It was early in my faith walk when I was chasing money and success when the primary goal was to seek physical and emotional comfort. And then God sent me yet another rebuke through the Apostle Paul… “The time will come when people will not listen to sound doctrine, but will follow their own desires and will collect for themselves more and more teachers who will tell them what they are itching to hear.”...

This morning I was reading 2 Timothy and realized that early in my faith walk I had held firmly onto my success-mad goals…my achievements…my things. In the process I missed out on what God wanted me to hold firmly—my love of his Word; my faith in Christ; and my God-given gifts. Here’s how the Apostle Paul put it to Timothy: “Hold firmly to the true words that I taught you, as the example for you to...

Early in my faith walk I thought the Bible was nothing more than a passive summary of God’s truths. I had no idea it was actually an active and inspired roadmap to find our purpose in life. God set me straight with this . . .    “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that the person...

It was early in my faith walk and telling others about Jesus was the last thing on my “to-do list” as a striving aspirant to success and wealth. And then God tossed this in my path: It was early in my faith walk and telling others about Jesus was the last thing on my “to-do list” as a striving aspirant to success and wealth. But that’s why God tossed this in my path:    “Be wise in...

It takes real guts and Christ-like character to admit when we’ve made a mistake. And it takes even more effort to avoid making the same mistake again. But that is exactly what God wants us to do on both counts. Extracting the learning from the mistake and making sure it doesn’t happen again is not automatic. That’s why I go through the following three steps with God after evaluating what triggered...

The very essence of a believer’s life is having the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. Take a look at how Paul puts it: “But you do not live as your human nature tells you to; instead, you live as the Spirit tells you to—if, in fact, God’s Spirit lives in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” Romans 8:9    The more God’s Word transforms our life, the more...

It was early in my faith walk and I was full of hubris and false confidence that I could vanquish any burden that came my way. And I was wrong. Here’s the story… If there is one thing we can count on…we will be treated unjustly in almost every one of the roles we play in life. And the BURDENS that result will not be limited to a season here and a season there. They will be visiting our life forever....

We have unwittingly become “contributors on assignment” for the FAKE NEWS CHANNEL. And it is streaming 24/7 across the cinema of our mind and coursing through the chambers of our beating heart. It all starts when we inadvertently give birth to the problem by comparing ourselves to a plasticized and idealized view of others. Talk about fake news! The world is wrong. It’s that simple.    So...

The Galatian believers had “come to know God” and be “known by God” through the preached Word and the Holy Spirit’s transformative power. But even though they had been set free in Christ, they were about to be enslaved again, this time by the Law. Same bondage. Different jailers. That frightening possibility made the Apostle Paul wonder if his ministry and God’s transformative work in the region...

Our faith walk is not about “superficial glory.” It’s about “transparent authenticity.” And Paul drives this home while preaching for us in Thessalonica. “…We always speak as God wants us to, because he has judged us worthy to be entrusted with the Good News. We do not try to please people, but to please God, who tests our motives.” 1 Thessalonians 2:4 GNT    Pleasing men and pleasing God...