live2bless

In a Messianic passage in Isaiah, the Lord says, “You are my servant, Israel, through whom I will reveal my splendor.” (Isaiah 49:3) I’m convinced that that is precisely God's purpose for us as well by virtue of being “in Christ.” God is determined to cause each one of us to shine brightly with his splendor, that is to say, with his goodness and helpfulness. So one way to safeguard God's purpose f...

Here’s a way of highlighting the difference between pride and grateful praise. Pride thinks, “ I got this. I made this happen. ” Grateful praise always says of every achievement and every blessing, “ I was given this. God made this happen. ”

There is no amount of inner turmoil or sullenness that can stand against meditating on the comprehensiveness of God’s shepherdly care. “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing” means exactly what it says. Conversely, inner peace and joy inform us that we are walking in the truth.

If you want to know what you most need help with, have a firm grasp on what it is that you ultimately want. Having been created by Christ and for him, there is no doubt in my mind that what we most want our lives to be is, in fact, what Jesus created us to be. Sin has fouled up a lot of what goes on inside of us, but it cannot cancel why Jesus made us. And I believe that reason makes up the very D...

This year I am determined to do better at praying more consistently and with greater confidence in God answering prayer. I want to take to heart this wonderful truth where the apostle Paul writes: “Now to him who by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen....

Luke 9:23 (NET) — “Then he said to them all, ‘If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself , take up his cross daily , and follow me .’” All progress in growing in friendship with God is predicated upon sacrifice. There is a cross at the heart of it. It’s simply impossible to get closer to God without giving something up, and then another something, and another. Something unhelpful...

Here’s a thought that I consider worthy of a great deal of reflection: “ Every day you get up you live according to whether or not others have intrinsic value. ” -W L Craig In other words, how you treat others all day long reveals the extent to which you know or don’t know that they are exceedingly precious to God.

In Luke 9:62, Jesus made this statement about the strict conditions of discipleship: “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”  In other words, the kingdom of God belongs to those who practice unconditional allegiance to the priorities and values of the kingdom. I can think of two that are inseparable: loyalty to Jesus, the King, and a commitment to...

In his teaching on what exactly defiles a person, Jesus said, “Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach and then passes out into the sewer? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a person. For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are the things t...

Never forget this simple truth: misery cannot come from wholesome thinking. Deviate, and to that degree life’s difficulties will be tormenting. Harbor wholesome thoughts, and, come what may, your heart will remain peaceful. Don’t fool yourself: with mathematical certainty, every thought you entertain either fuels purposeful living or invites disaster. So now, let’s ask, What are wholesome thoughts...

In Matthew 5:8 we read the following beatitude of Jesus: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” From what I recall, in the history of Christian thought, the vision of God — seeing God face to face — has been considered in some sense the ultimate joy that a human being or any created being could or ever will know. To put it more directly, you will never experience a greater moment...

With the dawn of a new year, I asked myself what attitudes would I like to have governing my outlook on life at all times throughout this year? For whatever it may be worth, here they are: Attitude #1 — “My life, though precious to Jesus, is a catastrophe that only he can set right — past, present, and future — so I trust him, and refuse to let my heart be troubled by anything I’ve been or done.”...

Philippians 2:14 — “Do everything without complaining or arguing.” One of the greatest causes of God’s judgment against the Israelites in their wilderness journey was their complaints against Moses and God. The Apostle Paul refers to one instance of complaining by the people that resulted in 14,700 deaths and he warns us, “And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying...

Someone has said, “The one supreme business of life is to find God’s plan for your life and live it.” (E Stanley Jones) With the first of yet another new year fast upon us, could you readily answer the question, “What is God’s plan for your life?” The apostle Paul certainly could, and does so in various ways through out his writings. Here’s one example: 13 “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider...

In Psalm 119:45 the psalmist writes, “I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.” On the face of it, something doesn’t seem right. How is it that seeking out God’s precepts, presumably to obey them, is to walk around in freedom? How does obedience go together with freedom? Actually, this relationship between obedience and freedom is commonly understood in developing any ski...

If there is one word that seems to embody all that we would want to characterize our relationship to God perhaps the word is adoration .  One dictionary defines it as “deep love and respect, worship; veneration.” Let’s expand on that. In thinking of God, I think we could look at adoration in two ways: the first way we could describe as the Adoration of his person.   These are moments in...

In the parable of the sower, you may recall that Jesus referred to four different soil conditions upon which the seed fell. Those conditions determined the success of the seed sown, that is, how fruitful or not it would become. We understand from Jesus’ explanation of the parable that he was equating soil conditions to the conditions of the human heart. When he spoke of the seed that multiplied to...

Galatians 6:7-8 (NET 2nd Ed.) “Do not be deceived. God will not be made a fool. For a person will reap what he sows, because the person who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.” The spiritual law of sowing and reaping is not something we can turn on or off nor can we manipulate it. We don’t determine t...

Here are a couple of passages that call us to adopt an overall motive for everything we do. 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NET) “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” Colossians 3:17 (NET) “And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” The name of the Lord in Scripture refers to his...

In Matthew 10:39 (NET) Jesus taught that, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life because of me will find it.” What I would call “my life” on earth is not in any sense “mine,” it is only mine–to–share. If I do not share it — causing all my thoughts, actions, and words to serve the purposes of God’s helpfulness — it is not as though I retain something. It slips through my f...

“ …You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,” Jesus said, “and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth.” Acts 1:8 (NET 2nd Ed.) We tend to associate being witnesses with saying things, and no doubt it includes that. But the bigger witness is a transformed life. Our loving God wants us to live with a settled co...

Mary, the mother of Jesus, may very well have preached the most powerful sermon ever preached regarding Jesus. It’s found in John 2:5, and it is only 5 words long. Here it is: “Do whatever he tells you.” There is nothing more important this day — this moment — than what’s on Jesus’ heart for you — something he wants you to know or do. So prepare yourself. How? Ask yourself: when have I been most s...

In Luke 18:9-14 (NET) we read the following: 9 “Jesus also told this parable to some who were confident that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else. 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: extortionists, unrighteous people, adul...

In Matthew 1:21 we read the angels words of reassurance to Joseph regarding Mary — “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Notice that the angel didn’t say Jesus would save his people from the consequences of their sins, but from the sins themselves. Something is amiss if our main concern is with the consequence of a...

Psalm 33:5b — “…the earth is full of his unfailing love.” Love is behind everything God does because God is love. That is to say, everything God does is helpful because God is pure helpfulness. However, the less we believe that, the more unsettled our hearts will be in a world like this. So, behind all that happens in our lives, we would do well to constantly reflect on the question, how is God he...