live2bless

Has the thought ever occurred to you that with everyone you meet you are actually been given a chance to care for that person? a chance to show them patience and kindness? a chance to reflect into their lives the truth that they matter to God? I dare say these are our life’s greatest opportunities, and there they are at our very fingertips every time someone comes to our attention. Everything, and...

Let’s make no mistake about it: there are actions that are flatly, objectively wrong that no amount of good intentions can make right. The Ten Commandments and many of the other 613 commandments in the Bible can help us with that. But then there’s a whole world of things we do day by day the moral status of which is determined by our intention — by what our motive is. And in such cases, it seems t...

I’ve been reading Jesus’ exhortations and warnings to the churches in the book of Revelation. Today’s reading was regarding the church in Laodicea, and in the translation that I’m using, Jesus said this of himself: “These are the words of the Amen, of him who is the ever faithful and truthful witness, who is the ultimate source of God’s creation.” I was interested in that last phrase because I’d n...

I finished a book yesterday entitled, “A Journey to Hell, Heaven, and Back” by Ivan Tuttle. I enjoy reading of people’s Near Death Experiences (NEDs) and for some confirmation of the experience being real or not, I consider what effect the claimed experience had on the author. As Jesus said, a tree is known by it’s fruit, right? If the claimant’s life is transformed by their near death experience...

Let’s be clear on this all-important point: Jesus does not minimize our difficulties. As often happens, when we are going through a hard time we can easily start thinking that we are on our own or that no one understands the degree of frustration or pain we feel. But that is false. The person who most cares for us and who most stands to help us understands our situation perfectly. We are reminded...

Luke 6:38 "Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure — pressed down, shaken together, and running over — will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” Mark 4:24,25 "And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will...

Here’s a truth that dawned on me a few years ago: Either the Holy Spirit is in control of me, or I'm out of control.  Have you noticed that in your own life? It is little wonder, then, why the Apostle Paul puts such a strong emphasis on living in complete, conscious dependence on the Holy Spirit in all aspects of our lives. Here’s a list that turned up in a commentary on Galatians: "Christian...

The first line of Psalm 23 may very well be the essence of all we need to know for perfect peace of mind in this world: “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” Here’s how that comes across to me: every problem I have had, have, or could have — spiritual, mental, emotional, or physical — is already resolved and redeemed. In what sense? In the sense that no problem has the power to undermine God’...

Desires grow in the same way our bodies grow: by feeding them. What feeds desires? Thoughts. The more we think on a desire the stronger it gets. And what I mean by “stronger” is that it produces more thoughts, more frequently about itself. In other words, the more thoughts you direct to a particular desire the more you’ll find yourself thinking about that desire — that is — it gets stronger. Conve...

In a previous podcast I said, Never accept any excuse whatsoever, under any circumstances, to do something you know is at variance with the deepest longing in your heart. Have you identified what that deepest longing is beyond your daily needs or wants of food, clothing, shelter, and preferred enjoyments and pleasures? Can you say, “Beyond having all these things, this is what I want my life to be...

A reading from 2 Peter 3:13-15a (N T Wright translation) 13 “…we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth, in which justice will be at home. That is what he has promised. 14So, my dear family, as you wait for these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, in peace. 15And when our Lord waits patiently to act, see that for what it is—salvation!” In view of Jesus’ immanent...

A Reading from John 7:37-39 (N.T. Wright's Translation) 37“On the last day of the festival, the great final celebration, Jesus stood up and shouted out, “If anybody’s thirsty, they should come to me and have a drink! 38Anyone who believes in me will have rivers of living water flowing out of their heart, just like the Bible says!” 39He said this about the spirit, which people who believed in him w...

"Wherever there is a human being, there exists the opportunity for an act of kindness." —LUCIUS SENECA, a Roman Stoic philosopher from the time of Christ. We could go a bit further than that because we don’t have to be in the presence of someone else to be kind to them. There is available to us at all times the incredible helpfulness of prayer.  So we could rightly say that every moment is an...

Today I got to thinking about my marriage and what precisely my responsibility is towards my wife. In short order, an answer came to me. I asked, So what is my purpose in my marriage? Answer : I am to live for one thing: to pray, think, say, and do, whatever it takes to create optimum conditions for my wife to be all that Christ is calling her to be. Then as I thought about that, I wondered if my...

I mentioned in my last podcast that I have a daily question in my journal for the Lord for which I want to discern an answer. I’ve since shortened it bit to this: Jesus, what did you teach me today that made this day better than yesterday? Here was todays thought: Never accept any excuse whatsoever, under any circumstances, to do something you know is at variance with the deepest longing in your h...

For the end of each day this year, I have a question in my journal for the Lord for which I want to discern an answer: “ Jesus, what did you teach me of yourself today or regarding our friendship that made this day better than yesterday?” One answer for today already came to me on my way to doing my exercise routine at the school. I was thinking about the fact that Jesus made it clear to us that w...

No doubt the title of this podcast it got you thinking twice: the permission of no? How is that permission? Well, let me explain. In my last podcast I spoke of living a life that God loves and defined it as a life guided by Jesus. When our actions, thoughts, and words reflect Jesus’ influence we truly are living a life that God loves. And perhaps of those three areas, it is our thoughts that are m...

1 Thessalonians 2:9-12 (NIV) 9 “Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. 11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 12...

(Some personally helpful thoughts that came to me today.  I write the first couple of paragraphs as if Jesus were speaking to me.  In the last two I reflect on those thoughts.) “Think of what it means for you to live under my blessing: it means everyone you think of, contact, pray for is blessed by me through you. That is unfailingly so when your heart is pure, that is, when your singula...

1 John 4:7-11 (NIV)  7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent...

Sin is not our biggest problem; the stupid is — trying to cover up and “deal” with our sin on our own. (Pastors Notovny, Sadler) It’s not our actual sin that’s our biggest problem, it is believing the lie of thinking we can stay quiet about it, deal with it on our own, and eventually come out victorious. Whereas the apostle James writes, “Be confessing … your sins to one another for your own benef...

“A new study from psychologists at  Queen’s University  in Kingston, Ontario reports observations of the transition from one thought to another in fMRI brain scans. Though the researchers didn’t detect the content of our thoughts, their method allowed them to count each one. Referred to as “thought worms,” the team says that the average human has 6,200 thoughts per day. “What we call ‘th...

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 What does it mean to seek the Lord with our whole heart? Jesus associates our hearts with our greatest interest, with what matters most to us. Notice: he said, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21) In other words, to spy out where your heart is, look for it in what you most treasur...

I read an article today that presented some insightful adages that had to do with overcoming alcoholism, but I immediately could see parallels into overcoming any sinful habit. One reason I think they apply his because Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” (John 8:34) I think we could say that the New Testament expression for “ addiction” is “habitual s...

I’d like to share just one quotation for you to reflect on that highlighted for me but we might call the premium apologetic. In other words, the way in which our faith is made most inviting to others. It comes from a New Testament commentary by William Barclay. He writes, “The only real argument for Christianity is a Christian experience….No one is likely to attempt the experience unless our own l...