Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13 Borrowing from Coach John Wooden’s words, I urge you to care more about your character than your reputation as you invest your energies. I think strong resolutions will help make that happen. If we plan to be a positive influence […]
Read MoreCategory Archives: Sin
A Time for Strong Resolve
So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 1 Peter 1:13 This is a time for strong resolve. We cannot, we dare not just sit back and calmly hope for the best. Those […]
Read MoreThe Pressure Is Building
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 Satan and his demons are directly involved in assaulting the lives of men who were once strong in the pulpit. He has rolled up his sleeves and intensified his efforts, […]
Read MoreFor Those Who Live with Regret
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 May I offer some pastoral advice and compassionate counsel? First, you cannot undo the past; don’t try. I meet folks rather regularly who think […]
Read MoreGeneral Facts from God’s Word, Part 3
People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy. Proverbs 28:13 Here is the fourth important fact from God’s Word related to the subject of abortion. Fact four: Recovery and return to a fruitful life is God’s desire for all of us. Our heavenly […]
Read MoreGeneral Facts from God’s Word, Part 2
But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself. He will be wounded and disgraced. His shame will never be erased. Proverbs 6:32–33 Yesterday covered two important facts from God’s Word related to the subject of abortion. Below is the third of four. Fact three: Some sins incur greater consequences […]
Read MoreGeneral Facts from God’s Word, Part 1
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God Romans 3:23 NASB I want to draw from the Scripture four statements that you can know for a fact, that you can rely on and ultimately act on. These facts are not limited to the sin of abortion, but they certainly would include […]
Read MoreWitch Hunting, Part One
Flip Wilson’s line, “The Devil made me do it,” was designed to be funny, not phony. Whether the comedian believed in an actual Satan is, for the moment, immaterial. All he was interested in was getting a laugh. But the thing that made it so effective was the real-to-life scenario the guy was acting out. Here’s this character who has done something bad. No one can deny it, it is wrong.
Read MoreJealousy
Like an anger-blind, half-starved rat prowling in the foul-smelling sewers below street level, so is the person caged within the suffocating radius of selfish jealousy. Trapped by resentment and diseased by rage, he feeds on the filth of his own imagination. “Jealousy,” says Proverbs 6:34, “enrages a man.”
Read MoreTeeth Like Swords
This is an excellent time to bring out into the open even the slightest intolerance lurking in your life and place it before the Lord. The book of Proverbs offers a compelling reason to do so by painting a picture of someone we do not want to become. There is a kind of man who curses his father and does not bless his mother.
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