In the Book of Lamentation chapter 3, the author writes about God's great love and compassion in spite of Israel's continued disobedience to Him. This book was written in the days following Judah’s tragic defeat and exile to Babylon (586 B.C.) In painful detail, the author attributes horrific national suffering not just to the cruelty of the Babylonian military but to divine wrath that doesn’t sound compassionate or merciful. Yet the prophet’s tears mirrored the heart of God

During a past visit at my mother house with my two children, my mother shared some great stories about her older brother who loved the Lord and served Him unconditionally. My mother told us stories of my Uncle Pete, who would be laying on the floor watching television and suddenly, he would get a prompting from God on his feet. This prompting my uncle fully recognized as God's calling and that it was time for him to get up and go and serve God wherever He would send him. My u

In a previous reading of "Our Daily Bread", we see a glimpse of God's hand in the lives of the children of Israel through the eyes of the prophet Isaiah in chapter 35 of the Book of Isaiah. In this chapter Isaiah speaks of the coming joy for the people of Israel after all the horrific devastation that has and will happen to them. Many times, God must allow bad things to happen to His people to bring us to our knees to be able to see His love for us. Not until we can take our

In reading today's "Our Daily Bread" in the Book of Proverbs reminded me of how foolish we can become in making wrong decisions in life. We know in our minds and hearts what is right, based on the instructions we received growing up, but we still choose to make the wrong choices. Read the following: Proverb 5: 1-2; 11-14 (NIV) My son, pay attention to my wisdom, turn your ear to my words of insight, 2 that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge. 11 A

In today's Our Daily Bread, we are reminded that we all face challenges every day of our lives. But these challenges should "lift" us up, not bring us down. During a tour of an aircraft carrier, a jet fighter pilot explained that planes need a 56-kilometer-per-hour wind to take off on such a short runway. To reach this steady breeze, the captain turns his ship into the wind. “Shouldn’t the wind come from the plane’s back?” a young observer asked. The pilot answered, “No. The

In a message in "Our Daily Bread", I was reminded in the Book of Isaiah that God is always with us. He will not leave us or abandon us. It is we who abandon God during our everyday circumstances. During our busy lives we go about doing the things we need to do such as going to work, taking care of our family, and building our financial security. All this is good, but where is God in our busy lives? It is not until the bottom falls out from underneath us that we cry out to God

As I read the story of Moses and the people of Israel as they left Egypt to go to the Promise Land, that God had promised Abraham, I am amazed at the relationship that Moses had with God. Moses communed with God daily, speaking with Him about the problems he was having with the people of Israel. The people of Israel were a difficult group of people. God, at many times, called them a "stiff-neck people". “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff

As little children, we are so trusting and believing in our parents to provide and protect us. But as we grow older, we begin to lose that innocence of trust. We begin to think we can do things by ourselves. We say to ourselves: "I can take care of myself now". There lies the problem as we become "children of God". God wants us to have that "child-like" trust in Him as we did as little children to our parents. Matthew 18: 3 (NIV) And He said: “Truly I tell you, unless you cha

We all have heard the story of the Apostle Peter and Jesus walking on the water. In the Book of Matthew, in chapter 14 verses 15-20, Jesus had just finished feeding the five thousand. He then sent His disciples ahead of Him on the boat on the Sea of Galilee while Jesus sent the people away. Matthew: 14: 22-24 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23 And when He had sent the multitudes awa

This is a question many Christians ask of themselves. We know that our "Salvation" is not based on the works we do. We are saved through "Faith" in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, in what He did on the cross for us. Through His death and resurrection, He paid the penalty of our sins for us. We are not able to save ourselves. Romans 6: 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Our salvation is a free gift of God that we recei

I have read the following verse in Matthew many times over the years, but I never fully understood its full meaning. But as the Lord is continually teaching me what true surrender means, one can apply the following verse to come to mean that we must completely surrender everything in our lives before we can enter heaven. Matthew 7: 13-24 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.14 But small

In reading today's "Our Daily Bread", in the book of Genesis of chapter 22, I was reminded of the story of Abraham and his son Isaac. God was going to test Abraham in his faith and the promise God gave Abraham about becoming the "Father of many nations". Abraham knew that Isaac was going to be his first and only son from Sarah. But God now was telling Abraham to go and offer up his son as a burnt offering to Him. Genesis 22: 1-2 (NKJV) Now it came to pass after these things t

THE FOLLOWING IS A SELECTION FROM THE BOOK ABSOLUTE SURRENDER: "Christ said, when He spoke about the Holy Spirit: 'The world cannot receive Him', (John 14: 17). The Apostle Paul said: 'We have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is of God', (I Corinthians 2: 12). What is the great want in every Christian worker...The spirit of the world going out, and the Holy Spirit of God coming in to take possession of the inner life and of the whole being. I am sure

This is a question many Christians seek to know about their life. Can God's truly be found or understood? The answer is yes. But there are essential elements that must take place in our lives for us to be able to see and/or understand God's will for our life. I addressed this question earlier in a previous post, under the topic of: "Separated unto The Holy Ghost", the third chapter in the book of, "Absolute Surrender" by Andrew Murray. Andrew Murray's book stated the followin

The question above is a very profound question to ask ourselves as Christians. So many of us, as Christians, want to do God's work for Him, so off we go moving forward starting to work for God through our own power, thinking that God has blessed our mission. But there lies the problem. It is not our work for God to do. It is God's work to assign to us to do through us. It is God's church, and He is the Commander of His army. God has His own plans regarding His kingdom. It is

Circumcision was a covenant God gave to Abraham and to the future Israelite people to show God's commitment and promise to His people. This act was an outward sign of the flesh, but God's purpose was for us to become circumcised of the "heart"...for us to give up our "fleshly desires" to Him and come to worship Him with our "whole heart". Genesis 17: 10-11 This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you s

This is an interesting question that many Christians have asked over the years. Since God's grace came to all men because of sin, (sin came through the Law of God), that must mean that God has given us the freedom to continue to sin that His grace may continue to abound even more. Read what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans: Romans 5: 20-21 (NIV) The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just

Reading a message in "Our Daily Bread" about the sacrifices of God's people and how they would bring blind, lame, and diseased to God as their offerings to Him (Malachi 1: 8-9), reminded me of how we sometimes do the same to God with our own lives. We give to God only a part of ourselves at times and keep hold of the areas in our lives we think we can manage on our own. God wants our whole hearts, our full obedience and sacrifice to Him. Read the following in Malachi and see

I Thessalonians 5: 16-24 (NKJV) Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. 23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you

Many people who go through trials in their life grit their teeth when they see the trials coming and pray hard that God will help make the trial go away soon. The trials themselves can be very painful and hard to endure, depending on the type of trial it is. But no matter what type of trial whether it be family, personal, financial, or relational, they can be very heart-wrenching. Early in my years as a new Christian, I was unfortunate to go through very many hard trials in m