live2bless

Jesus, in referring to himself as the good shepherd, said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) It may very well be that the biggest mistake we make in our day to day living — the taproot of all our frustrations — is believing that what we have in mind for ourselves will bring us a more abundant, sati...

I heard a remark the other day that had me rewinding immediately to write it down. The person said, “When I do the little things right, then God takes care of the big things.” (R F Kennedy) It reminded me of the words of Jesus to that effect from Luke 16:10 — “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest wit...

So how do we know when we are walking in the wisdom of God? The apostle James makes it clear: “If you have bitter jealousy and selfishness in your hearts, do not boast and tell lies against the truth. Such wisdom does not come from above but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure,...

In my last podcast I suggested that the primary reason for asking for wisdom is so that we can effectively cowork with God in winning him more friends. So how do we know when our prayer is being answered? We don’t have to guess. The apostle James writes about it in James 3:13 — “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct he should show his works done in the gentleness that wisdom...

As we move towards an answer as to what wisdom is for, I want us to notice that to relate to the source of that wisdom, God himself, requires a receptive heart that’s willing to be helped, on the one hand, and a listening heart that’s ready to be an agent of his helpfulness on the other. That’s because this helpful God seeks to touch our lives in two ways. 1) First by revealing to us how precious...

Proverbs 2:6 — “…the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Have you ever wondered just what wisdom is for?  Let’s think about that. To love the Lord is to adopt his highest interest as your own. What is his highest interest? Someone might reply, “the praise of his glory” seeing as the apostle Paul repeats that phrase two times in Ephesians 1 (v12,v14) as being the mo...

Taking time off. Will resume doing podcasts on Wednesday, August 16th.

Every so often I come across lists posted on the internet that people come up with to help apply correct grammar to common words or expressions we use. I find them helpful if for no other reason than to reinforce my memory. However, I have yet to see a list of emotionally filled expressions people routinely use to deflect personal responsibility. So, allow me to offer the following examples. 1) “T...

1 Corinthians 9:24 (NIV) 24 “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” Have you given much thought to just what that “prize” would be for you? Elsewhere the apostle Paul writes about winning a “crown of righteousness” but righteousness seems to me like a many faceted jewel. Each of us will be attracted to some different...

"The Christian faith is ultimately not only a matter of doctrine or understanding or of intellect, it is a condition of the heart." That is a quote from the famous English preacher, Martyn Lloyd-Jones. With all due respect to him whose writings years back helped me grow in my walk with the Lord, I would put it like this: that the Christian faith for each of us personally is ultimately ab...

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NIV) 24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer...

In our walk with God, the battle against every temptation is won through a stronger interest in a more satisfying and enduring reality. Consider how Jesus dealt with his temptations. Each one appealed to a different aspect of life — the flesh, the world, and the devil himself. After forty days of fasting he was hungry: “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” Then the world...

I was recently informed of was has been dubbed an artificial intelligence Jesus, or AI Jesus for short. The news heading read, “AI Jesus talks dating, relationships, morals — even offers video-gaming tips.” The article goes on to say that “"AI Jesus" says, "It’s essential to focus on faith, love and kindness, as these are the core teachings of Christianity.” Well, whoever programmed...

I’ve mentioned before that I think it could rightly be said that in the Old Testament, the attitude that most reflects vibrant spiritual health is the fear of the Lord. Consider this statement from Proverbs 9:10 —“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” That sounds to me like there is no true wisdom possible to us without that deep regard for the Lord. But what does that mean in the ligh...

It could very well be that the greatest danger we face in the Christian life is to live day by day one step removed from acting on the immediacy of Jesus’ counsel and guidance. That is to say, we live off of inferences we make from the scriptures as to what to think and do instead of the direct counsel of the Holy Spirit. An inference is “a conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning...

Allow me to share with you what I think the whole of the Christian life comes down to. I’ll put in into three steps. First, read about Jesus — his life, his teaching, his death, and his resurrection. Second, fix your eyes on him. By that I mean, practice thinking about him in terms of what you’re reading. Meditate on it. Third, expect him to help you become his follower and friend. That means prac...

“Ships don’t sink because of the water around them. Ships sink because of the water that gets in them.” -anonymous People don’t sink — feel sad or afraid, ashamed or angry — because of the adversities around them. They sink because of the adversities they allow in them. What is an adversity? It is something that happens to us or those close to us that we don’t like. People say or do foolish things...

In thinking of the human family, let’s ask the question, what does God want and why? To begin with, let’s consider what he created us for. Three passages stand out to me, two that reference God in general and the third that speaks of Jesus. Regarding God we read, Romans 11:36 (GWT) — “Everything is from him and by him and for him.” Hebrews 2:10 (NET) — “For it was fitting for him, for whom and thr...

In 1 Corinthians 8:1-3 (NET) we read, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. If someone thinks he knows something, he does not yet know to the degree that he needs to know. But if someone loves God, he is known by God.” Knowledge, in the absence of love, tends toward arrogance. But love focuses on building others up. And think of love as “helpfulness.” To love is to help others become what God c...

No doubt you’re familiar with the saying, “a hill to die on”? One dictionary of idioms gives this definition:   “A position or argument that one maintains with total conviction, without concern as to whether or not one will be considered correct or change anyone else's opinion.” I’m convinced that there are many ways to understand and interpret the scriptures and life itself for which we do we...

The choice to be pure in heart may very well be the deepest and most far reaching change that we ever make in our friendship with Jesus.  Essentially it means we chose to adopt as our own his singular motive behind all we think, say, and do. And what was that?  Here’s how he put it in his prayer in John 17:4 (NET)  “I glorified you on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” And what was t...

Listen carefully to the following two statements Jesus made, and then I’m going to quote historian and biblical scholar William Barclay.  He gives us an excellent insight into what Jesus was saying. First Luke 11:20 — “If I with the finger of God cast out devils, there’s no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.”   Now Matthew 12:28 — “If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God then the kingdom...

Today I listened to a man give his testimony about being diagnosed with stage four cancer through out his body.  He was given only six to eight weeks to live.  He faced it with both a traditional and holistic approach to treatment, and now has outlived the prediction and been declared cancer free.    But what he most highlighted as the key to his recovery was simply gratitude.   Here’s what he sai...

In 1 Timothy 4:7b-9 (NIV)   the read the following exhortation the apostle Paul gave to Timothy, “…Train yourself to be godly. ‘For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.’”   This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance.”  I recently asked one of our local physical therapists the followi...

I read the following exhortation in a devotional today.  As we grow in our faith we must always see that there is a new discipline that needs to become a part of our armor.  The explanation for that was that as we grow our trust in the Lord, so our influence for the Lord grows.  And with that will come increasing satanic opposition.   Someone has said that satan only rocks the cradle of a sleeping...