live2bless

In 2 Corinthians 4:6 we read, “For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” Then in John 1:14 (NET) writing of Jesus as “the Word” John writes, “Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory—the glory of the one and only, full of grace and tr...

Someone recently asked me if all our trials involve spiritual warfare. It was a good, I thought, and an important one to think about. My response was that satan preys on human weakness. And let’s define “weakness” as an area in our lives in which we are needing to learn to depend more on the Lord. A hardship or difficulty puts pressure on that area of weakness — that lack-of-trust area. It is a “t...

In James 1:2-4 (NIV) we read, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Could it not be said that these words, especially the first sentence, are some of the strangest words ever written?...

I suggest to you that the bedrock of all morality is God’s nature. That is to say, God calls and commands us to be as he is and to always think and act in ways that correspond to his nature. What has he revealed to us as to his nature? Jesus himself was the full and final revelation of God, and the apostle John writes that this — in essence — is what he revealed: “This is the message we heard from...

I routinely think about just what my purpose in life is, so a few days ago I wrote up the following.  I offer it to you here as something for you to reflect on.   In Colossians 1:15-16 (NET) with reference to Christ, we read, 15 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, 16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created in him—all things, whether visible...

Growth in the Christian life could be defined by how many of our anxieties, trials, and temptations we keep in the hands of God.  By that I mean, we make them all God’s to deal with and therefore none-of-my-business — NOMB. How do we go about it? In Exodus 14 we read about the Israelites facing disaster.  They had left Egypt but now the Red Sea was before them, there were mountains on ei...

Until recently, it never occurred to me that perhaps the biggest burden in life for a believer is temptation.  I have rather subconsciously made a distinction between the burdens of what we might call stress or anxiety, and the reality of temptation.   But why not lump them together? After all, what could possibly be more stressful to the soul that yearns to be a true friend to Jesus, th...

[Before I begin this podcast I want to let you know that starting next week I’m going to be publishing podcasts only on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.] In James 1:14-16 we read, “Each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. Do not be led astray, my dear brothers and...

In Matthew 6:22-23 (NET) Jesus teaches the following,  “The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” Notice that he is highlighting two realities:  your eye and light.  Here are some thoughts...

Here’s a quote from Jordon Peterson that I think is worthy a lot of reflection: “Make your life about attempting to present to others what you believe to be true as clearly and as consistently as possible and at whatever cost.” - Jordon Peterson Put that alongside the apostle Pauls statement: “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displa...

I recently saw a video clip in which a guy said, “Thirteen years ago, I got clean and sober off of drugs and alcohol and I was taught that I have to give it away to keep it.” From what I gather, he went around helping as many needy people as he could with acts of kindness and words of encouragement.   In other words, he took the very life he had been self-medicating to make himself feel...

Here are some thoughts I’ve been having regarding motivation and desire.  I thought you might like to reflect on them. Motivation has to do with why you act on this desire over against that one.  What motivates you determines what desires you choose to entertain.  If you are motivated to just serve yourself, you act on self-serving desires. Allow me to borrow an analogy from the com...

I took some time to write up a simple story today that for me, at least, helped me better understand and illustrate an important truth.  I’ll read it then make a few comments. ***** A father and son were getting ready to settle into a weekend together.  This was their first night in their newly remodeled cabin.  It was a cozy looking place with the woods coming right up to the back...

A friend recently asked me, What do you think of the following paraphrased statement…the author said he preaches not “fixing what’s wrong with ourselves” as much as uncovering the true nature of what God created in us that we’ve ignored or covered up with all the foolishness in our lives. My response was, I guess I would ask, “do we have a hardware problem or simply a software problem?” In other w...

When you are being tempted, you are actually being enticed to abandon the chance God is giving you to become more effective at helping and encouraging others. That is what makes any temptation so abhorrent:  it is an attempt to diminish the possibility that you might alert others to the truth of how precious they are to God. The more we pay attention to the desires the Holy Spirit has put in...

In Romans 9:1-4 (NET) the apostle Paul writes, 1 “I am telling the truth in Christ (I am not lying!), for my conscience assures me in the Holy Spirit — 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed — cut off from Christ — for the sake of my people, my fellow countrymen, 4 who are Israelites.” Of all the trials that the apostle Paul endured,...

In James 1:2-4 we read, 2 “My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything.”  Notice that the apostle doesn’t here tell us what being “perfect and complete” is for. &n...

God’s glory is his character. What defines his character? A holy, self-disregarding helpfulness. Holiness is not a character quality alongside things such as patience, kindness, or gentleness. It has to do with how close to perfection a particular character quality is. The closer that quality gets to being perfect, the more it can be said to be holy. In other words, holiness means that a given qua...

Here’s some information from Mayo Clinic: “ A cataract is a clouding of the normally clear lens of the eye. For people who have cataracts, seeing through cloudy lenses is a bit like looking through a frosty or fogged-up window. Clouded vision caused by cataracts can make it more difficult to read, drive a car (especially at night) or see the expression on a friend's face. “Most cataracts develop s...

This week begins the season of Lent. For centuries God's people have had a special regard for these forty days leading up to the crucifixion and Easter Sunday. Regardless of what we may think of the actual observation, one thing seems to me to be of vital importance: the necessity of reflecting deeply on our sinfulness and mortality and the corresponding need to reaffirm our complete dependence up...

The following quote comes from James Allen, who in 1903 wrote the widely published self-help booklet entitled “As A Man Thinketh.”  That title was taken from the KJV translation of Proverbs 23:7 “as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he.” While I wouldn't endorse numerous core ideas expressed in James Allen’s writings, every so often he expresses biblical truths with immense clarity and ins...

2 Corinthians 5:10 reads, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil.” See yourself standing alone before the judgement seat of Christ on that great day. Then let’s say that one by one he sets beside you each person who ever brought trouble into your life on earth or hurt you or...

Are you having trouble with how someone has treated you or someone close to you? Here’s a question that came to me this morning in facing my own quandary along these lines: So how does my attitude or reaction to that person stand to help them get to know Jesus or get to know him better? In absolutely everything Jesus thought, said, or did in all his actions or reactions (private or public) he had...

In Psalms 119:92 (NET) we read, “If I had not found encouragement in your law, I would have died in my sorrow.” Tragedy and malevolence in life are such that beyond all fear and anger, beyond all disappointment and hurt and even depression, lies that which can only best be referred to as sorrow. It’s beyond the reach of words. You know when it comes, but you cannot explain what it is. It is an emo...

Everything you do day to day really does come down to this: you do only what you consider worth your time and effort to do. If you get going on something you consider worth your time and effort, but after awhile you become convinced isn’t worth it, you’re done. You’ll find the quickest way out. This is just human nature. We were created in such a way that to keep applying time and energy to anythi...