Living in light of eternity

Should I go or should I stay?     A common question.     How to determine whether to move ahead on something?      By nature we all have our tendencies.     Am I shy and retiring or bold and adventurous?     Do I fear change or welcome it?     How does my background inform these choices?     Am I coming off a string of disappointments or victories?   There are so many factors influencing how we make life's important decisions. Moses recounts the story of the children of Israel coming out of slavery and into the promised land.   They were the shy and retiring kind.   God had given them clear and specific promises.   He would lead them into a land flowing with milk and honey.   Deuteronomy 1: 21 "See, the Lord your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you.   Do not fear or be dismayed." (NASB95) Ev...

In 1 Cor 11:1 Paul makes a rather audacious statement: "Imitate me as I imitate Christ."    This admonition also appears several more times in his writings. (1 Thess 1:6; Phil 3:17; 4:9; 2 Thess 3:9) At first glance it seems hard to believe that Paul actually meant what he said.   Was he really claiming he was a good example of a follower of Christ?   Yes! A careful reading of 1 Thess   2 shows he definitely meant every word.   He lists various character qualities he possessed: boldness to speak the Gospel, persevering amid opposition, not as man pleasers but pleasing God, without flattery or greed, not seeking glory, gentle, affectionate, hard-working, devout, blameless, encouraging, and thankful- to name a few. The Thessalonians were well aware of the truth of these claims. The thing is, Paul did actually demonstrate these qualities as he walked in the power of the Holy Spirit.   He never claimed they came from himself alone, but as Christ ...

How easy it is to neglect goal-setting in our family life- especially in the spiritual area.   We set financial goals, scholastic goals, even weight goals.   But how easy it is to neglect spiritual goals. Four questions often come to mind... 1.        Is it appropriate to set goals in the spiritual area of life?   When Jesus challenged his disciples to "count the cost", He encouraged careful planning… Lk 14:28-32 "For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30  saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31  Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, whil...

"But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." (NASB95, 1 Ti 1:5.) Both Paul and Peter emphasize the extreme importance of a "good" or "clear" conscience.   Every serious minded   Christian will want to give attention to this quality, but especially young leaders. Paul exhorts Timothy in this regard in  1 Tim 1:19; 3:9; and 2 Tim 1:3. Peter emphasizes a clear conscience in 1 Pet 3:16 and 21. Paul puts it's importance right up there with a "pure heart" and a "sincere faith".   Paul warns Timothy that some have "rejected" a clear conscience and have actually "suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith." (NASB95, 1 Ti 1:19b) So how about me?   Just how clear is my conscience?   And if it's not clear, why not?   There are at least four causes for a cloudy conscience: Sins of commission Sins of omission Sins others have committed ...

Throughout God's creation, all living things reproduce; they multiply; they bear fruit.  There is a strong expectation for all that is healthy to bear fruit.  We see the same dynamic in the spiritual world.  In God's Word, the Bible, we see this consistent theme: Isa 5:1-2           Let me sing now for my well-beloved          A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard.          My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.          He dug it all around, removed its stones,          And planted it with the choicest vine.          And He built a tower in the middle of it          And also hewed out a wine vat in it;        ...

Proverbs 27:21 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise. About fifteen years ago I went through a strange time. Over the course of several months I repeatedly heard a particular compliment, "You are a very humble person." I remember how awkward it made me feel. I tried not to smile and tried to make some appropriately humble response . I immediately thought, "They really don't know me that well." or "I must be putting on a good front." I really didn't take it seriously at first. I actually thought that I must be getting good at "acting humble", never really seriously accepting the compliment, just deflecting it in a variety of ways. After a while an odd thing started to happen- I started believing it. I actually began to think that I was more humble than those around me. I Corinthians 10:12  Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall....

When we think of our growth in Christ it’s easy to go to one of two extremes. We will tend to focus too much on our own responsibility OR to focus too much on God’s role in our growth. Paradoxically, both perspectives are important and both must be embraced, even though at times they seem contradictory.   The apostle Peter handles this often misunderstood aspect of the   the Christian’s walk in his second epistle. 2 Peter 1:2–3 (NAS): Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;   3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness , through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. In chapter one, we see a great emphasis on what Peter calls, “the true knowledge” of Christ.   In the amplified version, which gives a closer rendering to the Greek, it says, 2 Peter 1:2 (AMP): [the full, personal, precise, and correct] knowledge of God and ...