A Longing for Brilliance Inside every one of us, there is a longing for brilliance. A desire to shine brightly with a sense of value that is beyond ourselves. As children, we do not dream about becoming average or ordinary. Instead, we dream about the amazing things we will do with our lives. With passion in our hearts, we imagine all of the ways our lives will be filled with the extraordinary. Our minds envision exciting, hope-filled pictures of the life of purpose that lies in front of us. However, over time, the bright, shining lights of our imaginations can slowly start to fade. We can begin to believe that a nominal life is all we can experience. A million responsibilities and the routine tasks Read More
Tag: changed by his grace
Unashamed
Denying God Have you ever denied God in front of others? Have you ever been that person who sat quietly by as others insulted your Savior, Jesus Christ? Unfortunately, there was a time in my life when that was true of me. In several instances in the past, I just shut my mouth as I listened to those around me criticize Christianity and portray its followers in various stereotypical ways. As uncomfortable as I was, I didn’t want to risk being seen in a similar light. And most certainly, I didn’t want to embrace the idea that suffering would be a part of my Christian faith. The Easy Christian Life I wanted the easy Christian life. You know, the kind of life where you gain Read More
Loathsome Quail
“You (Israelites) have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, ‘Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt.’ Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat…until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you…” (Numbers 11:18-20) The verses sure do convey a disgusting picture, but they hit me with such truth as I read them. The entire passage of Numbers 11 shows a people who were not thankful for what the Lord had given them, but instead were consumed with desire for what they did not have, for what they thought they needed. These verses took me back years in my Read More
The Faith of a Leper
And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Matthew 8:2-3 Do you have the faith of the leper? Are you willing to approach God with full confidence that he can do absolutely anything in his great power? This leper, lacking any power of his own in regard to his physical strength or his standing in society, knew that Jesus could do anything, even cleanse a leper like himself. Approaching Jesus with humility and faith, he states, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” He doesn’t ask Jesus if he can make Read More
The Character of God
“So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.” Hebrews 6:17-18 After reading this passage, I have to ask myself, “Why do I ever falter in my faith when I have a God like this?” I have a God who is absolutely unchanging in his purpose and trustworthy in his character. I have a God who is simply incapable of telling a lie or even formulating the idea of a lie in his Read More