God

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.

Jesus Wants to Be Our Everything

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

Like many people, I’m guilty of accepting Christ as my savior years ago, then basically forgetting about Him as the years pass. I don’t mean that I’ve completely abandoned Christ. Rather, I’m confident and secure in my salvation, but I don’t look to Jesus and His presence in my everyday life.

I’m glad that I’m going to Heaven. It’s great knowing that I will live for eternity with God, worshipping Him and living in paradise with other believers, including the people I’ve cared about most in this life. 

But I don’t think that we were saved to simply “live life.” We weren’t supposed to just say, “OK, now my eternity is secured. Thanks for that, Jesus,” and just go on about our merry way, with little or no thought about Him. 

Jesus is, of course, our salvation, our connection to God the Father whom He sent to earth in human form to die for us. 

But if that’s all that we think of Jesus as, then we’re missing out on who He really is and can be in our lives. 

Because He’s our Savior, our lifeline to the Father, He represents God to us. And I don’t believe that that’s all God wants for us.

It’s also about accepting and nurturing a deep relationship with Jesus, letting Him into our lives and letting Him truly be a friend—just like we would anybody else.

He wants to walk us through life, to be by our side through all the ups and downs as we rely on Him to get us through the next challenge.

After all, God promises to never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5). We can count on His loving devotion to see us through the hard times. 

There are many examples in Scripture where Jesus reminds of His willingness to comfort us:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matt. 11:28).

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me (John 14:1).

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

It’s not that we have to “choose” Jesus over God—Jesus IS God. 

Rather, we’re taking advantage of our esteemed position in Christ to have unfiltered access to God, allowing His love, comfort, and wisdom to have full effect in our lives. 

What this means is that, because of Jesus, I can come boldly to God with all my needs, wants, and even my complaints (Heb. 4:16).

He wants to be my everything. All I have to do is keep letting Him be a vital part of my life every day. 

When I consistently do this, I’ll be on my way to living the rewarding, fulfilling life that God wants me to experience.

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.

My Approach to Worship Shifted As I Got Older—And Not For the Better

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

I’ve recently realized that my approach to worshipping God has changed over the years since I became a Christian. 

When I was first saved, it was all about God and what Jesus had done for me on the cross. I was so grateful that I had been redeemed that I was happy just to give God the praise that He deserves. I read the Bible faithfully, soaking in its truths and learning more about God every time I read. 

I don’t believe I had any real thoughts about what my worship or Bible reading would do for me. Maybe I did think about it, but if so, these thoughts weren’t very profound. I just wanted to worship and serve God. I wasn’t really concerned about my own welfare. 

Part of this may be from the fact that I was only 15 when I accepted Christ, and didn’t have any real concerns about money or my livelihood. At any rate, I remember those early years of my Christian walk as pure and innocent. 

There were times when I strayed away and didn’t follow God closely, but I don’t remember my approach to Him ever being, “What can You do for me?”

All that changed, however, as I graduated college and became an adult. My focus gradually shifted from serving God to being served by God. I viewed my relationship with Him as a means to better my life. 

I began reading the Bible in search of verses and passages that promised how God would take care of my needs. While there is certainly nothing wrong with standing on the promises of God, my approach to Bible reading became a search for truths that would help me get what I wanted. 

I looked for passages that told me in essence, “If you do this, then God will bless you.” Or, “This is what you need to do to earn God’s favor.”

And without realizing it, that has been my focus for the better part of the last three decades. Although I’ve worshipped God over the years, it hasn’t always been with a pure heart. 

Sometimes consciously, sometimes not, I’ve had an ulterior motive. In the back of my mind, I’ve thought, “Well, if I can worship God in the right way and please Him, He’ll bless me, and my life will be better. I’ll have more money, more happiness, and a better quality of life.”

I regret that I’ve lived my life like this for so long. I’ve missed out on being able to worship God purely and simply, without the thought of “How is this going to help me?” For far too long, I’ve thought of God in terms of a genie who, if I rubbed the right way, would give me blessings and a more enjoyable life. 

