grace

Extra Grace Required

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” – Matthew 5:43-45 In ministry, we have a phrase we use when we have to deal with difficult people. It’s called extra grace required, so we call these people who are harder to love: EGRs. Sometimes we encounter EGRs at work. These are the people who steal our staplers, log onto our computers, or who gossip about us. Then there are EGR bosses. The ones who don’t promote us, won’t give us raises, who threaten to fire us or who play favorites while taking credit for the work we do. If

April 4, 2022 2 Comments

You Can’t Love Everyone

“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” – Matthew 22:37-39 To wrap up our discussion on agape love and death to self, I want to encourage you with one final thought: it’s not your job to love everyone! I can almost hear some of you gasp as I write this, but it’s important to know and understand that Jesus never said to go out and love the entire world. Why? Because that’s impossible for us as humans; we are not God and therefore we can’t conceivably love everyone. We can, however, love everyone who’s near us, and that’s what we should do. It’s the Lord’s job to love the world and it’s your job to love your neighbor.

March 22, 2022 No Comments

You Are a Mind

“Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” – Romans 8:5,6 Dallas Willard, an American philosopher and Christian scholar, once made the assertion that a human being is first and foremost a mind. What do you think about that? A person has a mind that influences a will and from that will, decisions are made that forge the course and trajectory of their life. This is why there is so much power in changing the way we think, both individually and as a society. In order for real change to be affected in churches, schools, and ultimately the world as a whole, minds must be

February 6, 2022 No Comments

Present Through the Suffering of Others

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” – 2 Corinthians 1:3,4 We discussed yesterday how being present in pain allows us to withstand and learn from our life’s winters. Today, I have one last tip with you that will help you grow and bless others during your wilderness seasons: be present with others in their pain. You have the fantastic opportunity to be present with those who are experiencing their own pain, whether you are now in a winter season or have recently entered spring. Everyone who is going through a difficult moment requires someone to accompany them through the valley. Pain alone is the only thing worse than suffering. Those

January 23, 2022 No Comments

Jesus was at Ease

“The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’” – Mark 6:30,31 We talked about the power of intentional rest the other day, and how it may help us free our minds and find peace. Today, I want to give you a second challenge for the new year, one that I feel will significantly improve your quality of life — don’t hurry! You’ve undoubtedly heard me say it before, but you must “ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life,” as Dallas Willard, one of my religious heroes, puts it. Slowing down my pace has improved my quality of life and my capacity to be an effective Jesus follower significantly.

January 11, 2022 No Comments

Home Base of Grace

“Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” – John 1:16,17 I spoke to you yesterday about the crucial understanding that you are not what you do. Today, I want to expand on that idea by assuring you that you are enough. I understand that saying this at the beginning of the year when you’ve just established objectives and resolutions that require you to run faster and strive harder, sounds bizarre. I’m not dismissing those ideas; in fact, I wholeheartedly believe in them. However, I am confident that if you do not first receive God’s grace and then extend it to yourself, you will not be able to accomplish your goals. Remember that grace is not just mercy; it’s God’s overflowing love and favor toward His Son, which He

January 4, 2022 No Comments

Thriving in Times of Trouble

“Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.” – Proverbs 4:6-7 What does it mean to live in God’s Kingdom? Do you have an idea? The Kingdom of God is the place where God’s will is carried out; it is the place where He reigns supreme! More specifically, it is a place where individuals follow Jesus’ instructions and live as He directed. In essence, the Kingdom of God is made up of people who are morally wise and knowledgeable. More than everything else in the world, I believe in Jesus’ teachings. In fact, I am confident that if you live by the Sermon on the Mount, even if you are an atheist, your life will be better. This is because I believe that what Jesus

November 15, 2021 1 Comment

The Unsearchable Love of God

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” – Ephesians 3:17-19 God loves us more than we can fathom. And as hard as we try to stretch our imaginations to grasp His goodness, we will never be able to conceive of how vastly and perfectly He cares. His affection is tailored to meet us in every triumph, heartbreak, and failure, and He is more concerned about our situation right now than we are. He is wonderfully glorious, yet He knows the most intimate details of our lives. No wonder David said in Psalm 139:6 that this knowledge is “too wonderful for

October 19, 2021 No Comments

There’s Power in the Blood

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” – 1 Peter 1:18,19 We’ve learned recently that Jesus sent ten lepers on a journey to Jerusalem in order to receive their healing. He instructed them to go and show themselves to the priest, and the Bible says that they were cleansed as they went. But what most of us don’t know is what happened to them once they got there. In order for a person suffering with leprosy to be admitted back into society, there was a ritual ceremony that took place. After the priest examined and declared them clean, he instructed them to take a live dove and dip it in blood and

September 22, 2021 No Comments

What You Can’t Pick and Choose

“Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.” – Psalm 42:7 Something I love about the Psalms is that they are raw and real. Most of them were written by King David, a man who minced no words regarding the depth of his feelings. In fact, if we have ears to hear and eyes to see, his ancient poems have something important to teach us about our human journey — something that’s been repeatedly backed by science: you can’t pick and choose your emotions. A song of hope and victory is often preceded by a song of lament and sorrow. Pain is a necessary part of the human experience, and unless we acknowledge this truth, we can never move fully into abundant life. Unfortunately, many people try to push down the yucky things that they feel and simply pretend

September 11, 2021 2 Comments

Extra Grace Required

You Can’t Love Everyone

You Are a Mind

Present Through the Suffering of Others

Jesus was at Ease

Home Base of Grace

Thriving in Times of Trouble

The Unsearchable Love of God

There’s Power in the Blood

What You Can’t Pick and Choose

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