VIDEO: The Blessed Woman by Debbie Morris
Setting Fire to Your Old Life
“When we consider following God in a way that would disrupt our lives, we usually try to prequalify our obedience before taking the first step. But the thing is, whether you’ll see God do greater things in your life doesn’t depend on having the equipment you’ll need for the journey ahead. You can’t get too worried about whether you’ve read the right books or been to the right school or have the right connections. Right now, the only equipment you need is a flamethrower (or if that sounds too dramatic, a box of matches).
That’s because you can’t step into your new life until you first set fire to whatever is tethering you to your old life. Before you can go forward into the life God has for you, you have to offer Him every part of the life [ … ]
As Personal as it Gets
“Why doesn’t God just show himself to people?”
The waiter had walked off with our dessert plates. I had resisted the urge to scrape mine with my fork as I usually did at home. Waiting for coffee, I decided it was now or never to get some of my remaining questions about God and life answered. This one seemed like a decent place to start.
Jesus wiped his mouth with his napkin and returned it to his lap. “What would you have me do?”
“I don’t know appear to everyone personally.”
He chuckled, and seeing the irony in my statement, I couldn’t help but join him momentarily.
“No, seriously,” I said. “Most people don’t get a dinner invitation.”
“I did appear to humanity. I became one of you. That’s about as personal as [ … ]
Renew Where You Are
Martin Luther was once approached by a man who enthusiastically announced that he’d recently become a Christian. Wanting desperately to serve the Lord, he asked Luther, “What should I do now?” as if to say, should he become a minister or perhaps a traveling evangelist?
Luther asked him, “What is your work now?”
“I’m a shoemaker.”
Much to the cobbler’s surprise, Luther replied, “Then make a good shoe and sell it at a fair price.”
In becoming Christians we don’t need to retreat from the vocational calling we already have. Nor do we need to justify that calling, whatever it is, in terms of its spiritual value or evangelistic usefulness. We simply exercise whatever our calling is with new God-glorifying motives, goals, and standards and with renewed commitment to performing our calling with greater excellence and higher objectives.
Money
Money is the currency of Christian Hedonism. What you do with itor desire to do with itcan make or break your happiness forever. The Bible makes clear that what you feel about money can destroy you: “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction” (1 Timothy 6:9).
This passage teaches us to use our money in a way that will bring us the greatest and longest gain. That is, it advocates Christian Hedonism. It confirms that it is not only permitted but also commanded by God that we flee from destruction and pursue our full and lasting pleasure. It implies that all the evils in the world come not because our desires for happiness are too strong, but because they are so weak [ … ]
SNEAK PEEK: The Real Win by Colt McCoy and Matt Carter
You want to win.
But what does winning look like in real life?
Click here to download chapter one of The Real Win.
Inside every guy is a burning desire to set goals and achieve them, to get ahead and finish strongmost of all, to win. So why do so many guys invest years striving for success only to discover that what they thought was winning actually turns out to be losing in all the ways that count?
Click here to download chapter one of The Real Win.
SNEAK PEEK: Unfinished by Steven K. Scott
Jesus invites you to pursue His four callings
Click here to download chapter one of Unfinished.
What does God want most from you? For too many believers, this question echoes troubling messages from the past. Thou shalt not, you need to do more, why did you miss last nights meeting? Its easy to feel overwhelmed, which can keep you from seeing what God truly desires to accomplish through you.
Click here to download chapter one of Unfinished.
God sword
I want to share something I discovered while crafting this book. Hidden within the combination of letters that spell “God’s word” is a “sword.” By keeping the letters constant and only altering the spacing, you discover God’s word is a God sword. Isn’t that awesome? This confirms in an unexpected way what we are told by Paul in the book of Ephesians: “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (6:17). Everything we need or will need is hidden in his Word, and we search it out like buried treasure!
Excerpted from Girls With Swords by Lisa Bevere
Daily Reflection: How do you search out God’s Word like buried treasure?