of wonder, noticing things.I was watching the life-giving rain fall on the…
Little by little I will drive them out before you … — Exodus 23:30Thank God for small miracles.As many of you know, most of my life I’ve been terrified of dogs. Exactly why, I don’t know. My mind can tell me that most dogs are friendly; that you can survive a dog bite; that very few dogs are really dangerous; that if you aren’t afraid of them, they will most likely leave you alone; and so on. But all of those pep talks disappeared whenever I got into the presence of a barking dog. Instead, I froze, paralyzed by fear.Over…
The land we explored devours those living in it. — Numbers 13:32Where do you get the truth? A number of years ago, I wrote an article for a business magazine. One of my sources was an attorney who asked me repeatedly if I was planning to quote him out of context. By the time I was finished interviewing him, I was afraid to quote him at all. At the time, his concern seemed strange to me. Why would I quote anyone out of context? Why would I try to skew anybody’s words?However, since then, I’ve discovered that he probably had…