WE KNOW THAT BITTERNESS HINDERS OUR EFFECTIVENESS FOR GOD. BUT HOW MUCH FORGIVENESS IS ENOUGH?
Most of us have times in our lives when we are pushed to our limits with regard to forgiving others. I have vowed not to retell my story, but suffice it to say, I had never been hurt so deeply before or since.
I couldn’t discuss it with my family members. But one friend from Romania was far removed from the situation, so I was able to tell him everything.
For most of us, envisioning how God wants to use us is easy. The real work comes in faithfully taking steps each day in the direction of His will.
At times, the way seems clearly laid out for us. But at others we feel confused, unprepared and inadequate.
You’ve undoubtedly had the experience of ministering to someone and coming away thinking you had utterly failed. But a few days later you encountered that person again, and she told you your ministry was an answer to prayer!
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The Lord desires that we continue in the race appointed to each of us until we see Him. If we discipline our hearts to persevere, we will grow in the knowledge of His truth that frees us from the enemy’s traps.
One woman’s dramatic encounter with Christ shows us that he came to deliver women from spiritual oppression.
We do not know her name. Usually we refer to her as “the woman with the issue of blood.” But those words from the King James Bible seem archaic today and make her seem faceless and distant. She was a real person, and her pain was intense.
I sometimes imagine that this fragile shell of a woman was called “Mara”–the Hebrew word for bitter. Chronic sickness had disfigured her life. Yet Christ got so close to her pain that she dared to touch Him, and her healing has provided inspiration for countless sermons ever since.
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Freedom in Christ means more than escape from eternal condemnation. We can find hope and peace for today in what was spoken by Jesus on Calvary’s cross.
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When we rely on the Lord, His joy will be our strength. Our circumstances cannot so easily overwhelm us. Even when we can’t see how, God is faithful to deliver us from every affliction.
BECOMING ALL GOD DESIRES WILL MEAN SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION FROM THE INSIDE OUT.
Because of his keen observations of how God works in nature, scientist and educator George Washington Carver probably had as much insight into life as he had knowledge of plants. He once commented on the fact that people often assume, when they can’t see anything growing above the ground, that nothing is happening beneath it.
I’ve often made that mistake in my own life and in the way I’ve assessed situations regarding other people. Because of the many challenges facing our world and the church today, we may be tempted to think that positive change is a long way off; but that may not be true for the body of Christ or for its individual members.
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The white flag of surrender does not always convey failure. Our heavenly Father eagerly waits for the day when we surrender our hearts and minds to His cleansing and direction.
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A major key to Christian living involves learning how to interact daily with God. Studying God’s Word and praying helps us learn how to hear and follow His direction.
NEW TRENDS IN BIBLE STUDIES CATER TO THE TIME-DEPRIVED AND THE INTERNET SAVVY.
Women have long been known to be the backbone of Christian congregations in America. According to a 2000 report from Christian researcher George Barna, one out of every five Christian women–or 20 percent–belong to a small group that meets regularly for Bible study, prayer or Christian fellowship. The same statistic among men is only 13 percent.
Unfortunately, family and jobs tend to dictate how much time a woman devotes to study of the Word. As women progress through different life stages they desire Bible studies that are tailored to their interests, schedules and spiritual maturity.
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The Old and the New Testaments provide multiple examples of women who operated in the gift of prophecy. Joel tells us God’s daughters will prophesy through His Spirit.
GOD’S GRACE AND MERCY CAN COVER US AND EMPOWER US TO CHANGE, EVEN WHEN WE’VE BLOWN IT BADLY.
At this very moment, an ancient battle continues to wage between Satan, the enemy of our souls, and the daughters of Eve. Since the Garden of Eden, this enemy has been unrelenting in his attempts to shame, strip and dishonor women in order to challenge God’s work in their lives.
Sadly, his most vicious offensives are often launched under the guise of religion. Nowhere in the Bible is this more evident than in the story of the woman caught in adultery. This account, found in John 8:1-12, is an incredible and telling example of the cruelty of law and religion as well as the beauty of God’s mercy and love.
When you ask God for something great, you also ask Him for great testing. The unspoken part of your prayer is, “Train me for it.”
Make sure you understand that God will prepare you for the answer to that for which you are praying. He wants to qualify you, and the qualifications may be so rough that you tell Him to forget it.
In the Old Testament, the Israelites left Mount Sinai and walked a large circle in the wilderness before reaching Kadesh Barnea, where they sent out a spying party into the promised land. Ten of the 12 spies weren’t ready for entry, and they came back with a bad report (see Num. 13:31).
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Prayer involves more than trying to get things from God. A mature prayer life enables God to get into us, where He can heal us and move us into our destiny.
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Prejudice occurs when we prejudge a person because of race, gender, religion, profession and so on. Often we inherit prejudices from our forefathers. Far from innocuous, prejudice is sin in God’s eyes.
