A Moment of Hope

by Marilynn Chadwick Not getting what you want when you want it may be one of the best training tactics for sharpening your prayers. Notice I didn't say not getting what you want at all. I find that people are more easily able to dismiss their heart's desire altogether than to wait for it. It is easier to give up in defeat and walk away from a dream than to stand on God's promise, clinging to the...

by Marilynn Chadwick I echo nineteenth-century, Yale-educated scholar and theologian R.A. Torrey when he said, "There is a devil. That's why we pray." And if you ask me why it's important to bring order and discipline to our lives for the purpose of prayer, I would add, "Because we are in a spiritual war." The Bible admonishes us to live daily as sober-minded and watchful, because "the devil prowl...

by Marilynn Chadwick There are some spiritual battles that leave us so weak that we must lean on the help of a few good friends. It was one of those times for the paralytic in Luke 5. We don't know the man's ailment or all he had suffered. We do know he was helpless and unable to get to Jesus by himself. A few friends carried him on a mat to see the Master. Their way was blocked by the crowds. So,...

by Marilynn Chadwick I once saw an old Tarzan movie in which the ape man was peering at a droplet of water through a microscope. The instrument had been brought to Africa by Jane's father, Professor Porter. Tarzan was quite shaken to see that the water he drank daily was teeming with all kinds of organisms, invisible to the naked eye. Similarly, the Bible reveals that our spiritual atmosphere is f...

by Marilynn Chadwick Continued from Friday… Elijah was known as a man who listened to God. Repeatedly in the Bible, we read that "the word of the Lord came to Elijah." He saw miracle after miracle as he stepped out in obedience to God's voice. Elijah has plenty to teach us about how to pray during a time of crisis. The prophet had faced his own personal battle with terror. After an enormous fight...

by Marilynn Chadwick Precision is important in spiritual as well as earthly battles. A turning point in World War II weapon technology was the development of precision bombing. Through a somewhat crude forerunner of the Global Positioning System (GPS), precision bombing enabled the United States to focus on bombing German military sites, and especially artillery arsenals, decreasing the civilian c...

by Marilynn Chadwick Thomas Edison tried unsuccessfully over ten thousand times before his final breakthrough invention of the electric light bulb. The Wright brothers experienced hundreds of crashes before their breakthrough in flight. And countless scientists performed endless experiments before breakthroughs in DNA research. Breakthroughs in any endeavor require perseverance. Especially in the...

by Marilynn Chadwick I've always loved sports—so it naturally follows that I love athletes. I am married to a former basketball player and mother to a volleyball player, a basketball player, and a swimmer. There is much to be learned about our spiritual life from observing the personal discipline of athletes. The Apostle Paul must have loved sports, too. He likens the hard work of training for a s...

by Marilynn Chadwick How often do you take time to  really  listen to God? Many of us blow through our days without thinking about God. Even our alone times are filled with so much noise that it can be hard to hear his voice above the fray. It was the seventeenth century theologian Francois Fenelon who said, "How rare it is to find a soul still enough to hear God speak." I believe that training my...

by Marilynn Chadwick We are living in turbulent times. The Middle East has erupted into a rapidly escalating war between Israel and Iran. No one can predict the full impact of this explosive conflict. Russia and Ukraine remain locked in their ongoing battle. Wars and rumors of wars abound. Strange weather patterns threaten many, as do virulent diseases and disasters. Our streets and cities grow mo...

by Marilynn Chadwick All three of our now grown children especially looked forward to the end of our Day Off, which they referred to as "Family Home Night." These were weekly times of shared togetherness at the close of Sabbath and included special movies, family prayers, Bible stories, and make-your-own-pizzas. The movies we selected didn't always have a spiritual message, but they helped reinfor...

by Marilynn Chadwick In addition to "not working" on the Sabbath, the observant Jew also practices "not worrying." Seriously. How does one "not worry?" Is that even possible? A friend coined this snappy little acronym: W.O.R.R.Y :  W orry  O nly  R obs  R est from  Y ou It's true.  Worrying is exhausting . I realize as believers in Jesus, we're not obligated to keep Sabbath according to any partic...

