faith

4 Biblical Paradoxes That Represent Profound Truths

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

I am often perplexed when it comes to the truths found in the Bible. It’s hard for us humans to fathom the nature of God and His ways. 

When I’m feeling frustrated about my lack of understanding, I’ll often remember that God tells us:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways (Isa: 55:8).

Reading this verse usually makes me feel better about myself, as I once again realize this profound truth: that there is a God, and I am not Him.

I believe that there are certain holy truths that we’re not meant to fully grasp. We can try all we want, but our brains are just not capable of understanding the ways of a God who created and maintains the entire universe.

That being said, following are some of the most notable paradoxes that we find in the Bible. These aren’t contradictions as skeptics would like to call them, but rather dual truths that we can’t fully explain.

I can’t take credit for coming up with these. Although anyone could read through the Bible and discover them for themselves, I came across these on a recent message from Dr. Michael Youssef called, “How Does Our Attitude Affect Our Joy?”.

So let’s dig in.

Jesus is fully God, yet fully man.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily (Col. 2:9).

[God] was manifested in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16a).

Christianity is the only religion I know of where its deity actually came to earth to live with mankind. In all the other religions of the world, the creator is a distant being who is untouchable and unknowable to its adherents.

Not so with the living Jesus. He was born in a lowly manger among animals. He didn’t perch Himself on a throne and order His subjects to bow at His feet. 

Rather, He submitted Himself to the will of the Father and died a gruesome, tortuous death to secure salvation to those who would choose to believe in Him. 

In this way, Jesus became as much human as you or I, yet remained as much God as the Father is. 

Difficult to explain? Yes. But also true.

The Bible is written by human beings, but every word is authored by the Holy Spirit.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16).

For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21).

And now, go, write it before them on a tablet and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come as a witness forever (Isa. 30:8).

God wanted us to have His preserved, written word. But rather than just personally hand it to us, He purposely used man to help write it down. 

Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, around 40 authors over about 1500 years recorded God’s words. Although each book of the Bible contains elements of the individual who wrote it, each is ultimately written by the divine Author as He saw fit. 

Just look at the four gospels that give the account of Jesus’s life. Each author tailored his book to a different audience with a somewhat different focus, yet each tells the story of Jesus without contradicting the other gospels.

Every other book of the Bible is the same. They tell God’s story and the redemption of mankind while allowing the individual authors to insert a little of their own personalities into the manuscripts.

So—authored by God, written by man.

God eternally secures the believer’s salvation, yet we are commanded to obey Him.

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand (John 10:28).

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30).

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life (John 5:24).

The “once save, always saved” debate is alive and well in the church today. Yet God’s word stresses the point that once we accept Christ, our destiny is sealed. 

Some would ask if obedience to God is necessary to maintain our salvation. 

However, it’s not a matter of obeying God to remain saved and hold on to our eternal inheritance. Rather, Christians willingly choose to obey God because He sacrificed His son for our salvation.

God expressed His love for us first, even when we weren’t worthy of it. Consequently, we love and honor Him in return by following His commandments. 

Even though we may sin after becoming a Christian, this doesn’t negate our salvation.

Instead, our confidence in our eternal destiny gives us hope that even when we make mistakes, God still loves us and will welcome us home when the time comes.

God is sovereign in dealing in the affairs of His children, yet He responds to our prayers.

He does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” (Dan. 4:35b).

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working (James 5:16b).

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you (John 15:7).

This paradox is particularly difficult for me. How can God control the entire workings of the universe and, at the same time, allow us to have influence over individual events in our lives through prayer?

It’s easy to tell ourselves that God’s will will prevail no matter what. While this is true, it is important to understand that our prayers play a crucial role in shaping our lives and those around us. 

Yes, this is difficult to grasp. But it is an important doctrine of our faith and represents God’s willingness to allow us to impact our world.

The important thing to remember about these paradoxes, and any others we find in the Bible, is that they shouldn’t shake our faith in a good, loving, all-powerful God. 

Instead, we should focus on the fact that God’s nature and power are so far beyond our comprehension, we can never hope to fully understand them on this side of Heaven. 

That’s where faith comes in. And faith “is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1).

Does God Really Want the Best for Us?

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment 
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:6-8).

Why would a God who paid such a high price for us not want anything but the best for us?

