live2bless

One of my exercise routines is to walk the walking track at our school. About a couple of years ago I was doing my walk when a little girl from our church who was about four years old at the time waited for me on the track and took my hand to walk with me. As you can imagine, I was honored beyond words. Then after awhile off she went. But it was enough to stir up a thought in me as to what I would...

Have you noticed this? That no sooner do you set your heart on something you consider exceptionally valuable and meaningful then the sacrificing starts? You start to voluntarily give up interests or ideas that you know will not get you to where you want to go or that you know are in the way of getting there. With that in mind, let’s ask the question: How is it that Jesus could come into this world...

In my recent studies I read that “The Hebrew word for “deliver” or “save” and the word for “beg” or “beseech” combine to form the word that, in English, is “hosanna.” Literally, hosanna means “I beg you to save!” or “please deliver us!” ”  [gotquestions.com] You will recall that Hosanna was what the people cried out upon Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem just prior to his crucifixion. The...

You are no doubt familiar with what’s called “The Golden Rule.” We find it in Matthew 7:12 where Jesus said, — “…in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” I think its fair to say that no other moral principle is more universally and self-evidently true and right than this one, and yet no other rule is so widely ignored as well. How...

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” 1 Corinthians 6:19,20 It seems to me that all sins have this in common: they are an act of thievery. I am taking something that isn’t mine, without permission, and using it to make myself feel bett...

I received a letter the other day from a Jehovah’s Witness follower and I decided that I would reply to it. I’d like to share my reply with you in hopes that it might prove helpful to you in differentiating between historic Christianity and organizations that proclaim a different Christ and consequently another Gospel. My Scripture citations in the letter are taken from the JW’s, New World Transla...

I recently read a brief article in which it seemed to me the author failed to distinguish between the reasons why we exist and why we were saved. He supplied a biblical reason for our salvation but lumped that together with why we were created. The passage he quoted was this, from 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may d...

Have you defined for yourself what you would consider to be so transcendently good and worthwhile that you would have no problem sacrificing anything that could get in the way of having it? For the Jewish person at the time of Christ there was already a widespread longing and expectation that the coming of the Messiah was at hand. Perhaps that is why certain eccentric individuals could garner a fo...

Consider this: it seems that to not like someone you actually have to entertain unlikeable thoughts about them. Were it not for such thoughts, you would find you have no means by which to feel dislike. Hence, satan –– who has watched all your reactions to that individual and listened to everything you say about them –– constantly refreshes your outlook with your own thoughts to keep you from feeli...

Allow me to share with you what struck me as a wonderful quote from one of William Barclay’s New Testament commentaries. He writes, “It is the very essence of faith that we should believe that what Jesus says is true. So often we have a kind of vague, wistful longing that the promises of Jesus should be true. The only way really to enter into them is to believe in them with the clutching intensity...

Someone has suggested that God exists in the form of a gift. I like that way of putting it because, being love, means his heart is always flowing out to bless everyone and everything he has created with as much goodness as possible. In fact, let’s think of God is a mighty river — vast and deep. Suppose you’re standing on the shore and let’s say that you want to give God something precious to you a...

Writing of Jesus in Hebrews 5:8, we read that "though He was God’s Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered." One of God's greatest gifts — learned obedience — lies hidden in what we suffer, in obligations we’d gladly forgo and in adversities we couldn't get rid of fast enough if we could. Now suffering in and of itself is of no value. It's not what happens to us that is of consequence,...

In a recent podcast I gave the following proposition, that to “glorify” God is to live each day seeing to it that God enjoys from us what he gave his life for — our friendship. I’d like to spell that out as to what I think it means. Allow me to personalize it: What does the Lord want from you in the course of friendship with him? First, I would say, companionship . And by that I mean a constant co...

I once saw a cartoon that depicted a stadium full of people intended to look like thousands. From the speck of a small podium down on the field a speaker was trying to encourage the sea of people before him. He called out, “Don’t think you’re just a number!”  It was laughable, all right. How could anyone in such a crowd not feel like just a number? But it is saddening beyond words when this m...

This week I wrote down for myself a series of propositions regarding the glory of God. I must say that for what may be about 25 years I’ve sought to grasp what God's glory is over against what strikes me as a longstanding, common notion of his glory that I have found unworthy. What I mean by that is this, and I say the following with reverence, but many preachers and theologians seem to imply that...

Consider this: you only have so many heart beats left before your heart beats it’s last one and that’s it for you. Or look at this way: you only have a set number of days remaining before your last day arrives and you’re gone. In either case, you may have many beats or many days left to you or just a handful — you could be gone before this day is done. Jesus, said, in effect, restrict your perspec...

The essential goal of temptation from whatever source is simply this: to make myself — how I feel or my time-bound interests and desires — more important to me right now than my friendship with Jesus. How can we effectively counter this? Someone has said, “ Against Love temptation has no power. ” (God At Eventide) Why is that? Because love and temptation move in opposite directions. Love flows out...

A reading from 1 Peter 4:7-10 (NIV) 7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. ”...

Tuesday, November 30, 2021 Have you ever wondered what God’s ultimate purpose is behind his activity in our lives? Allow me to give you what I think it is. Consider this verse: Colossians 1:16 (NIV) With reference to Jesus we read, that “… in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been c...

“LORD, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.”  Isaiah 26:12 (NIV) Doesn’t that sound rather strange? “ all that we have accomplished you have done for us”? If someone approached you after a hard day’s work of sweat and even tears in getting a job done and said, “ All that you’ve accomplished today, I actually did for you .” It would be shocking if not...

Sunday, November 28, 2021 “ The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). ” Matthew 1:23(NIV) One of the most common expressions I hear from believers facing a difficulty is “ God is with me. ” It is usually said with gratitude and is clearly a comfort to them. And so it should be because it’s true. “ In him ,” writes the Apostle Pa...