All posts tagged: faith

The missing piece

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I am a firm believer that every one of us have a gift. We are all destined to do something in life that no one else could ever do. Even if we did our best to imitate somebody else’s gift we could never quite deliver like they do. Each one of us are uniquely created and strategically gifted and placed to do just one thing and do it like no one else could. I recently read the story about an eighty-six year old man named Jack Harris. It took him more than five-hour a day for eight years to complete a 5 ft jigsaw puzzle of James Tissot’s painting “The Prodigal Son” – only to find out that there was a missing piece. He looked for that piece but it was nowhere to be found. See, the piece was accidentally thrown away and the thought of not completing the puzzle left Jack really sad. Fortunately, the manufacturer heard Jack’s story about the missing piece and graciously custom-made that piece for him to complete building the puzzle. There is a song that only you could write, …

A Looking Glass, Self Examination and The Word of God

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It is a wonderful thing for people to give up the measure of their own appearance for God’s cleansing. David Guzik Exodus 38:8 He made the basin of bronze and its stand of bronze, from the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered in the entrance of the tent of meeting. This was a laver to hold water for the priests to wash in when they went in to minister. This signified the provision that is made in the gospel of Christ for the cleansing of our souls from the moral pollution of sin by the merit and grace of Christ, that we may be fit to serve the holy God in holy duties. These mirrors were used for the making of the laver. Either they were artfully joined together, or else molten down and cast anew but it is probable that the laver was so brightly burnished that the sides of it still served for mirrors, that the priests, when they came to wash, might there see their faces, and so discover the spots, …

If faith can move mountains, let the mountains move

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Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a …

All effort is in vain without the Lord

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It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. Psalm 127:2 Let me clarify or unpack a few things before we get to the heart of the matter here in Psalm 127. First of all, the first three verses of Psalm 127 is not an encouragement to laziness. When Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air they don’t plant, harvest, or gather the harvest into barns. Yet, your heavenly Father feeds them. Look at the lilies of the field, they don’t work or make their clothing,” – he was not telling us that we should not work. We know from other passages that if we do not work we will not eat. Diligence is neither greed nor restless anxiety Those who build a house must indeed labor on it, and certainly the watchman of a city must certainly stay awake.  Children are a heritage from the Lord – his gift, yet husband and wife must do something in bringing the …

A man with God is always in the majority

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The courage to stand for God before a hostile and indifferent culture comes to those who continually trusts in Him to take care of them and govern over the affairs of man. Too often, because we fear the rejection and wrath of the world, we water down truth, cave in to the overwhelming pressure of seemingly powerful people. But we must never forget that “a man with God is always in the majority.” Even though you may feel small and insignificant, continue to stand with and for God. Don’t give up now: Fight the good fight of faith, press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Shh! – Victory is in progress

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Too often we talk ourselves out of the miracles and blessings God wants to release in our lives. Our constant complaining, nagging and grumbling sometimes delay or even hinder us from experiencing the breakthroughs we so desperately want. Moses tried to talk his way out of becoming a mighty deliverer. Gideon tried to explain his way out of reaching his full potential. Before the parting of the red sea – the Israelites were on the verge of turning around and going back to Egypt because of their incessant negative speech and grumbling. Before the taking of the promised land – they literally delayed the taking of this good land by a negative report that completely stalled – if not put off the mission. Before the miracles of bread falling from the sky and water gushing out of the rock, Israel’s continued grumbling, nagging and quarrelling and murmuring became too much for God to handle, let alone his prophet. At this juncture in the history of Israel (Joshua 6), they are about to take a fortified city and …

two unchangeable things about God

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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 6:18 How certain are the promises of God? The writer of the book of Hebrews claims that the certainty of God’s promises are guaranteed by God’s own perfectly trustworthy character. To illustrate this and prove the certainty of God’s promises, the writer uses Abraham as an example of one who through faith and much patience inherited the promises of God. As if that illustration was not enough, the writer makes a bold statement about two unchangeable things about God. What are they? And how important are they? The two unchangeable things are: God’s promise/purpose God’s Oath one deals with the fact that all the promises of God are yes! and the other is more like an assurance that he will certainly deliver on what he promised. Hebrews 6:13 says, “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had …

Never give up

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What can I say to you today that will spark a fire in you? What can I actually bring today that will motivate you, get you out of that rut, shake you out that funky place, get you off your couch or get some adrenaline pumping. For some, it’s a seeming setback. For others, it’s boredom. Sadly still, it could be the ending of a dream, a dying relationship, a frustrating job, a long-awaited success or promotion that doesn’t seem to come. Whatever the case today, I want you to get up and try again. never, never, never, never give up – Winston Churchill you will need some determination to get you where you want to go… lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees – Writer of Hebrews (12:12) you will need some courage to keep you where you are going … I don’t have 22 reasons to tell you not to give up. I only have one. You owe it to yourself. You deserve a second chance. There is so much in you, …