It was difficult to see God’s hand working to fulfill his purpose in my life when my career as a CEO crashed into the rocks. The pain was excruciating. The humiliation piercing. The depression concussive. But I am certain that he used this trial to rerack my life and bring it into alignment with his purpose. In fact, I now know with 100% certainty that God built me and my life experiences with a purpose...

Hearing that God PROMISES to be with us in our risk-taking is confusing, if not crazy. But taking risks in this context has nothing to do with our man-made calculations on what to do or not do in life. Nothing to do with risky schemes and maneuvers. Here’s the right context:    The risk that God promises to help us with is forging through UNCERTAINTY. God PROMISES to get us through the uncertain...

HOPELESSNESS is a painful pit that can hijack our faith walk and leave us feeling trapped and helpless. Not only have I been in that pit before; I was stumbling around its edges THIS PAST WEEKEND. Perhaps you’ve been there, too.    hope·​less | Having no expectation of good or success; despairing; not susceptible to remedy; incapable of improvement.    The reason I characterize...

Repaying EVIL with GOOD is not a dance—It’s a DISCIPLINE that paints freedom on our soul when we respond with God’s GOODNESS and trust him to do the judging.    “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.” Deuteronomy 32:35,41    Repaying evil with good is antithetical to the world’s PAYBACK CODE that seeks to avenge evil. But our goal is not to AVENGE evil. Our...

This just in from our global online tribe: “I love your new series on God’s Promises. Do you plan to cover God’s Promise to always be with us even when we can’t see him working”?    Yes, let’s address it right now. I’ll start with this reality: TRUTH is often SILENT.    That certainly applies to God’s Promises. They are true, always and forever, even when we cannot “see” or “feel”...

We’ve been drilling deep into GOD’S PROMISES this month and hit a rich vein of gold that can transform our life; inspire spiritual growth in other believers; and bring new souls into God’s family for eternity. COOL STUFF. But none of that happens if we FORGET his promises. It only happens if we REMEMBER them.    To claim a promise from God means we know it and have it in our action chute...

Early in my faith walk I was swimming in hubris and self-directed captaincy that commandeered my trust and ran away from God. But I still wanted HIS PROMISES to become manifest in my life. All of them. Promises for protection, forgiveness, help, and wisdom to name but a few. I thought a quick prayer here and there would activate those promises and their many cousins, even though I was trusting ME...

People on every corner of the planet have been hunting forever for inner peace. It has always failed because they were looking for the wrong thing. The futility of this search came alive in the 1970s when the Eagles shared their view of a “peaceful, easy feeling” through this lyric: I got a peaceful easy feeling ‘cause I’m already standin’ on the ground.    Finding GOD’S PEACE...

We live in a world full of CONDITIONS. Relational conditions. Employment conditions. Behavioral conditions. There are conditions built into everything in this life on planet earth that usually take one of two forms: 1) Go ahead, BUT remember that . . . ; and 2) I will do this , IF you . . .    With that pervasive backdrop, it’s no wonder Christians struggle with UNCONDITIONALITY in general...

It’s time to go straight to one of God’s most powerful promises: SAFETY & PROTECTION when we are in trouble and need help; when we are sad and feeling hopeless; and when we are wracked with fear and need assurance that it’s going to be ok.    “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.” Psalm...