When you open your heart to Jesus, you begin to think about the elements that make up a life of intimacy, such as Bible study, prayer, and worship. So, you say, “Today I’ll pray for 30 minutes.” or “Tomorrow I’ll read three chapters in the Bible.” And although it’s good to set aside time for […]
Get free from the struggle
Oswald Chambers once said, “Doing God’s will is never hard. The only thing that is hard is not doing His will.” I can almost hear some of you saying, “But that’s not right. It is hard to live a godly life. The struggle is real!” If you disagree with Chambers, read on. I hope you’ll see that the […]
Stop trying to please God (part 2)
In the first part of this series, we talked about how God wants us to practice presence before pleasing. We must learn to stop trying to do anything for Him until we first take time to be with Him, basking in His glory, and absorbing the warmth of His Son-shine. Only when we spend time […]
Stop trying to please God (part 1)
You may read this title and think, “Wait. What? But I’m supposed to please God, right?” Absolutely! The thing is, it’s not the pleasing He wants you to stop, it’s the trying. In an effort to live a good Christian life, we like to set goals or make vows. We say things like, “I’m going […]
You’re not a disappointment to God
I was reading the book of Acts this morning and thought, “I wish I could love God as passionately as Paul did.” Almost immediately, I heard the Lord say, “You do!” And I thought, “What? There’s no way I do!” If you’re like me and you feel like you come up short when measured against […]