That’s right, the door to God’s grace—his unmerited love to us—is UNLOCKED.    I spent many years fiddling with different keys to open that door, but never even checked the knob to see if it would open! It reminds me of a great story from famous magician Harry Houdini’s life that makes the point perfectly. In one famous stunt gone awry, Houdini panicked when he couldn’t open the last lock...

I confess!    I used to believe with a lower case b. I did.    During this time of my life it was very difficult for me to believe that God would honor his promises and “that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6).    Everything changed one day listening to my pastor Rick Warren talk about what it meant...

My tendency to feel unworthy as a child of God earlier in my life increased with each new “mistake” I made or bad thought that crossed the cinema of my mind. This negative cycle created and reinforced a damaging self-perception that I could never live a Christ-like life. It was a LIE! Thank God I learned the truth.    Thinking we’re no good for God leads us to start thinking we are no good...

I lived for many years with a self-destructive “NEGATIVITY FORCE” roiling in my head and creating a barrier between me and God. It was HORRIBLE. The noisy and painful narrative that invaded my mind took the form of thoughts like: Nothing counts and nothing ever matters. This can never and will never change. My life’s glass if always half-empty. I’m the victim and it is their fault. Eventually, they...

It all depends on the foundation it strikes. That’s what will determine our response to the earthquakes of life.    In a large earthquake, some buildings are unfazed and suffer no damage, while others are completely destroyed and left in rubble by the same temblor. The degree of damage and destruction is determined not only by the earthquake’s strength and ferocity, but the depth, strength,...

What a disaster! How can I ever be happy again?    That’s the headline and lead paragraph to a story earlier in my life when as a CEO I was the subject of intense criticism.    What did I learn? What did God teach me? How did the experience change and shape my life? Let me tell you that story.    I learned that it is because of tribulation–not its absence–that...

You have played this game before, right?    Of course you have and I have and if they gave medals for playing the “I’m Boss” game, mine would be solid gold.    We actually start playing boss as children, always wanting something and eventually wanting everything. We have all seen and heard kids walk around the house saying, “Mine, mine, mine” and “I want it now!” This me-centered...

Hold on…this is not about Donald Trump’s signature line from Celebrity Apprentice. Nope, it’s the line God prompted me to use on myself when I had the misguided inclination to be the boss of my life and not fully trust him.    On that day, God made it crystal clear that he wanted my heart—all of it—so he could take control of my today…my tomorrow…my eternal destiny.    I was flooded...

Whew! It’s over. Thank God that storm has passed.    Have you ever felt like that after going through one of life’s trials? I have. More times than I’d like to admit. The good news for me is that God has revealed his perspective and the truth that spiritual growth after a test of faith is not automatic. In fact, God doesn’t want us to treat our trials in life like getting past an accident...

Being content in this materialistic, got-to-have-it-now world is easier said than done, right?    I used to think about contentment in terms of “giving thing up.” But God has shown me that contentment is much more than giving up the drive for material and financial success.    Contentment is really a character issue.    God asks us if we can resist the temptation for...