It’s hard for me to wrap my head around how much God truly loves us humans. In the busyness of our everyday lives, it’s easy to forget that He created us to love us, because God IS love (1 John 4:8).

The above verse in Romans shows us just how much God adores His creation. He knew we were weak and sinful, and yet He still allowed Jesus to die a painful, lowly death on a cross so that we could live forever with Him.

He redeemed us to show us His love and kindness, knowing that we had no way to repay Him for what He had done for us. This is true love, the kind of love that earthly parents show toward their own children. 

Just like human parents, God’s love burns fiercely for us—so much so that He will do everything within the bounds of His will to allow us to be with Him and commune with Him for eternity.

With all that being said, how could we possibly doubt that our loving heavenly Father would not want the best for us? 

Good and loving parents want their children to thrive and succeed, even to the point of doing better than they themselves. 

God is no different from the human parents He populated the earth with. He loves His creation and wants us to do well, to succeed, and to be happy and prosper.

Before we go any further, it’s important to understand that this doesn’t mean everything is going to go our way all the time. As long as we’re in these earthly bodies, we’re going to have difficult times and tough challenges in our lives.

We’re not always going to be on top of the world with no worries or concerns.

And it definitely doesn’t mean that just because you’re a Christian, you should automatically be wealthy beyond your wildest dreams. 

For some of us, it may certainly mean that. But for the average Christ-follower, God’s provision probably won’t look like a huge mansion accompanied by a garage full of expensive cars. 

However, Matthew 7:11 tells us:

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

God wants to take care of us and lavish us with worthwhile gifts. After all, we’re His children and He loves us. But I’ve heard it said many times (and you probably have, too) that God is much more interested in our character than our comfort.

Our Father’s desire is to build us up on the inside, not just satisfy all our external needs. He can and will do that as well, but His ultimate concern is to see us grow in Christ and become more like our Savior.

In desperate times of struggle, it’s difficult to see how any good can come out of our trials. But we can rest assured that everything we go through in life is working together for our good (Rom. 8:28). 

Our challenges probably won’t be pleasant at the time, but we can be confident that God is looking out for us and has everything under control. There’s nothing that surprises Him or falls outside His realm of knowledge.

If we love God and strive to honor and obey Him, we know that He’s working behind the scenes to bless us and turn things for the better, no matter what we’re facing. 

God sent His innocent Son to suffer an excruciating death on our behalf. We only need to look at the evidence and we can conclude that God truly wants only the best for His children.

These are words that I need to take to heart every day. Too often I forget that my Father cherishes me and wants me to get fulfillment out of my life in Christ. 

Dare I say that He even wants me to enjoy life? Yes, I believe that He does. And He wants the exact same thing for you, too.

Why Is It So Hard to Trust God Completely?

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

What does it mean to have faith in God? It seems like a simple, straightforward question, and it is. The answer, however, may take us deeper than we could imagine. 

To have faith in God means to place the very outcome of our lives in God’s hands, to accept that His way is best and to acknowledge our desire to submit our will to His.

This faith means accepting the fact that there’s something—or in this case, Someone—who’s more intelligent, more powerful, and more capable than we are.

Placing our total faith in God is admitting that He knows more than we do, that He knows better than we do, and that His way will work out for the best in our lives.

Putting our trust in God means that we completely rely on Him and His provision for everything in our lives.

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Even though all that sounds simple, I have to be honest—I’m no giant of faith. I’ve been a Christian for over four decades, and I’m not happy with my faith life.

I wish it were deeper and richer. I wish that I had no doubts about God’s goodness and His willingness to provide all my needs. I hate to admit it, but my faith has not really grown much over the years.

Of course, I trust God for my salvation. It’s comforting knowing that I’ll spend eternity with Him in paradise. No tears, no heartache, just peace and calm—it all sounds great to me. I can definitely get onboard with that.

However, when it comes to trusting the Lord in the day-to-day, that’s when I struggle the most. Even though I’ve read all the promises in the Bible countless times, it’s still hard for me to believe that they’re true for me. 

Sure, these promises might work for other people. But for me? I’m not so certain. My life is not like everyone else’s. It seems that things that work for others don’t really work for me. 

