Transformation

It’s Happening for Us

“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” – 2 Corinthians 12:10 As we build our lives in response to God’s love, there’s so much we can do, like working on what’s invisible rather than what’s visible! One important principle is that we can change the meaning we ascribe to negative experiences — if it’s in God’s Kingdom, it doesn’t always mean what we think it could mean. Consider that the same boiling water that hardens an egg also softens a potato. On the other hand, the same boiling water that softens a potato also hardens eggs. Isn’t that like the Kingdom? To make hard things soft and to make soft things hard? For instance, even insults, setbacks, and breakups can be transformed into something positive. It may not mean what

February 8, 2023 No Comments

A Man of Unclean Lips

“Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.’ ” – Isaiah 6:6,7 Yesterday, we saw God’s love and mercy extended to His servant, Isaiah, the prophet who was dedicated in service to the temple of the Lord. His whole life changed after one moment in the temple where God in theophany appeared. His reaction: “Woe is me. I am a man of unclean lips.” Today, I want to share that as a teenager, I would teach our small high school Bible study from this passage in Isaiah Chapter 6. I thought that “unclean lips” meant he cussed, so I would teach my peers not to use foul language. I have

January 21, 2023 1 Comment

Believe in Your Future

“There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.” – Proverbs 23:18 Happy New Year! I pray that you have joyful anticipation and excitement for this year! We serve a great and loving God, and in this new year, I want to encourage you that life gets better when you get better. When a seed is planted, it grows down before it grows up. The roots must grow to anchor the seed before it sprouts. We must respect this universal principle: “You must grow deep before you grow wide.” This is the treasure you should seek, developing the personality, attitude, skills, methods, and rhythms of life that build into who you want to become. You must believe you can be transformed into the kind of person you envision! Interestingly, you actually don’t have to believe in yourself to get better. In fact, that

January 1, 2023 2 Comments

Celebrating Jesus’ Birth

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’).“ – Matthew 1:21-23 Merry Christmas, friend. This is the day to celebrate the birth of Immanuel, God with us, and to rejoice in Jesus, our Lord, and Savior! It’s interesting that when we think of the nativity, we remember those who came — the shepherds, who were probably teenage girls, and the magi or wise men. Though Jesus was born in a water trough in a barn (definitely not a proper setting for a king), He broke down barriers and accomplished more than any other leader before or after Him

December 25, 2022 No Comments

God Will Transform You

“Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.’ ” – Jeremiah 1:9,10 Today, I want to strengthen you with this thought: God will transform you into the person you need to be as you go. What I mean by as you go is this: As you take daily steps in this journey called life, and as you move forward in each season, God prepares you as you go. The journey itself is sometimes the catalyst that changes you. You’re never fully prepared for the journey God has for you. Never, because God’s ways and thoughts are much bigger than ours. He provides for you and transforms you one step at a time.

November 7, 2022 1 Comment

Good Company With The Lord

“For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.” – Psalm 27:5 Today I want to talk about the importance of keeping good company with the Lord, particularly as it has to do with personal development. We can incorporate personal development into our view of discipleship. To be a disciple of Jesus means to be an apprentice or a student, and the expectation is that we make a choice every day to do our best to follow Christ and become like Him. This is demonstrated as we apply ourselves with a degree of effort to become the best version of ourselves. This version of transformation is not something we’re called to do by duty, but it’s the best possible life we can live. I want to invite

August 12, 2022 No Comments

Metamorphosis

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” – 2 Corinthians 3:18 What do you think of when you hear the word metamorphosis? If you’re like me, you may picture a lowly caterpillar emerging from a cocoon as a beautiful butterfly, or maybe you see a tiny tadpole transforming into a four-legged frog. Whatever the case, when something undergoes metamorphosis, it changes completely. It moves from an immature and undeveloped form to one that is grown up and complete. Interestingly, the root word for the Greek word translated transformed in Scripture is metamorphoo, which is where we get the English word metamorphosis. In other words, when we come to Jesus, although we are completely loved as we are, there’s a transformation that He desires to bring about in us.

June 18, 2022 No Comments

Revolution Starts in the Heart

“‘What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?’ Pilate asked. They all answered, ‘Crucify him!’ ‘ Why? What crime has he committed?’ asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, ‘Crucify him!’ ” – Matthew 27:22,23 When I look at the story of the events leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, one of the things that strikes me the most is how once the people discovered that He was not the political revolutionary they thought He was, they turned on Him. The crowds that just a while earlier had been shouting, “Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!” were now screaming “Crucify Him and give us Barabbas!” Why did they want Barabbas? Because he was a rebel who had already led a fight against the Romans. They knew what they were looking for and Jesus was not it. Unfortunately, they missed the

June 12, 2022 No Comments

Don’t Forget To Say Thanks

“Jesus asked, ‘Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?’” – Luke 17:17,18 Yesterday, we learned about a special ceremony that was held in honor of those who were healed from leprosy. However, even after this ritual cleansing, any leper seeking to be reintroduced into society had to stay on the outskirts of town for another eight days, just to be sure. In the interest of not infecting anyone else, they slept outside, and before they showed themselves to the priest one last time, they were required to shave off every bit of their hair — from head to toe. Once they had been thoroughly examined and finally declared clean, they took a bath, offered a sacrifice, and received fresh clothes. After that, they were allowed to go home to their families and communities. And this

September 23, 2021 No Comments

Acceptance Before Repentance

“All the people saw this and began to mutter, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.’ But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.’” – Luke 19:7,8 Yesterday, we saw how radical it was that Jesus embraced Zacchaeus, despite the fact that he was a short, crooked tax collector. Even knowing these things, the Lord saw fit to invite Himself over to his house that very day. By extending a hand that said, “I want to get to know you,” He offered a marginalized man a place of belonging, and everything changed. This is because acceptance always precedes repentance. Knowing that he was finally loved for who he was, Zacchaeus’ natural response was to change

May 28, 2021 1 Comment

It’s Happening for Us

A Man of Unclean Lips

Believe in Your Future

Celebrating Jesus’ Birth

God Will Transform You

Good Company With The Lord

Metamorphosis

Revolution Starts in the Heart

Don’t Forget To Say Thanks

Acceptance Before Repentance

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