I was raised to believe in the importance of a "quiet time." To the surprise of some, the original idea of that concept did not come from the late Dawson Trotman, the founder of The Navigators, but from the Lord Himself.
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Thomas Edison once said, “Most of life’s failures are people who didn’t realize how close they were to success before they gave up.” Edison was talking about the quality of persistence. You may think people are successful in life because of their family connections, inherited wealth, talent, or good luck.
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Life is filled with obstacles, challenges, walls to tear down, and vicious enemies. Most of the time it seems like the Lord is not interested in miraculously removing them quickly from our lives. Instead, the Lord tells us He is using these issues to mature us (James 1:2-4), refine us (1 Peter 1:3-11), and discipline us (Hebrews 12:5-11).
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Though 1 Corinthians 13 is largely regarded as a cozy part of the Bible, a closer look reveals that it is actually deeply challenging. These “feel-good” verses confront us, humble us, and begin to show us that the things we think matter most are not what matter most to God.
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I created a small sign to put on my fridge. It says this: 'The brain learns whatever is repeated, both helpful and unhelpful thoughts, actions, and habits.' This sign serves as a reminder to practice what I call 'clean thinking.' I have found it to be key to my mental, physical, and spiritual health, and in many ways it's even more important than what I put in my mouth.
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As I mentioned in my last post, the church exists for three main reasons: to exalt God (upward), to edify the saints (inward), and to evangelize the world (outward). Today, let’s look at the second function—the edification of other believers.
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Dr. Dobson, the Lord answered prayer miraculously for my son when he was eight years old. He had open-heart surgery and survived without any permanent problems. But my husband was diagnosed with cancer three years ago, and we prayed for him night and day. Nevertheless, he died last January.
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One of my favorite movie scenes of all time is Liam Neeson’s portrayal of the forgiveness of Jean Valjean in the movie rendition of Les Mis. The scene goes like this. (Um, spoiler alert? The book is more than a century old. And the movie came out before most of the people in my church were born. So this isn’t exactly new. But hey, I’m generous, so … spoilers ahead.)
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In his book Shattered Dreams, Larry Crabb wrote that it is hard to develop a personal relationship with an invisible God, one whose voice I never hear the way I hear a friend’s voice over the phone. We can read our Bibles and say our prayers but not have a sense that there is anyone out there with whom we are connecting. It can seem like reading any other book. ...
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Remember the good old days when you and your family could watch the news on TV together after a long day without feeling the need to hide under the bed in fear? These are scary times we are living in. I don't know where I would be without my faith! For me, it's been a huge comfort to remember these words from The Lord's Prayer, "Your kingdom come, your will be done,on earth ...
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