The Earmarks of a Complicated Life

In order to simplify your life, you must choose those things that are needful, as Mary did, instead of simply doing what would seem good or right to the natural mind.

Choosing things that aren’t needful will always produce cares and anxiety (Luke 10:41).

Anytime you feel uptight or anxious about something, look to see if you’re doing things that are not needful. Because doing things that are not necessary—even if they’re good—will always produce complications somewhere.

Dream Big: God Can Handle it

God has placed the desire to fly in the heart of every young eagle. The eagle yearns to get up to the rarefied stratosphere of the heavens, close to the sun, and close to Him who is, indeed, king over the earth. He is wired to reign in the majesty that he was created to beautifully exemplify. That desire is buried in the hearts of all young eaglets—but if they did what they wanted to do, there is a chance those eaglets would never leave the comfort of their nests.

With many Christians, it’s the same thing. Just as God has placed a desire in the eagle to fly, He’s placed within each one of our hearts a vision and desire to reach toward the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. We’re wired to reach for what He’s called us to do, whatever that dream may be. For many of us, however, mediocrity has become the keynote for our lives because we don’t want to leave the comfort of the nest.

What is your dream? a business idea? a witty invention? a call to the ministry? Too many Christians hang onto the comfort of their nests and miss that high calling of God. They need to take a step of faith, leave the nest, and follow the dream God has placed in their hearts.

How to Deal With Emotional Wounds

An emotional wound needs time to heal—but that wound will not heal if you continually rip it open through remembering how horrible the other person treated you. A man by the name of David Ridge put it this way, “True forgiveness is not an action after the fact; it is an attitude with which you enter each moment.”

Pray for Wisdom

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” (James 1:5 KJV)

How would you like to be known around the office as a person who always makes sound decisions? How would it affect your performance and satisfaction on the job if you had access to great wisdom whenever you had a decision to make? The truth is, we all have access to such wisdom. It’s just that most of us don’t know it or utilize it. In the book of James, we’re told, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” An important key to being happy in your job is knowing you can call on God for wisdom. Pray for wisdom on the job. You’ll enjoy your work more and enjoy more success.

Why You Must Vote

Evolution is not a scientifically proven theory. In fact, it both defies the definition of the scientific process and has nothing to support it in the fossil record. Yet it is being taught to our school children and flaunted as truth by knowledgeable intellectuals across America.

When Science Backs Creation

I want to share with you a story I shared a while ago that blesses me. It’s actually a story Dr. Billye Brim had told years ago while ministering at Living Word. Let it get you excited about what I’ll be talking about this upcoming weekend during my Eternity teaching series: evolution.

Back in the seventies, there was a university professor who taught at a well-known California university and was an atheist, evolutionist, and well-respected scientist in his field. One day, a Christian student challenged him to use the computer capacity at the university to do a projection of world population based on evolutionary theory and compare it to a projection of world population based on creationism.

The professor undertook the challenge. He went ahead and plugged in all of the data available through our historical records of catastrophic events that would have affected world population. He first came up with a projection of world population on the basis of evolutionary theory; the figure he came up with was astronomically large.

We Are More Than Conquerors

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. (Romans 8:37)

What does it look like when you are “more than a conqueror”?

Picture the boxer who wins the world championship and takes home a ten-million dollar prize. He’s battered and bruised, but he is the champion. He is an example of a conqueror.

Now when he comes home after the bout, he hands the check to his wife. She’s the one who is more than a conqueror.

It Came to Pass: The Key to Bring It to Pass

What is the key that will ensure that your relationships are healthy? How can you be sure that all your relationships are available for God to use? The answer is love. Part of the Lord’s greatest commandment is that we love our neighbor as ourselves.

“How do I do that?” you may ask. Well, the word love that is used here does not mean affection. This kind of love—the God-kind of love—is a love that gives. The Bible says that God so loved (agape) the world that He gave. As we learn to love other people with the God-kind of love—a love that gives—then we secure our relationships and make them available to God.

It Came to Pass: The Redemption Plan Unfolds

Six months after Elisabeth had conceived, another dimension of God’s redemptive plan was triggered. Elisabeth’s cousin, Mary, was visited by the angel Gabriel who gave her a message from God that she would conceive and give birth to a son after the power of the Holy Spirit came upon her. Mary conceived of the seed of God’s Word and her pregnancy of the Savior began.

Then Gabriel informed Mary that her cousin, Elisabeth, had conceived a son in her old age and was in her sixth month of pregnancy. After hearing the news from the angel, Mary went to visit Elisabeth. We can pick up the story in Luke 1:41–45.

It Came to Pass: Your Words Matter

We’re in the middle of talking about a few of the lessons we can learn from the Christmas story and specifically Zacharias’ part in it. We’ll pick up with his story in Luke 1:13.