While it’s true that God wants to bless His children, His desire is that we worship Him for who He is—not for what He can do for us. 

Even though I realize that type of worship is wrong and sinful, it’s hard to break out of that habit. Too many times over the years, I’ve heard that “God is waiting to bless you,” and “You deserve all that God has for you.” 

I long to have the pure approach to worship I had when I first accepted Christ. The cares of life have largely choked out my desire to simply serve God and bring Him glory through worship. There’s so much in the way now—concerns about money, health, relationships, career. The list goes on and on. 

Even though the few concerns I had as a teenager may have seemed significant at the time, I didn’t have the weight of decades of life hanging on me.

Maybe that’s all too philosophical and just an excuse for not putting God first in my life. I need to get back to basics and take inventory of what God has already done for me—and not just focus on what I want Him to do. 

Worshipping God should be in response to His glory and greatness, not about His potential to fulfill my wishes. The sooner I can come to terms with that, the better off I’ll be.

Harness the Power of Gratitude in Your Everyday Life

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

In today’s hectic world, it’s easy to take everyday blessings for granted. 

With so many demands on us—ranging from jobs to kids to health issues and much more—we tend to forget that, in almost all cases, things could worse. 

I often find myself midway through my day before I even pause long enough to think about all the good things going on in my life.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges and struggles—there certainly are. However, you’ll be hard-pressed to find any situation where you can’t be grateful for something. 

In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, God actually commands us to be thankful for His blessings. 

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

The Scriptures also say in Colossians 3:17:

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

In these two verses, we find that no matter what situation we find ourselves in, we are to be grateful.

I believe there are several reasons that God tells us this.

Not only does our gratitude bring God glory, it also has practical benefits. Being grateful for what we have, even when things look bleak, can help us be more joyful, content, and focused.

Research at Syracuse University concluded that showing gratitude will help you be more positive and can lead to reduced depression and anxiety. 

That’s good news for sure!

When our minds are freed up from depression and anxiety, we can then replace all the old negative thoughts with the positive things in our life.

In Philippians 4:8, we’re reminded to think about:

whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise.

Pointing our mind to the good things in life is the perfect companion to practicing gratitude. This 1-2 punch is a knockout to feelings of doom and gloom.

The Center for NeuroWellness believes that there are at least seven ways that gratitude rewires our brains.

Among these are the ability of gratitude to strengthen positive neural pathways in our brain. The brain actually adapts to positivity, a trait known as neuroplasticity.

This means that the more grateful we are over time, the happier and more well adjusted we’ll feel.

Positivity builds more feelings of positivity. It’s like a good Catch-22. We do our future selves a favor when we show God gratitude because this actually forms new, positive neural pathways in the brain.

However, gratitude is also good for our physical bodies. It benefits our health in many ways.

First of all, being grateful triggers our parasympathetic nervous system, which helps lower our heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate so we reduce stress and are able to relax.

In addition, oxytocin is released when we’re grateful, which also helps lower blood pressure and protect our heart health. 

Gratitude can boost our immune system as well. It reduces levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that can actually suppress the immune system. 

Life Extension Magazine details how gratitude has also been linked to an increase in Immunoglobulin A, an antibody critical in helping the immune system fight diseases and viruses.

We see that showing God gratitude for all He has done in our lives is good for us in many ways.

Not to mention that it is also God’s will that we do this.

So follow God’s command, and do something good for yourself at the same time by showing Him gratitude today.

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. 

The Art of Practicing Forgiveness

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

As human beings, perhaps one of the hardest things for us to do is forgive those we perceive as having wronged us. 

We naturally want to hold onto a grudge, wrongfully thinking that somehow that we are “getting back” at that person.

In reality, this does nothing but create a bitter core within us and keep us from experiencing true joy and freedom from those negative feelings. 