Deep down in my heart I know that’s not true. After all, God is no respecter of persons. But in my head, a big part of me feels that I’m not worthy of having God work on my behalf—that His promises don’t apply to my life and my situation. 

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Faith that’s been tested through trials can be trusted, just like gold or silver that’s been purified by the furnace.

We may say we have faith in God, but until we’ve been through hard, crushing times and held onto our faith in the midst of them—not losing hope in the God who loves us and cares for us—we don’t really know the value of our faith.

In fact, 1 Peter 1:7 tells us that:

Our tested faith is even more precious than gold and “result[s] in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Our faith is nothing if it doesn’t withstand all the challenges that come with living in a fallen world.

But once it’s proven, our faith is rock solid, and is more valuable than anything else. When we have faith in God, we can come through anything that this world or our enemy throws at us. 

Jesus has already won, but that doesn’t stop the enemy from trying to drag us down to his level. He constantly hurls challenges at us to trip us up.

Ephesians 6:16 tells us:

In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.

Our tried-and-true faith will protect us against the schemes of the devil. 

Along with the other important armor mentioned in this chapter, our faith is crucial in helping us live a godly life—like Christ intended for us as a result of His death on the cross.

In fact, we are told, “without faith it is impossible to please [God]” (Heb. 11:6a).

We can never hope to live the life that God has in store for us without a strong, proven faith.

Our faith will see us through the hard times, when it looks like all hope may be lost. Faith will help us keep on trying another day, for it tells us that God will provide for us one day at a time, just as He did the Israelites when they were wandering in the desert for so many years.

“Give us this day our daily bread,” we are taught to pray in Matthew 6:11. And farther down the chapter in verse 34, we’re advised: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.”

You may wonder how to develop deep faith. It is grown by using it regularly. 

Start by trusting God for something small in your life. However, make sure your request is on solid biblical ground. 

1 John 5:14 tells us:

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

When our prayers and our faith are in alignment with God, we can be assured that He will give us what we need.

We’re also told in Philippians 4:19:

‭‭My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Notice that Paul says “need” and not “want.” We don’t necessarily receive everything we want in life, but God will always give us what we need if we trust Him.

Once you see His hand at work in this way, your faith will grow. You’ll learn that you can trust Him for bigger and even more substantial blessings in your life.

Pray More Effectively With These 10 Verses

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

Prayer is how we communicate with our Creator. It is our lifeline to God. Without it, we human beings would be lost in our own little world, with no connection to the only One who can help us. 

We all want our prayers answered. That leads us to the question: Is there a way to make sure our prayers are answered in the way we want them?

Let me be very clear—the answer to that question is NO. There is no way to ensure that we will get everything we ask of God. 

Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us the “secret” to having our prayers answered. That would be counterintuitive and make God into some sort of magical genie.

Instead, He lays out several principles for us to follow to ensure our prayers are in accordance with His will. Following them will help us pray the way He wants us to so that we ask for the things that are best for us and and for His kingdom.

With that in mind, here are several verses that show us how to pray and what to do to make sure our prayers are effective.

John 14:13

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Our prayers should be crafted so that we bring glory to Jesus in our lives. After all, that’s what being a Christian is all about—recognizing Christ as our Savior and leading others to Him.

Matthew 7:7-8

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

In the original Greek, these verses convey the idea that we should keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking—never giving up on our quest to connect with God and receive His blessings. If we do, our prayers will begin to come in line with God, and we’ll see positive results from them.

Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

When our true joy is found in worshipping God and giving Him the glory He deserves, He draws nearer to us. He loves to give us good things, and it brings Him joy to bless us.

Mark 11:24-25

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

There is quite a bit to unpack in these verses, so I encourage you to take time to read the entire passage for context. 

Here, Jesus tells us to believe, and not doubt, that God will give us what we ask for—provided that it is in line with His will.

We must also be sure to forgive others for anything we may have been holding against them. Otherwise, we risk God himself not forgiving us.

Matthew 18:19

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.

Heed these important words from Jesus. Find a prayer partner to agree with you, whether it’s your spouse, another family member, or a friend. 

Doing so not only puts you in line with God, you’ll also feel better knowing that your burden is shared by someone else.

James 1:6-7

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.

Along with having faith, we must be sure not to doubt that God will give us good things. As mentioned earlier, He wants to bless us and will not hold His blessings back if we place our trust in Him. His word promises us that.

