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The Power of What We Profess

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” – Hebrews 10:23 Today I want to convey the importance of understanding the power of what we profess and what we confess. It is important to realize that we are influenced by what we say aloud, and what we declare about ourselves and others. This includes what we say about our country, our family, our situation, and our health. The words we continually speak out loud and hear saturate our lives and paint a picture of our future. A person’s destiny is either unlocked or locked by their words. We often see in old fairy tales and fantasy adventure movies that words can literally unlock magic doors, but in our everyday lives, there is some truth to that. In a lot of cases, the words that you use are actually locking doors, and in other

April 26, 2023 No Comments

Words to Transform Your Life

“The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.” – John 6:63 Today I begin a series about the importance of words, both the words you hear and the words you speak. I’ve preached on this subject before, but repetition is important in learning and this subject has multiple angles. There are words all around us, all the time. It is very common to see and hear advertisements, whether you’re riding on the bus or listening to the radio in the car. There are certain words you hear from colleagues and friends, and of course, on TV and social media. There are podcasts, and there is music that speaks to us. From any of these sources very often we forget that these messages are saturating our lives. I want to talk about the first set of

April 25, 2023 No Comments

Life is a Journey, Not a Destination

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:9 God cares more about who you’re becoming than where you’re going. Take a minute to let that sink in and then meditate on it for the next few hours or even for the next few days. Remember it when you are frustrated because you haven’t gotten to where you think you should be or you find yourself feeling sad or wistful because your progress hasn’t met with the expectations you created from a limited perspective. Never forget that life is a journey and though milestones are important, they are better appreciated in hindsight and retrospect. You may be in the middle of a breakthrough right now, yet unable to see or appreciate it because of the pain you are enduring. My advice to

April 24, 2023 1 Comment

God Says Let’s Go!

“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:7 As we end our series on using fear and stress to our advantage, there is no better day to move ahead than today. Now is the time to take a real step forward. You don’t have to tell anyone about it, just do it. It is God who says let’s go! It is time for you to do that thing you’re afraid of because that’s the sign you should do it. Just make a commitment and promise to yourself that you are going to respect yourself enough to do what you are afraid of! Here’s an example of how our fear can make us stagnant. Whenever I sit in my

April 23, 2023 No Comments

Stewards of His Promise

“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” – Genesis 12:2,3 Did you know that Abraham was 70 years old at the time he first appeared in the Bible? And yet God chose to give a promise to this 70-year-old man that he would be the father of a great nation, and that everyone on earth would be blessed through him. Even more unbelievable is the fact that it took another 30 years for the Lord to fulfill the promise. That means Abraham was 100 years old by the time he finally had Isaac! I honestly can’t imagine what it was like for him with each passing birthday as

April 22, 2023 7 Comments

Look At What You’re Afraid Of

“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” – John 3:14-15 We are given an example in Scripture of how to interpret what we are afraid of. Jesus was expounding God’s Word to Nicodemus, a famous rabbi who secretly supported him. Nicodemus then hears Jesus say, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, the Son of Man must be lifted up as well.” So what is Jesus talking about? In the Old Testament account of God delivering His people from slavery in Egypt to The Promised Land, God’s people were angry at Him and Moses because of the arduous desert journey. The account becomes bizarre as venomous snakes bite and plague them. The people repent and ask Moses to speak to God. Wouldn’t God answer Moses’

April 21, 2023 No Comments

What It Means to Take Up Our Cross

“Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.’ ” – Luke 9:23 Today I’d like to remind you that Jesus calls us to take up our cross and follow Him in order to have eternal life. As part of that, we need to learn what it really means to take up our cross. On the cross, Jesus experienced what humans are afraid of. Most of all, death, but He also died naked. Everything was exposed when Jesus was killed. The friends he trusted betrayed him. When he died, he was tortured. His mother wept uncontrollably knowing she would outlive her young 30-something-year-old son. As a mother, she had to release her son to the world. In life, these are all the things we fear most as parents and people. And God says He does

April 20, 2023 No Comments

Be Relieved of the Fear

“Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him.” – 2 Kings 12:2 As we use fear and stress to our advantage, be assured there is a way to be relieved of the fear. I shared the Biblical philosophy of using fear and stress for our benefit with my friend, Chris. He knew I’m familiar with the book “The Art of War,” so he told me about a great book called “The War of Art.” This is an excellent title by a famous script writer and novelist, Steven Pressfield. He discusses the exact idea I covered yesterday: Resistance — an idea that many philosophers discuss, but Pressfield illustrates it more effectively than anyone else. This fear… he calls it resistance. Pressfield says it’s like a person is standing in the way of what you’re supposed to do. You must name

April 19, 2023 No Comments

The Enemy’s Resistance

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” – James 4:7 Today we continue discussing how to use fear to our advantage. Generally speaking, the more scared you are of doing something that is of value to you, the more you should view it as a sign to “go for it.” Whether it’s creating something, finding a church, starting a business, or talking to someone, the more it matters to you, the more it probably matters to God. I’ve learned that fear is an indicator of the enemy’s resistance. I’m not suggesting that you put yourself in harm’s way, like a dangerous animal or a hazardous spill. But we can use our fear as a cue to where we need to go. As I was preparing for a sermon several years ago, I read the Sermon on the Mount. I remember arriving at the

April 18, 2023 No Comments

Hope in the Humdrum

“By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me—a prayer to the God of my life.” – Psalm 42:8 Do you ever feel like you’re stuck in a hamster wheel? As you go through life in this fast-paced world, it’s easy to wonder if the work you do really matters and if you are truly having an impact. With your nose to the grindstone, you may get caught in the trap of just trying to survive the demands of the day-to-day. As you attempt to do all the right things and to be a good and responsible person, the weeks run together and you begin to feel discouraged. When the months become a blur and it’s hard to distinguish today from the day before, my advice to you can be summed up in this: Slow down and be faithful to what God has called you

April 17, 2023 1 Comment

The Power of What We Profess

Words to Transform Your Life

Life is a Journey, Not a Destination

God Says Let’s Go!

Stewards of His Promise

Look At What You’re Afraid Of

What It Means to Take Up Our Cross

Be Relieved of the Fear

The Enemy’s Resistance

Hope in the Humdrum

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