Author Marianne Williamson is quoted as saying:

Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

When we hold on to that root of bitterness, it festers in our hearts, and we relive the offending event over and over, sometimes multiple times every day. 

It eats at us, and we can’t get the negative feelings off our hearts and out of our minds.

We should listen to God when He tells us to forgive. Ephesians 4:32 instructs us to:

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Mark 11:25 tells us that we should forgive others so that God can forgive us:

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.

God doesn’t want us to forgive others so that we can just sweep all our feelings under the rug. He knows that harboring unforgiveness will only hurt us and keep us from experiencing true joy in our lives. 

When we forgive others and let go of all those negative feelings, we can begin to experience the life that God has intended for us. 

We can’t have true joy and peace in our hearts when we’re focusing on the hurts that others have inflicted on us. 

Even if we forgive someone for how they mistreated or wronged us, we may still bring that thought to mind from time to time.

However, if we have forgiven that person,  we won’t dwell on those thoughts. When they do come to mind, they can be quickly dismissed because we are no longer holding onto hard-hearted feelings toward that individual.

We let all that go when we forgive them, realizing that God has forgiven us of our many sins.

Jesus even says that we should forgive others multiple times. When Peter asks Him how many times we should forgive someone—even as many as seven times—Jesus replies:

I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Matt. 18:22 (ESV)

Following Jesus’s example will help us experience more joy and have a more God-focused spirit to love others, understanding that we all make mistakes.

Realizing that we’re forgiven ourselves, and that we should offer this same grace toward the people in our lives, should motivate us to forgive and live in peace and harmony with others.

How to Cultivate a Prayer Life in a Busy World

/ Clay D. / Leave a comment

I used to have a peculiar belief about prayer. I thought that every prayer had to begin with, “Dear God/Lord,” and end in “In Jesus’s name…Amen.”

To me, it just wasn’t a prayer if it didn’t contain these necessary components.

It was as if the prayer was null and void without them—it wasn’t a real prayer with an opening, middle, and closing.

This belief has lasted well into my adult years. Even though in recent years I have come to realize that a prayer can be as simple as, “Help me Lord!”, there is still part of me that wants to hang on to that type of structured prayer.

I mention this to say that prayer doesn’t have to be a rigid practice that we can only do on in private.

Of course, there is a time and place for those prayers. Matthew 6:6 tells us:

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

We should all make time to be still before God, speaking to Him and listening quietly for His response.

But during the day, when we’re at work, school, or taking care of other responsibilities, we don’t always have access to a private place where we can fall on our knees before God.

In these instances, it’s perfectly fine to pray right where you are in the midst of your day. That may be while driving down the road, sitting in a meeting, or preparing dinner for your family.

God is a big God, with a big, loving heart. And He understands our needs as well as our limitations. 

If all we can do is utter a few words to God asking for help and thanking Him for His answer, I believe He’s OK with that.

I’m sure that back in biblical times, many prayers were uttered during the workday while trying to wrangle a team of oxen in the field.

I bet even Jesus prayed to His father while crafting furniture in His workshop.

The point is that God wants us to have a relationship with Him.  We are encouraged to:

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. 

James 4:8a

There are two fantastic ways to draw closer to God. One is by reading the Word every day. The other is by talking to Him on a regular basis.

Even though we live a much faster, busier, and more hectic life than our ancestors did, we can still make time to commune with God.

We just have to be intentional about it. Make it a priority to talk to God during your day. 

When you get a break at work, thank Him for the sunshine (or the rain, if you like rainy days). 

Thank Him for the job that He has provided you with to pay your bills. Ask him for inspiration and guidance to get you through the rest of your day.

Say a quick prayer for your family, friends, or coworkers. Ask God to bless them and show them His love. 

Soon, you’ll find yourself interacting more and more with God throughout each day. You’ll feel closer to Him and more in tune with His leading in your life.

Plus, you’re likely to experience more of His peace and contentment, and we could all use more of that.

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!