The pain that came with my disconnection from God’s power was much deeper than creating a darkened existence void of his power to redeem…his power to restore…his power to re-rack all the stray parts of my life. It was early in my faith walk when power from me to God became disconnected. I lost track of the cord instead of holding onto it through the darkness so I would be able to plug it back in when...

It took a long time for me to understand this lesson, but eventually I heard God’s message that growing our faith positions us to have others see Christ through who we are and what we do. It’s God’s power of MULTIPLICATION that uses our spiritual maturity to touch someone else who then can be used by him to touch others for Christ.    But we’ll miss out on those opportunities and our responsibility...

This has always been a significant challenge for me. That’s why I am constantly on the lookout for signs that my “FRETTING” is disguising opportunities to see people and situations that need my Christ-like intervention. The fretting I’m referring to in this scenario covers anything and everything that puts the focus on me and my worries, anxieties, fear, and pain. Anything and everything...

It’s true–I fought off transferring all the power to God for a couple of decades! It was a painful and untidy process to be sure, but the breakthrough finally came when I realized either we give God ALL the power or we give him NONE.    Transferring power in business and government is messy at minimum and outright mayhem on the pole’s other end. Superstar athletes at the end of their...

Having doubt does not mean we have a weakened faith. The only thing that undermines our faith is not believing God’s promises and moving toward them in trust and surrender. If God knows everything, why would we want to keep our doubts out of our daily conversation with him? The tendency to doubt resides in all of us to one degree or another, and it never entirely goes away. The problem comes when...

Unrelenting fear of the seemingly insurmountable has invaded our society’s collective consciousness. Ravaged our spiritual confidence. And in many cases hijacked our lives to a faraway prison with solitary confinement. But this is certainly not a new phenomenon. God knows everything about this monster with roots that trace all the way back to the Garden. The presence of this destructive force in...

Are you allowing negativity to produce a pessimistic view of life that keeps you from listening and hearing God? How would it feel to banish that destructive threat? Give it a try. MY APPROACH I start by asking God to help me fight off pessimism before it prevents me from listening, hearing, and responding to him. Then I focus on these five steps to help me hear God when pessimism crashes over the...

Are you allowing negativity to produce a pessimistic view of life that keeps you from listening and hearing God? How would it feel to banish that destructive threat? Give it a try. MY APPROACH I start by asking God to help me fight off pessimism before it prevents me from listening, hearing, and responding to him. Then I focus on these five steps to help me hear God when pessimism crashes over the...

There are many spots on Mt. Everest where there is only one place—one specific, precise spot—where the climber’s primary anchor in the layers of redundant protection MUST be placed. Deviation of any kind will put the climber at risk to a range of horrible outcomes ranging from discomfort to serious injury to death. Our faith walk requires the same precision when it comes to our anchor in life. I know...

Before I get to the shocking pay-off to that headline, it’s important to take a peek at the back story. All of us know about the devastating impact caused by the negative voices knocking around in our head, right?    Of course. That’s why we must be diligent about spending time in God’s Word and prayer to keep that possibility from turning into pain. But underneath that threat lurks another...