John 15:7

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Abide means to remain, reside, or dwell in a place. If we remain in Jesus, seek to know Him better, and keep His words in our heart—our thoughts and desires will line up with His. Then we’ll get the things we ask God for.

Matthew 21:22

And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.

This is yet another important verse that shows us the importance of faith in our prayer life. Faith forms the foundation of our Christian walk. Without it, our prayer life will be fruitless and empty.

Psalm 66:18

If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

Repent of your sin and confess it to God. Continued sinning maintains a stronghold on us and blocks God from hearing us. 

To ensure that our prayers don’t bounce off the ceiling, we have to renounce sin and ask the Holy Spirit to help us live sin-free. Keep the channel open between you and God to make sure He responds to your prayers.

1 Peter 3:7

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

Men, God commands us to honor our wives. She is our equal, and we are called not only to protect her, but to take time to listen to her needs and concerns. If we don’t, we risk missing out on the blessing of answered prayer. 

You’ll find many nuggets of wisdom in the Bible regarding prayer. If you spend some time searching them out, you’ll discover that God gives us abundant information on how we should use prayer to connect with Him and enrich our lives. 

How Should a Christian Respond to a “Woke” Person?

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

If you watch the news or read popular news sites or blogs, it’s evident that the Christian viewpoint is in the minority these days. 

Everywhere you turn, we see alternative and “woke” lifestyles prevailing. Most certainly, there are many more people involved in these behaviors than there were in previous years.

I believe many faith-filled believers in Christ are simply silent on the social issues facing us today. They would rather not speak up and face ridicule from others who are perhaps more vocal and adamant in their beliefs. I hate to admit it, but I often fall into this category myself. 

It is more important now than ever for Christians to make our beliefs and feelings known, as many of the individuals caught up in alternative (and often sinful) lifestyles are doing nothing more than experimenting because it is the popular thing to do. 

They may not have made a definitive choice to fully embrace the lifestyle they’re “trying out.”

If these people were to hear the truth from a believer who is armed with biblical knowledge, they could very well accept Christ into their lives and make positive life changes in the right direction.

So, how do we go about relating to others who are living a lifestyle that is perhaps so radically different from our own? These people could be our acquaintances, coworkers, or even our own family members.

First of all, we should pray for them. Ask God to show them the truth that’s only found in the Bible. Pray that God would bring others (including yourself) into their path who can lead them to repentance and a relationship with Christ.

Then, when we encounter someone who is obviously living a sinful lifestyle and who needs the love and acceptance of Jesus, the first thing we need to do is approach them with love. 

We’re all sinners and have all fallen short in God’s eyes. They haven’t committed sin that is any worse in His eyes than we haven’t also committed. 

The only difference is that we, as Christians, have accepted Jesus into our lives, repented of our sins, and asked for forgiveness.

Without showing the lost genuine love and care, it is doubtful that your words will have any meaningful impact on them.

If you have a more-than-passing relationship with someone, and if the circumstances are right, you might ask them how their relationship with God is. 

You may get any of several types of answers to your question. 

They may answer that they don’t believe in God, or that God is our Creator but isn’t involved in our everyday lives. Or, they may give you the new-age answer that God is a part of everything, including us human beings and even inanimate objects. 

It’s then up to you to explain how God created us, but that the human race fell to sin and now lives in a broken world. 

The most important part is to convey that Jesus died and was raised from the dead to bring us into a right relationship with God again. His suffering, death, and resurrection were necessary to pay the penalty for our sin.

Depending on your relationship with the person and how the conversation proceeds, you may be able to ask them if they’re ready to turn from their sins and make Jesus Lord of their life.

Or, you may sense that that’s as far as you’re getting with them during this interaction and just accept the fact that you’ve planted a seed that will hopefully come up later on.

Pray that God will put someone else in their lives to water the seed and watch it begin to sprout.

I believe that it is of the utmost importance that when you talk to people about the gospel that they understand that Jesus (as well as you) accepts them just the way they are. 

Tell them that they don’t have to be perfect for Jesus to be Lord of their life. They just have to turn everything over to Him and let Him take the reins of their life.

Once they do, he will prompt them to make changes in their lives as they surrender their will to His. Sometimes that happens immediately, and sometimes it takes a while.

