Interacting with others can be challenging, but God's Word offers wisdom to help us grow and strengthen our people skills.
Parched souls must redirect their thoughts from their present circumstances to the past works of God. Our ability to meditate is key to watering the parched soul. Let me give you two principles and four tools for meditation.
There is no question that life’s circumstances can contribute to a parched soul. With that in mind, here are two simple things that I want to remind you of today concerning the life circumstances affecting your soul.
Heat exhaustion carries many parallels to spiritual exhaustion. A lack of spiritual hydration (the Word) and increased exposure to the elements (our worldly culture) can leave a person in a dangerous spiritual condition.
How do we limit screen time while giving mom or dad a chance to take a necessary phone call, get some work done or rest for a few minutes when needed without the house being burned down? As parents, it is our responsibility to ensure those times with limited parental involvement are promoting the physical and spiritual well-being of our children.
As I have worked with people over the years, I have seen direct improvements in their feelings of depression, guilt, discouragement and fear as their knowledge of God (i.e. theology) has grown. I’m afraid too many people are sleeping through theology class and wondering why they think, behave, and react the way they do. Too much is at stake. By God’s grace, may we stay alert this week and learn more about our wonderful God.
I have heard many well-meaning Christians say that the only thing we need to read is the Bible. But is this true? It is true that God has completely revealed Himself in the Bible and that the Bible ought to consume the majority of our reading energy. However, there are beneficial reasons for us as believers to read deeply, widely, and consistently.
John 16:33 gives us full disclosure to our righteous lives here on earth. It says, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” God’s full disclosure of life here on earth eliminates the element of surprise and enables us to focus on four right responses to the inevitable suffering of the righteous.
Now that everyone is working from home due to the global pandemic, Christians may be wondering what it might look like to engage co-workers in a remote setting. As someone who has been forced to work remotely since March 2020, I’ve had to figure out what ministry in the workplace looks like now.
Last week I encouraged you to think correctly about God when you survey your past, and that means to focus on Who God is while you review what happened to you. Below are two suggestions to help you clarify your view of God as well as two questions that enable us to categorize our past correctly.
With everyone in the house “stuck” together, the close proximity makes spending meaningful time with your spouse a challenge. What can you do? Here are a few helpful tips for spending time together during a pandemic.
Our past is powerful! Whether good or bad, it affects our present day lives. It is imperative that we learn how to respond right to our past, and the Bible teaches that it is possible to do this. I’m going to take the next few posts to help us respond right to our past with a series I’m calling “Finding Hope when We Look in the Rearview Mirror of our Lives.”
Prayer is the premier opportunity to address both the physical and spiritual needs of our children. But where to start? Here are a few things you can use to fuel your prayer time for your children’s spiritual wellbeing.
The Great Commission is not just a command to give the gospel. It is also a command to make disciples! I have found that a lot of churches are filled with Christian spectators, rather than disciplemakers. Each of us should evaluate our own life and ask the question, “Am I watching others do the work or am I personally doing the work?”
Because each marriage contains two selfish people who fundamentally desire their “own way” (Isaiah 53:6), conflict between a husband and wife is inevitable. When those conflicts surface, we often encounter one or both of the following temptations: to respond to the conflict in a fleshly manner or to reconsider our marriage vows. Fleshly solutions never solve spiritual problems between two selfish people. Instead, commit to God and your spouse that you will strive to deal spiritually with every sinful issue that surfaces in your marriage.
No task is too small. Even giving someone a cup of water can convey love. Jesus himself said as much. But if we are honest with ourselves, some things do seem too small. They seem beneath us. Humbling ourselves with small and seemingly unimportant tasks in service to others doesn’t mean we ourselves are small and unimportant. On the contrary, in Christ’s economy, it means we are great. And we are never more faithful in following Jesus than when we serve others.
Our lives often resemble the congestion of a busy highway—people passing by us at lightning speed, while we tightly grip the steering wheel of life trying to make sure we stay in our lane and don’t crash into anyone on our way to our intended destination. But God put us on this earth for the purpose of touching people and sharing with them the good news of the Gospel on our way to Heaven, our final destination. How do we do that gracefully without it feeling like we are just crashing into people as we fly through life? By merging into their lane of life with the use of some good on-ramps, or relationships.
What is a biblical approach to servant leadership? There is no greater picture of true servant leadership than the Lord Jesus Christ. A careful reading of the gospels reveals that Christ’s leadership was characterized by radical acts of service and leadership.
How do we handle what can sometimes be the mundane or depressing routine of life? Might I suggest that, in the midst of the ordinary, we look at the extraordinary that God has provided? What could be more extraordinary than the miracle of Christmas? The miracle of a virgin giving birth to God in the flesh—the Incarnation.
God didn’t come to this world to congratulate the successful and high-five those who have their lives together. He came for those walking in darkness—they have seen a great light. Not “O come all ye faithful, joyful, and triumphant”—otherwise none of us could be there. No. Christmas is for the faithless, joyless, and defeated. How is this possible? Through a baby.