God’s goodness

Faith of Sufficiency

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” – James 1:2-4 Yesterday we talked about the faith of desperation and how God honors it, just like He does the faith of propriety. Today, I want us to look at a third and final kind of faith: the faith of sufficiency.  When we have matured and grown through the faith of propriety and desperation, we ultimately come to a faith of sufficiency. This is the best kind of faith because it’s one that has nothing to do with external circumstances; it’s the type of unhindered trust in God’s character and goodness that cannot be shaken by what happens around it. Job ultimately came to this point of

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Faith of Desperation

“Why do I put myself in jeopardy and take my life in my hands? Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face. Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance, for no godless person would dare come before him!” – Job 13:14-16 Yesterday, we talked about the faith of propriety and how it operates in the lives of believers, especially those who are new to the faith. Today, we are going to look at another kind of faith we often see working in our walk with God — the faith of desperation. Have you ever heard of the saying that there are no atheists in a foxhole? This pretty much sums up the faith of desperation. Even if you haven’t been to church in a long time and haven’t opened your Bible for years, when the bottom falls out

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You Cannot Be Destroyed

“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.” – 2 Corinthians 5:1 One of the greatest discoveries of the 20th century is that energy can’t be destroyed. Known as the first law of thermodynamics or “The Law of Conservation of Energy,” it means that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; rather, it can only be transformed or transferred from one form to another. While I am not a scientist and don’t pretend to understand all the ramifications of this law, I do know that it speaks to and verifies the eternal nature of our lives. Since it can’t create itself, energy then, must have been created by a force outside of itself — a Creator! As Christians, we believe that the One who created both matter and energy

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Goodness and Love Follow You!

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” – Psalm 23:4-6 Today, we’re going to continue our verse-by-verse breakdown of Psalm 23, as we examine and meditate on the sufficiency we have in Jesus.  Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. No matter what you go through, like the King James version says, even if death hovers over you, you have nothing to be afraid of. There is absolutely no place you can go where

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You Attract Goodness and Love!

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” – Psalm 23:4-6 Today, we continue our verse-by-verse exploration of Psalm 23, examining and reflecting on the sufficiency we have in Jesus. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. You have nothing to fear, no matter what you go through, even if death is hovering above you, as the King James Version explains. There is no place you can go where you will not be in contact

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Divine Deliverance

“As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.” – 2 Chronicles 20:22,23 I love how the Lord always exceeds our expectations. We saw yesterday that Jehoshaphat and the Judean army set out to face a trio of rogue nations in a posture of worship. Having heard from the Holy Spirit that they would be granted victory over their enemies — something that seemed humanly impossible — they confidently took God at His Word, and boy, did He show up! Because ancient troops were like desert raiders who had the traits of pirates or Vikings, they were rough and

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The Anointing of Nourishment

“But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.” – 1 John 2:27 For the past few days, we’ve seen that as Christians, we have an anointing of power, light, and healing on our lives. Today, I want to talk about one final manner of authority we have in our heavenly covering, and that is nourishment. In Biblical times, the olive oil that was used to anoint physical bodies was also a critical source of nutrition. In dry and parched desert regions, the fat it provided was vital fuel that kept people going on long journeys across the wilderness. Even in small amounts, it had a satiating effect, and it was an important part of

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Dry Bones Come Back to Life

“Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones and say to them, “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!” This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’” – Ezekiel 37:4-6 If you know anything about me, you know that I “geek out” over history. Thus, a while back, I listened to a guy named Donovan Webster on a podcast he hosts called “Hardcore History.” In this particular episode, he talked about taking a bunch of trains and buses to get to a remote farmer’s field in the southern part of Russia. It just so happens that

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The Two Great Temptations

“‘You will not certainly die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” – Genesis 3:4,5 We can learn a lot about how the devil works in our lives by examining the story of Creation. In fact, when the serpent approached Eve in the Garden of Eden, he used two specific tactics that he still employs today, and I think it behooves us to look at them in greater detail. First of all, he attacked the woman by planting doubts in her mind about the Word of the Lord. He slithered up to her and said, “Did God really say…?,” and unfortunately, he’s been doing this ever since. He knows that human flesh is weak, and he’s aware that it doesn’t take a lot to get us to

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A Refreshing Christian

“A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” – Proverbs 11:25 Have you ever stood by a waterfall on a hot summer’s day? If so, then you know what a relief it is to feel the splash of crisp, cool water on your warm skin. Unfortunately, residents of the ancient city of Laodicea, to whom Jesus wrote a letter in the Book of Revelation, had no such source of refreshing in their midst. Though they were a hub of trade (kind of like the Wall Street of today), the 150,000 people who lived in that place had no clean water to enjoy. Instead, they were forced to go to other towns to find it. Thankfully, just a few miles to their north was a city called Colossae, and there was located a fresh and beautiful mountain spring that was a source of hydration for many of the

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