trust

Life With God is Good

“But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.” – Psalm 73:28 Life is full of moments and key decisions that make all the difference in the world. It has been said that 99 percent of life’s decisions are not directly related to major changes; only 1 percent are. Being able to identify that 1 percent can be a tough thing to do. For you, this is one of those moments. If you attend church or watch Hour of Power, but you have fallen away from the faith, this is a great opportunity for you to change your life. You may have grown up trusting in God, but you have lost your way a little over time. There may be times when you consider yourself to be a Christian or some kind of

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He Is Well Pleased With You

“He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’” – 2 Peter 1:17 Let me re-emphasize two points today! First, no matter what challenges you are facing,  know that Christ died for you and that God loves you right where you are. You are the beloved child of God. Secondly, He is well pleased with you. Believe that he is happy with you. And not just in what you do, but just as the Father was pleased with Jesus, He’s pleased with you and loves you. It’s a truth we must believe and accept. In response to this, we must build our whole lives around it. Can we do that today? As we build our lives in response to God’s love, we can trust Him in

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A Call Goes Out

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’ ” – Isaiah 6:8 Today we conclude our look into the life of Isaiah with one concluding question. After encountering God’s theophany in the temple; a call goes out. This call is not just to Isaiah but to the thousands of people who are worshiping in the temple. And what is the question? All God says is, ”Who will go for us? Whom shall I send?” Imagine everyone frozen at the sound of this question. Experts say that when people are terrified, 10 percent of people run away, 10 percent stand up into a leadership position and tell people what to do, but 80 percent of people just freeze.  I imagine everyone is frozen except for Isaiah, who has now had this unconscious

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Build Yourself Up

“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.” – 1 Corinthians 3:10 Today, as we conclude our series on the types of treasures we are to build, I want you to acknowledge that we develop our treasures one brick at a time! If you were to create a brick wall, you place the mortar and set the bricks from end to end after the foundation is laid. You continue upwards until you have the desired structure. This is how we build ourselves up, brick by brick. When you read books to improve your character, that’s a brick. As you start the day in a courteous and caring manner, that’s a brick. When you clean up your desk or garage, that’s a brick.  Every day we practice these disciplines, we’re

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Goodwill

“Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.” – Proverbs 3:3,4 Yesterday, I shared some heavenly treasures we can add to our lives. Today, I have one more that I think should be at the top of the list: Goodwill! I prefer the word goodwill, but the Bible also recognizes it as favor. Goodwill in business and organizations references the value they add regarding customer service, patronage, or reputation. Another example is when people think of you, they think of someone they would trust with their children or someone who they would trust to invest their money. This goodwill is found in the New Testament parable of the bags of gold, where the servant was entrusted with his master’s wealth and was

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Heavenly Treasures

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:21 As we continue to explore Jesus’ perspective on treasures, I want to pose a question. What kind of heavenly treasures should we store or build up? We could easily compile an extensive list, but I will share just a few. What about manners? Good manners are a heavenly treasure! I remember at 15 years old, I had this radical change in my life when I became a believer. On one occasion, I was rude to my older sister because she took too long in the bathroom getting ready for school. I acknowledged my wrongdoing and told her, “The Bible says love is not rude. I’m sorry.” Then I hugged her. We can always err on the side of good manners! We add to the list of Godly treasures: confidence, the ability to lead, make crucial decisions,

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Draw Near to Him

“When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven.’ ” – Luke 5:20 It’s interesting to me that many people today don’t genuinely know how to get into Heaven. I think most people in America believe in God and an afterlife, but they’re unsure what the “rules” are. They ask, “How do I get in?” Many Christians also wonder, “Did I lead a good enough life to still get in?” It’s not about you leading a good enough life, and that’s comforting news. It’s really about who you trust. If you lived an imperfect life but were friends with Jesus Christ, He will let you in. If you led a flawed life but knocked on His door and said, Can I come in? He will welcome you with a warm hug. The Bible says that if you draw near to Jesus, He will draw near to you.

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God’s Promise of Joy

“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.” – John 17:13 In the next several Positive Minutes, we will explore how to weave the important threads of experiencing God’s joy, into the fabric of our lives. Did you know that joy is a part of God’s promise to us? It’s in the Bible. It’s a part of the promise of our new life in Christ, and it’s not just something we get when we go to Heaven. It’s actually something that you get when Heaven goes into you. This means that joy is there when the Holy Spirit dwells inside our hearts and bodies, even if we’re going through personal turmoil and trials.  When we experience God’s joy but fall into adversity there is something inside us

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How I Respond

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” – Luke 6:27,28 Not long ago, I was driving on the freeway at a good speed and saw a guy in a pickup truck barreling down, weaving in and out of traffic. He then abruptly veered in front of my car, cutting me off to get on another freeway. Because I’m a Christian and a pastor I never flip people off! However, there is something you can do; you can give drivers a big thumbs down, and say, “BOO! BOO!” So, I did this to the driver and he looked at me, flipped me off, and to this I said, “BOO!” It’s not as striking, but it gets the job done.  As I continued driving down the road, I was feeling

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In the Hands of the Lord

“ ‘Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.’ So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.” – Jeremiah 18:2-4 Have you ever worked with clay or observed someone shaping clay? Clay, as it is being shaped on a potter’s wheel, is very pliable. As you put your hands on it, you can take a little more or work with a little less. As you shape it, it can go wide or high, or perhaps it gets lumpy. No matter its state, it’s so easy to fix, change, or mold. I’d like you to think of clay as a metaphor for our hearts. If God were a

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