As Christians, it is our responsibility to show the world the love of Jesus. 

We may not see immediate fruit from our efforts, but rest assured, planting seeds of love and hope in a lost person’s life is the first step toward their eventual acceptance of Christ.

Building Your Faith Through Life’s Challenges

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

We’ve all been there at one time or another. That is, we’ve all experienced doubts in our faith that have caused us to question whether or not God really cared and was listening to our prayers. 

It seems inevitable as Christians that we will go through dry periods in our faith life when we don’t feel close to God and wonder what the point really is of trying to follow and obey Him.

Certainly I’ve been there, far too often and too many times to count. In today’s world, it’s easy to put God on the back burner and let our doubts lead us to neglect our spiritual life, until we get to the point where we hardly acknowledge God at all. 

At this point we’re not living like Christ followers when making decisions, and instead we’re operating in our own reasoning and will power.

However, if we remain steadfast in our commitment to walk with God, we can work through these doubts and maintain a vibrant spiritual life. 

Even when doubt tries to creep in, we can acknowledge that these are only thoughts put in our minds by the enemy, and we can continue trusting in God no matter what comes our way.

All we have to do is look at the Psalms for examples of how the writers dealt with their doubts. Many of the Psalms begin by detailing David’s doubts, but end with his praising the Lord for His steadfastness.

Just take a look at Psalm 13:1-2:

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

However, it doesn’t take long for David to change his tune, as just a few verses later (5 and 6), he writes:

But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

This psalm teaches us that it’s OK—in fact, it’s perfectly normal as human beings—to have doubts, even about God.

The important thing to remember is that after we have expressed our skepticism about God’s intentions, we turn it around and recognize that He is the good God that we find throughout the pages of the Bible.

We need to thank Him for His provision and protection, even in the midst of circumstances when it would appear He has forgotten us.

I’m talking to myself as much as anyone else here. There have been countless times when I’ve complained to God about His apparent lack of action when I “needed” Him to work out a problem immediately.

However, God works in His own timing, which usually isn’t the timeframe we think He should work in. We just have to remember that:

For those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Rom. 8:28

This promise should give us hope when things seem at their darkest and our faith is at its weakest. God never leaves us or forsakes us (Heb. 13:5).

In Psalm 77 verses 2 and 3, we find evidence of Asaph’s doubt. He says:

In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. 

However, just a few verses later, Asaph writes:

I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God?

Ps. 77:11-13

Once again we find that the writer’s fear and distrust is turned to faith. He begins to remember the good works of God and praise Him for them.

There are many more such examples in the Psalms where the writer expresses doubt, only to later recognize God as good and all-powerful.

These examples should be our pattern when we face the trials and tribulations that we will no doubt encounter on this fallen earth. 

While it’s natural to have doubts about where God is in our circumstances, it’s much more important and beneficial to bring to mind all the ways He has come through for us in the past.

It could be as simple as helping us navigate rush hour traffic so that we get to an important meeting on time, or helping us resolve a conflict with a coworker. 

Or, God may have healed you or a loved one from a deadly disease when it seemed like no cure was in sight. 

You can always find something that God has done for you to latch onto when times are tough. He has come through before, and He will do it again.

It takes trusting God for small things, then watching Him come through, to build up your faith to the point where you can trust Him for the bigger, life-changing challenges you will no doubt face.

The more you flex your faith muscle, the stronger it will become and the deeper your faith in the almighty, loving God will grow.

So, when things don’t appear to be going the way you want them to, simply trust God that He’s got this situation already worked out for your good. He’s always there for you!

Pray the Word Every Day

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

Prayer should be an important part of every Christian’s life. It is our lifeline to God, the Holy Creator of the universe. 

Imagine having a direct line to God’s ear, to which He is always listening. No matter what we need, He’s always there.

Plus, He knows what we need even before we go to Him in prayer. What could be better than that?

He even promises that everything will work together for our good if we love Him and follow His will for our lives (Rom. 8:28).

How should we pray then? 

We can take all the small aspects of our lives to him—like looking for a good parking space, help for a conflict with a coworker, and a thousand other things).

However, we can go much bigger than that, as we can also take the promises we find in the Bible to Him. 

