"Do You Love and Appreciate You? Here's Why It Matters"
God’s greatest gift to you … is YOU!
Without you, you do not exist.
God made you on purpose, with purpose.
You are not a random mixture of ingredients, but rather the culmination of desire, intent and planning – orchestrated by God. You are exactly what He thought of when He dreamt of you. He used your family lines, history, geography and circumstances to form you. You are His personal handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works that He has prepared in advance for you. (Ephesians 2:10)
Â
Our two primary responses to God’s personal gift are to love Him with all that we have and to love our neighbors as ourselves. (Mark 12:30-31) There are three love objects mentioned in this Great Command and Commission: God, others and ourselves.Â
In my faith circles, I have heard a great deal about loving God and loving others, but I haven’t heard much about rightly loving myself. Rather, such a thought has often been looked at with suspicion – as if it is a selfish and/or self-absorbed ...
Do You Have What It Takes To Lead?
What does it mean to be a good leader?
There are hundreds of books, on this topic, stored on shelves and in cyberspace .
What are the key ingredients of real, spiritual authority and leadership?
Do you have these qualities?
Could you ever be a solid leader?
I say, “Yes!”
In the United States, we are tempted to think that leadership looks bold, forceful, dominant, overbearing and maybe even boastful. Leadership is for the strong – those who can overpower all contenders. This, however, is not true.
True leadership is based on genuine authority, and ALL authority comes from God. God’s authority is not marked by pride and earthly power.
When Jesus chose His disciples, he chose 12 of them. Why 12?
Many believe that this choice represented the 12 tribes of Israel; that Jesus was creating a new order – a kind of “New Israel.” It is interesting that one of the first glimpses we have recorded, in the book of Revelation, of the throne of God, includes 24 seated elders. (Revelation 4:4) This...
How To Know If You Have Enough Faith
How much faith do we need to have for it to be “enough” in God’s eyes?Â
What do we need to understand and believe?Â
Is there a specific body of truth statements or a theological construct we must grasp and affirm?
When Jesus spoke to people He often used images, metaphors and similes. He spoke of intensity and commitment. He said people needed to love Him more than their parents and more than their children. He said they needed to be willing to die for Him to be worthy of Him. (Matthew 10:37-38)Â
Worthiness here is not a matter of performance or accomplishment, but of treasure and focus. We must prize the Kingdom and focus on (prioritize) our relationship with Jesus above and beyond anything or anyone else. Jesus used strong, direct and bold language - to make a clear, undeniable point: The priority of Jesus and the Kingdom is everything.
The question isn’t how much faith you have, it’s about how central and focused your faith is. Is your faith centered on what God has/hasn...
Navigating God's Purpose and Your Desires
Can you articulate some of the primary needs, desires and burdens that you are carrying these days?Â
God wants you to express, to Him, the things are important to you.  He is often more interested in our needs than we realize. You may not have what you want “Because you don’t ask God.” (James 4:2)
Our desires can become problematic, however. When we become obsessed with our “stuff,” when our concerns become too much of a priority, they can become toxic and destructive to our souls. Our wishes may seem harmless at first, but as they become a fixation in our lives, they begin to diminish our world. It is as if can only see the object of our obsession. God wants to raise our eyes.
1 Kings speaks of a widow who, along with her son, was starving . She was about to prepare her last meal for the two of them when she met the prophet Elijah. He said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do what you have [planned]. But first make a small cake of bread for me and then make something for y...
Does Your World Feel Wobbly?
What do you do when the world around you – or the world as you know it or like it – starts shaking and feels unstable or threatening? What do you do when there seems to be nowhere to rest or feel safe? What do you do when change is in the air, but you are too tired to rise up and make changes?
We must remind ourselves, and each other, that we are receiving a Kingdom that cannot ever be shaken. (Hebrews 12:28) We are receiving the Kingdom of God; a Kingdom ruled by the Prince of Peace. This Kingdom is beyond tangible. It is not always easy to discern, though it is in our midst, because it is within us! (Luke 17:21) The Kingdom that we are receiving is an awakened awareness of God’s presence and sovereign rule. It’s an awareness of His omnipotence and His lordship over all time and all situations and all outcomes.
When our lives are threatening to fall apart under the seismic pressures and forces around us, we can stop, turn and worship the Lord. In times of trouble, we must turn from ...
Are You Growing Weary?
Most of us who come to Christ do so when we are facing difficult times. We come when we are in great need. We are hoping for change in our circumstances and/or within ourselves. Â
Why don’t we often come to God when we are in a “good space”? It’s probably because, when things are going well, we tend to be content in our self-reliance. We call out to God when relying on ourselves isn’t working anymore.
Life can still be tough – even when do we rely on God. The apostle Paul encourages those who are living in Christ, “Not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)
Why would people who have learned to rely on Christ become weary in doing the right things?  It’s because we all are prone to lose focus.Â
                              
It could be that we really want to see things change as a result of our good work. We keep our eyes on the change we hope for, and when we don’t see it, we ...
