What Is Your Will In Christ?

It's my humble observation that there's a needless, sad, but common theme that runs through conflicts that arise in a few of the marriages of those who claim to follow Christ ... In a February 2014 Christianity Today article called "Marriage, Divorce, and the Church: What do the stats say, and can marriage be happy?" written by Ed Stetzer, he cites some interesting research by Harvard trained social researcher, popular speaker and best selling author Shaunti Feldhahn: "In her newest book, The Surprising Secrets of Highly Happy Marriages, Shanti compiles some stats and conducts some research of her own on marriage, and specifically, what makes for a happy marriage. "Her statistical findings, and the implications of these findings, are fascinating. Here are a couple of stats that I found to be particularly interesting as it relates to faith and marriage: 53% of Very Happy Couples agree with the statement, "God is at the center of our marriage&qu

Who is equal to the sovereign Lord and what oblation of obeisance is not due Him? The thundering and cataclysmic devastation of all that we know would simply be the faintest whisper of His power. His reach extends to the farthest corners of an unending universe. There is no escape from His gaze and no limit to His mighty and terrible power ... and no measure capable against the expanse of His unfailing love for it is without limit... His justice towers over the unjust and the wicked as an object of impending terror and date of recompense, yet His mercies are extended to the guilty submissive to Him in repentance and redemption. As the origin of all that is just, He offers the freedom of choice even to future destiny. If any perish, it is through their freedom to choose it... He reigns above all that exists and stands high over the heavens in unequaled power and glory, yet has the heart of humility to suffer exquisitely in the quest to redeem what is so unworthy. He suffers hear

I'm sometimes troubled by a truth that I'm unable to deal with on my own and one that brings me back to the foot of the cross in humility on a regular basis. When I look in the mirror, the image that I'm confronted with is really not the completed image of the person that I really long to see... As much as I desperately want to be changed into the image of Jesus completely and reflect that image clearly moment by moment 24/7, every time I look in the mirror, I'm still confronted to a degree with the image of a man of faults. As much as I've been changed by His grace over the years, I find that the closer that I draw near to my Lord in relationship, the farther I see that I have yet to go in my quest to replicate His image and character. If I weren't aware of the simple truth, I might easily become disheartened and begin to question the continued effort. However, His faithfulness and grace give me an unending hope and the comfortable knowledge that one day

It shouldn't be news to anyone that there's a lot of contention in our country right now. There are a number of angry people to be found and conversely there are a number of jubilant people to be found wherever you look. Whether you're angry or jubilant could easily depend on which side of the current issues you're on. As for myself, I belong to yet another group (on the other hand, maybe the three of us are just standing out in the field alone - me, myself and I) - I like to think of it as the "group seeing signs of the season" . It's not that I don't have personal preferences or feelings about the issues at hand. I do, but I'm trusting in the God who reigns above it all. For example, I wish that homosexuality wasn't an issue in our country. But it is and like so many other sins (yes! I said the S_ _ word), it exists in defiance of what our God has taught and told us. So many of us aren't happy about it. But if you're a member of this

C onsider the power of the source ... To give ... Zechariah 8:12 NLT 12 "For I am planting seeds of peace and prosperity among you. The grapevines will be heavy with fruit. The earth will produce its crops, and the sky will release the dew. Once more I will make the remnant in Judah and Israel the heirs of these blessings." And to take away ... Micah 6:14-15 14 "You will eat but never have enough. Your hunger pangs and emptiness will still remain. And though you try to save your money, it will come to nothing in the end. You will save a little, but I will give it to those who conquer you. 15 You will plant crops but not harvest them. You will press your olives but not get enough oil to anoint yourselves. You will trample the grapes but get no juice to make your wine." O ne of the many things that I've come to recognize with unfailing certainty over the more recent years provokes me to continual gratitude on a regular basis. I'm confronted wit

About now, based on the title you might be thinking that I intend to talk about how to avoid being figuratively squished in a figurative wine press. If so, it's rather ironic because it would be an incorrect assumption or "perspective" based on a "deceptive title"- and it's actually perspective and deceptive titles that are on my heart. You'll see the meaning of the title soon enough if you haven't already guessed well ahead of me - I know in my heart how smart my Lord's children are. In my efforts to follow Christ on this journey through life so far, there is a certain truth that the Lord has made abundantly clear to me and it's this: The more successful that I am in my ability to see and understand things from His perspective, the more intimately and successfully I will be able to interact with Him and fulfill His purpose in giving me life. That knowledge has led me to pray continually asking Him to grant me His perspective - to see and

The more I listen to the talk of current American society, the more my heart grieves at what I hear. But I know that no matter what men may say, there is no less truth to anything our God has already said. It's a certainty that those who promote values and beliefs inconsistent with our Creator's will one day regret their insolent and willful ignorance of the truth with a grief so deep that its bottom cannot be found ... But for those of us who know and recognize what's happening, where does the inspiration to be silent in this moment come from? What foul atrocities will it take in the coming days for true believers, those who demonstrate their belief with their lives - the warriors of our God, to find their knees in greater number? What will it take to put us as one body on our faces in earnest before the God whose voice shakes the mountains and take our place of strength? After all, it's not our strength or wisdom that moves nations or peoples, but the strength and

Awesomely awesome God, your greatness reaches beyond the farthest expanses of the heavens and all that is within them declares the vastness of your immeasurable glory So how is it that such a tiny and unremarkable creature such as I can hold your attention and capture your heart so completely? For indeed I hold them both firmly captive By your sovereign choice to love the unlovable and to give unspeakable worth to the unworthy I am a target of your grace, your obsession and cherished possession I am broken, gratefully crushed in spirit and deeply humbled by the presentation of endless grace and your grand recognition which I cannot earn to deserve in the smallest portion Your generous provision has sustained me from the moment that you formed me and your grace to share from what is yours alone has bloated the richness of my days Where are the words to describe you, to righteously declare the wonders of your character? I cannot find them for none are adequate to paint a port

I'm not really sure what made me think of it after all of these years. It was such a small thing that's been lost in decades worth of days and completely obscured from my thoughts. It was small and plastic and something long forgotten from my childhood that keyed me to reflect on something that I think might be representative of a perspective that some people cling to. It was a white plastic figurine that stood on a little brown plastic pedestal. The flat, cast figurine was someones' representation of Jesus that glowed in the dark after the lights were turned out at night. When everything else turned into shadowy shapes void of detail in the murky darkness, the only thing that could be clearly made out was that little glow in the dark plastic Jesus that sat on my dresser. In some respects, I think that may be how some people still see Him, even in the light of day ... In a world full of things that appeal to the senses of our flesh, it's sometimes easy to set asi

Warning : If you're not a Jesus follower, reading this may cause confusion, a   thirst for understanding  or an outright  curiosity . These side affects can be serious and may vary based on your personal experience and knowledge of the truth. If you suffer from any of the above side affects, you should consult a true Jesus follower after reading - one who knows they're still imperfect and humbled by grace for further advice. Reader discretion is advised.   The Fog In the busy, hazy confusion of day to day events, ranging from personal to familial and then world wide, it's easy for one to get caught up in a cycle of concerns and activities that make certain things seem more remote or possibly even lost in the fog. It seems endlessly true that some things are more important than others ... but then none are more important than some. Human beings are a busy lot - constantly acting and reacting to a huge variety of things in an endless number of different ways on a dai