There is a unique angle behind this kind of prayer, because we’re literally praying God’s word and His promises back to Him.

Praying God’s promises is not a new concept, as there are many instances recorded in the Bible where God’s servants do this. 

Isaiah 62:6-12 shows us how, as a reminder of God’s word, the prophet proclaims God’s promise to protect Israel.

In verse 6 of this passage, we are told:

You who remind the Lord, take no rest for yourselves.

Another example is found in Exodus 32:13, where Moses comes to God in the face of His wrath and reminds God of His promise to give Abraham a vast number of descendants:

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, “I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.”

King David often reminds God of His promises. Psalm 119:49-50 gives us just one example of this:

Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.

If we’re going to pray God’s words and promises back to Him, how should we do this? 

There are an abundance of promises found in the Bible, and we can choose any of them that suit our needs.

Well known author Max Lucado says:

Find a promise that fits your problem, and build your prayer around it! These prayers of faith touch the heart of God and miracles are set in motion!

For instance, if you’re feeling anxious, you might turn to Philippians 4:6-7 and pray something like this:

Lord, thank You for promising that I don’t need to be anxious about anything and that I can turn all my concerns over to you. Thank You for guarding my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

Even though you may have to repeat this prayer several times throughout the day as you encounter various trials, you can rest easy knowing that God has taken all the anxiety off your shoulders.

Another great verse for dealing with anxiety is 1 Peter 5:6-7. Here, Peter tells us to humble ourselves and cast all our anxieties on our caring God.

We can once again reference these verses and thank God for shouldering all our burdens according to His promises.

For general protection, we can always pray Psalm 91. 

In this chapter, God offers several promises for protection against evil, harm, and sickness. Pray these words back to Him and thank Him for all He’s done and is going to do for you.

Then, in Philippians 4:19, we read:

My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Whenever we’re dealing with financial pressure or feeling frustrated, we can go to God and thank Him for meeting all our needs.

Within the pages of the Bible, we find a huge number of God’s promises that can be prayed back to Him.

The next time life is getting you down, go to the Word, find a promise, remind God of it, and thank Him for His sufficiency.

Do You Have Idols in Your Life?

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

Idolatry. We run up against this sin every day because we are tempted to worship at the altar of things and famous people rather than the God who created everything in the world.

Idolatry can go by another name that’s more common to us—materialism.

You probably don’t think of yourself as an idol worshiper, but you very well could be. 

No, you most likely don’t have small wooden or stone figurines sitting around your house that you bow down to and offer up prayers to.

But there may very well be other things in your life that play a similar role. It could be money, your career, your car, your house, your status in the community, or even something else.

You may give these things prime space in your life while knocking God out of the top spot of importance.

Even if you don’t realize it, these idols can influence your daily behavior, causing you to pursue them while putting your reverence and service to God on the back burner.

For example, if you spend 60 or 70 hours a week working, and you don’t feel like doing anything else when you’re not at work, then your career may be your idol. 

If you’re so hung up on getting ahead in life because of the status that will bring, you most likely have put God in second place (or lower) in your life.

If you put in extra hours at work just so you can drive a car with a fancy name plate, your career may be your idol (not that there’s anything wrong with driving a nice car).

To be able to wear designer clothes just for the sale of the label is a form of idolatry (once again, not that there’s inherently wrong with designer clothes.

Sports could be your idol. If you never miss playing golf on the weekend and something just feels off if you don’t get to hit the links, you may have misplaced priorities.

In short, if there’s anything in your life that’s more important to you than God and the opportunities you have to spend quiet time alone with Him, it’s most likely an idol.

If you have teenagers, you may have noticed that the walls of their rooms are covered with posters of famous teen-age heartthrobs or musicians. 

It is these images that your kids are looking at first thing in the morning and are the last thing they see at night.

I should know. When I was 14 or 15, almost every square inch of my bedroom wall was covered with pictures of heavy metal bands I had cut out of Circus or Hit Parader magazine. 

Even though my mom probably cringed every time she went in my room, I don’t remember her ever saying anything to me about it. 

After I accepted Jesus into my life, I gradually realized that these weren’t images I wanted on my walls anymore. They slowly came down as my relationship with God grew.

However, we as parents may need to say something to our kids about the icons they look up to. 

