BEING A PROPHET IN Israel wasn’t an easy gig. That’s the understatement of the year. Most of the men God called were expected to boldly bear the bad news of God’s displeasure with the attitudes and sins of His people. One such prophet often found himself in the pit of despair. Oh, that I had died in my mother’s womb, that her body had been my grave! Why was I ever born? My entire life has been filled with trouble, sorrow, and shame. JEREMIAH 20:17–18
Read MoreCategory Archives: God’s Will
Don’t Wait
I’M THE GUY WHO PROMOTES WAITING and allowing the Lord to open the doors and shove you through. You know, all the stuff you expect a preacher to say. I even quote verses that support doing all of the above. Right about now, we may need a change of emphasis. I’m not suggesting we forget about waiting and trusting. What I am suggesting is that we realize the possibility of running it into the ground.
Read MoreMove toward the Unexpected
MOST FOLKS I KNOW LIKE things to stay as they are. Being creatures of habit, we resist change; we protect our comfort zone; we are uneasy with the unexpected. We admire pioneers . . . so long as we can just read about them, not participate in their journeys. We applaud explorers . . . but not if it means we must load up and climb and crawl with them. Creative ideas are fine . . . but “don’t get carried away,” we warn. Plans that involve risks prompt worst-case scenarios from the lips of most who stand back in the shadows.
Read MoreGoing . . . Yet Not Knowing
THERE IS A STRANGE STATEMENT IN Scripture that flashes like a bright neon sign. Paul made it while he was saying good-bye to a group of friends standing near him. It was a sad moment heavy with emotion. Most of the men were choking back tears, realizing they would never see him again. Looking around, the aging apostle, with his weather-beaten hand pointing south toward the stormy skies above the Mediterranean Sea, voiced these words:
Read MoreLetting Loose
ARE YOU BETTER AT smothering than loving? That’s why you are blown away with the thought of relaxing your gargantuan grip on the things and people you love the most. Letting something precious go is, on occasion, unbearable. The parting cannot happen without inward bleeding. It’s hard to let go. Turning loose heightens our stress.
Read MoreTrusting with All Your Heart
AH, PREDICAMENTS . . . LIFE IS FULL OF THEM. Sometimes they are of our own making. Other times they mysteriously happen to us, apart from anything we caused. Occasionally they are comical and borderline crazy . . . then, on the other hand, they can be irritating and troublesome. One thing is for sure: they’re unexpected; we would never have guessed they would happen. Strangely, predicaments are unpredictable. And embarrassing. And confusing. And really weird.
Read MoreBelieving God’s Promises
IN THE BOOK of Hebrews, Abraham is praised for believing God’s promises.
God called Abraham to move to a place where he didn’t know a soul.
Read MoreBeyond Your Comfort Zone
HEBREWS 11 has been called “the hall of faith”—and for good reason. Beginning with one of the first people on earth, the author traces the essential quality of faith through Hebrew history, highlighting ten great men and women.
Read MoreFinishing Well
DON’T CRY for Abraham. Don’t mourn his death. Don’t grieve his departure. Rejoice! Celebrate him. Look at what he made of his life and his final years on earth.
Read MoreWilling to Go
IN RESPONSE to Eliezer’s prayer, the Lord directed Abraham’s servant to a woman from Abraham’s family clan—a woman of uncommon character who worshiped the one true Creator. And in addition to all that, she was pretty!
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