I was reading in Matthew today and in chapter 11 Jesus talks about the Kingdom of Heaven forcefully advancing (NLT). The Bible I’m using is the New Spirit-Filled Life Bible (NLT) with commentary by Jack Hayford. In his notes titled Kingdom Dynamics he says this: “Jesus defines the ‘violence’ of His Kingdom’s expansion by defining…
I love the end of the year. We’ve celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas, gathered, eaten good food, laughed, played, hugged, and eaten again. It has been a good year, a really good year. I relish the chance to remember the blessings. I also love looking forward to the new year that’s almost here. What are the…
Christmas is approaching! I love this season…lights, music, movies, concerts, snow, cold, comfort, families gathered, traditions observed, and even the craziness of getting it all done. But my favorite moments are the quiet ones…the times when I look at a manger scene and am struck all over again with the vastness and scope of God’s…
Teach me, Father, the difference between my own efforts to please You and Your Holy Spirit living His life of obedience in me. The difference, My child, between your life and Mine cannot be measured. They are as different as hope and despair, as love and hate, as life and death. Your efforts to please…
Oswald Chambers says in My Utmost for His Highest, “There is no snare or any danger of infatuation or pride in intercession, it is a hidden ministry that brings forth fruit whereby the Father is glorified.” Quite often we hear someone ask for prayer or promise to be praying for someone else’s need. It’s part and…
From the time we were little we’ve had a favorite question, “Why?” Every small child loves to ask why, to understand the reason behind whatever they are observing. It’s just not enough to learn the who, what, where, and when about something. Without knowing the why, we can’t understand motivation, cause and effect, action and…
“If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” This is one of the most well-known verses in the Bible, 2 Chronicles 7:14. In the verse…
We are so often overcome. Our daily lives balance on a precipice of our own making, and we are just fine as long as nothing upsets that tension. We juggle marriage, children, work, home, personal care, rest, never-ending schedules from every possible source, church, community, extended family, interests, recreation, entertainment, trying to make God the…
In my Bible reading right now I’m using a method that I’ve really liked over the years. I divide the text into five sections: history, (Genesis-Job), poetry (Psalms-Song of Solomon), prophecy (Isaiah-Malachi), Gospels & Acts (Matthew-Acts), and Epistles & Revelation (Romans-Revelation). If the goal is to read through the Bible in a year, you read…
It’s Christmas, and I get all sentimental and stuff. Actually, I am becoming more sentimental all year long. I reflect more; I feel more; I both laugh and cry, a lot. Sometimes it’s awesome. I appreciate simple, quiet things, and I’m easily at peace. It doesn’t take much to entertain me and make me laugh,…