Whether it’s sports figures, musicians, or actors, these famous people may be making it hard to place God at the front and center of their lives. 

Let’s face it, if there’s a scantily clad woman on your son’s wall, that’s what his attention is going to be on—not God. 

How often have you ever seen a teenager’s room with a rendering of Jesus hanging on the wall? I’d say these instances are few and far between.

Yet, Jesus is who we (and our kids) need to idolize. He died a horrible, painful death by one the worst methods of torture and execution that has ever come out of the evil heart of man. 

He did that so that we could stand spotless before the Father, washed clean of our sin, as He took all our sin upon Himself. 

His resurrection and conquering of the grave was the final straw, so to speak, as He was the firstfruits of us believers who will live eternally with Him.

Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing personal against LeBron James, Bradley Cooper, or Justin Bieber—but have they ever done anything personal for you or your children? 

They’re idolized because of what they have accomplished in their chosen fields, not necessarily what they have done to help humanity.

I believe that we as parents need to set the proper examples for our children by placing our priorities in the right places. 

We need to honor God and put Him first place in our homes. 

If discussions of bedroom posters come up, we should have heart-to-heart talks with our kids and help them understand how hanging a particular image on their wall is a form of idolatry.

But we need to go further than that. We can’t just sit back and expect our kids not to follow the examples we set for them. 

God should be honored in our households, whether that’s through a prominent display of a family Bible or an artist’s rendition of Christ. 

What our kids see us doing will have an even greater impact on our families, as children tend to pick up habits from watching their parents, in contrast to the appropriate advice their parents try to impart to them.

It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it. To raise up the next generation of leaders whose hearts are in the right place—honoring God— we have to do the hard work of setting the right example for our children.

Who’s in?

Is Your Faith Legitimate?

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

Have you ever wondered if your faith in Jesus is legitimate? Oh sure, if you attempt to raise your child in a God-fearing home, you probably exhibit a healthy fear of God that your children pick up on.

It is one thing to show your children a God-honoring approach to the Almighty, but it is something else entirely to live this belief out in your private life when no one is around to judge you.

In these cases, it is often all too easy to let our faith slide and commit sin through unbelief and trying to handle our situations using our own efforts.

But God never wanted to handle all our problems on our own. He is our loving, caring Father, and wants to help us through the difficult situations of life. 

In fact, I would even go so far as to see He feels honored when we reach out for help, as this shows a level of trust and reliance that He deeply desires from His children.

However, we can just as easily stray from God when we try to figure out and handle all our problems on our own. We may think we have all the answers, especially if our current situation is similar to one we’ve encountered before.

In these situations, it’s easy for us to rely on our past experiences and successes to handle this problem by ourselves. 

After all, we may think we don’t need God, while waiting around for Him to come through when we can easily take care of our situation ourselves. 

The first way we can tell we’re not living by faith is making the mistake of trying to figure out and solve our problems by leaving God out of them. 

If we truly love Jesus and all that He’s done for us, it should be easy to turn immediately to Him when problems arise and place their outcome in His hands. 

Romans 8:28 tells us that all things work together for our good to those whose love God and are called according to His purpose. 

If we’ve accepted Christ into our lives, we can rest assured that His leading and guiding are directing our lives into a favorable direction. Somehow, someway, everything will work out to our advantage.

The second action that should signal to us that our faith is legitimate is when we remember to continually love Jesus when things don’t happen the way we want them to. 

That may sound simple, especially when things are going well, but it becomes much more difficult when we’re facing the trials and tribulations of life. 

If you got recently passed over for that big promotion you’ve been looking forward to, it may be hard to maintain a happy attitude toward your boss and especially the individual who was promoted in your place. 

In fact, it may be one of the hardest things you’ve ever done to put on a happy face and offer them congratulations. 

God calls us to celebrate the good fortune of those around us, so we should try our best to feel happy for them and smile at their positive situation. 

Doing so shows that you’re displaying the love of Jesus. It means you’re a bigger man (or woman) and can celebrate their achievements no matter what they are. 

After all, you’re not in competition with anyone except yourself. If you can improve yourself by a mere 1% every day, pretty soon you’ll begin to notice some significant improvements in your life.

The third sign that we know our faith is legitimate ties in closely with the second sign and involves loving God’s people just as He loves us.