by Marilynn Chadwick It's been said that Americans are the only people who worship our work, work at our play, and play at our worship. Maybe that's why keeping Sabbath is so hard. Many of us enjoy feeling productive, and taking a day off seems to slow us down. The word Sabbath, or  sabat  in Hebrew, means "to cease, desist, rest." Put another way, Sabbath simply means to stop working. The very fi...

by Marilynn Chadwick I am reminded of the time David and I were invited to teach a marriage seminar to a large gathering of young couples. Wanting to focus on real life issues, we each made a separate list of our "Top Ten Marriage Tips." However, we decided not to reveal the results of our lists to one another until the moment we actually presented the message to our audience. It was fun to compar...

by Marilynn Chadwick Are you feeling tired today? Maybe you worked late, slept poorly, tried to juggle too many tasks, attempted to solve too many problems, took on too much responsibility for everything and everybody around you. It seems you're not alone. America is a nation obsessed with rest—or the lack of it. At my children's high school one year, teachers sent home a disturbing article about...

by David Chadwick Self-control. This is the ninth and final fruit of the Spirit. When you are connected to the Spirit, you have the power to discipline and crucify even the strongest lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:17). I once heard a story of a pastor who never taught self-control to his people because he couldn't govern his own eating habits. Shame on him! This last fruit of the Spirit should ne...

by David Chadwick Gentleness  is the eighth fruit of the Holy Spirit. The Greek word for gentleness is  praus . It's the only adjective Jesus ever uses to describe himself (Matthew 11:30). The word literally means "bridled power." Picture a fierce, strong stallion who is bridled by a rider. It is able to run and jump over high walls, but because of the bridle in its mouth is able to correctly dire...

by David Chadwick The seventh fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness . One element of faithfulness is seeking to cultivate a life full of faith. Pursuing faith. Questing after it. Asking God for more and more faith. Constantly living in a way that says to our Father, "I believe but help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24). After all, without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Take a moment an...

by David Chadwick Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness…then the sixth fruit of the Spirit is goodness . Galatians 6:10 says we are to "do good to everyone." God is good and his mercies endure forever (Psalm 100:5). There is nothing evil in him. He cannot coexist with evil because he is good and there can be no evil in him. Because God is good, his actions toward us are always good. Even in the mid...

by David Chadwick The fifth fruit of the Spirit is kindness . The dictionary definition of kindness is "the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate." What a rich word! In the Greek language ( chrestotes ), it is defined as excellence or uprightness. Kindness is a fruit that is mostly directed toward another person. Generally speaking, kindness is meant to benefit those who are in our...

by David Chadwick Patience is a virtue… but it's also a fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit are an all for one and one for all package deal. Once you abide in Christ and Christ in you, you will bear much fruit (John 15:5). When we are abiding with Jesus, connected to the Spirit, we will operate in patience. The word patience in the Greek is  makrothymia . It means long suffering or fortit...

by David Chadwick The third fruit of the Spirit is peace. The movie Sister Act 2 has an incredible scene where the nuns perform the song "Ball of Confusion" in a nursing home. Every time I hear this song, I'm reminded that the chaos of humanity has always existed. There has never been a time in history where the devil has not desired to release a ball of confusion all over the world. As the song s...

by David Chadwick Joy is a choice. As our church's worship leader says in one of the songs he has written,  "I will choose joy!" This one doesn't always come naturally. Without Jesus, it can feel impossible to walk in joy in the midst of this broken world. Remember, where one fruit is present, all nine are present. They are interdependent. But I do love the order because love and joy walk hand in...

by David Chadwick When you have an intimate connection with Jesus, the fruit of the Spirit is evident. The overflow of a Spirit-filled life is a Spirit-led life where the fruit of the spirit from Galatians 5:22-23 are found in ample supply. The first fruit of the Spirit is love. Love is the first fruit of Godly attributes and character found in the life of a believer. I find it so significant that...

by David Chadwick The fruit of the Spirit is one of my favorite things to teach. In fact, every time I think about this topic, I immediately flash back to my daughter Bethany's 6th birthday party. It was a "fruit of the Spirit" themed party. I dressed up as her favorite character called "Sunny Love Tree" and each child who came to the party was given a different fruit of the spirit. That party was...