For certain, we commit many sins every day, yet our Heavenly Father is just to forgive us of all them. 

In the same way, we are commanded to love others and forgive them just as they sin against us. 

In fact Jesus tells us to forgive our neighbor a whopping 490 times, in essence saying there should be no limit on our forgiveness.

That can be a monumental task that the Lord is asking of us, especially when the trespasser shows no remorse for his actions.

However, if we’re to live in the peace, love, and forgiveness that Jesus did while on earth, we must take his teachings to heart.

Love for others also means going out of our way to serve others and anticipate their needs. Others may never ask us to do something for them out of embarrassment. 

It is up to us to see their needs and lend a helping hand when it is in our power to do so. We should always love, help, and serve people just as God does the same for us.

These three areas are but a few of the ways that we can demonstrate our love and care for God and His creation.

Since we are part of His creation, we should always be on the lookout for how we can better someone’s else’s life.

I’ll be the first to admit that I often fall short in doing this. Too often, I’m in a rush trying to get things done that I overlook the needs of those around me.

It could be something as small as letting someone cut in line at the grocery stop, or helping someone who is obviously stranded on the side of the road.

I try to justify my actions (or lack thereof) by telling myself that I would be late if I stopped to help that person. However, I might be the only person who stops to offer assistance while that persona waits in vain for help.

I need to do a better job of listening to the Holy Spirit as He speaks to me in these situations.

How about you?

Joseph and His Amazing Faith

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

I’ve always been fascinated by the character Joseph in the Bible. He suffers through so much early on in his story in Genesis, then later becomes second in command in Egypt only to Pharaoh.

He is the perfect example of someone whose faith is rock solid, no matter the circumstances. And his faith paid off, as God was with him during all his tribulations.

My question to him would be, How did you manage to keep your faith through all those tough times?

For me, it would be difficult to keep up the faith when my brothers sold me into slavery to the Midianites.

Here is poor Joseph, first thrown down into a pit to be left there, but then brought up just so that his buyers could see him, pay for him, and carry him away.

Surely Joseph must have wondered where God was in all of this, especially when the Midianites later took him to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, an officer to Pharaoh.

No doubt he wondered what he had done to deserve this kind of treatment. Here, he was far from home with no one in his family even knowing his whereabouts.

It would definitely be hard to keep your faith up at this point. Surely God has forgotten all about me or else I wouldn’t be in this predicament, he must have thought to himself.

Eventually things began to look up for Joseph, but he was soon framed by Potiphar’s wife and thrown into prison.

It would definitely be hard to maintain your faith in God when you’re locked in prison for something you didn’t even do. 

Soon, Pharaoh’s cup-bearer and baker joined Joseph in prison. Joseph interpreted dreams for both of them, with the cup-bearer’s dream meaning that he would be reinstated to his former position. 

Joseph asked that the cup-bearer remember him when he spoke with Pharaoh, hoping that would help him get out of prison.

Joseph wasn’t about to be let out of prison just yet, as the cup-bearer forgot all about him for two whole years. 

What kind of negative thoughts do you think were going through his mind during this time?

Pharaoh eventually had his own puzzling dream, and the cup-bearer at last remembered the dream that Joseph had interpreted for him. 

He mentioned Joseph to Pharaoh and Pharaoh had Joseph brought to him to tell him the meaning of his dream.

Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream to mean that there would be seven prosperous years followed by seven years of famine. 

Pharaoh then made Joseph second in command in all of Egypt. 

Joseph was to oversee a plan to store the country’s grain during the prosperous years so that there would be enough grain during the lean years.

At last, Joseph had reached a level of responsibility brought about by God himself. Even though he was far from his home, he was prospering and well respected in this foreign land.

Eventually, Joseph even reunited with his brothers when they came to buy grain from the Egyptians. 

His father, Jacob, eventually traveled to Egypt to see his son again. God had truly blessed them when the surrounding areas were suffering through the famine.

As hard as it must have been, Joseph’s steadfast faith paid off. It took several years, but God brought him and his family back together and blessed them all in the midst of a famine.

We can all learn something from Joseph’s example. As long as we’re putting God first and living so as to honor Him, we can trust Him to ultimately work everything out for our good (Rom. 8:28).

Stick with God, even when it looks like everything is working against you, and everything will be alright.