After 40 years of wandering in the desert, the time had finally come for the children of Israel to cross the Jordan and enter the Promised Land. They arrived at the edge of the Jordan River and camped there three days. Joshua knew that they could not claim their inheritance without a battle. Did they wait three days to rest, seek God, plan, and prepare their hearts? A big step in our life’s journey is often preceded by a time of waiting and often includes all of those things. How long have you been camped out waiting for the signal to claim your promised land? Are you praying, preparing, planning and resting as you wait? Waiting was part of God’s plan to prepare them for victory – it can be part of His plan for us too. (Read More)

For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Romans 1:21

America has had a love affair with oil.  Some argue that we’ve even sacrificed human lives, our own sons and daughters, fighting to maintain access to it.  We’ve idolized it as a source of comfort and lifestyle.  Now we pray that we have stopped the gushing oil in the gulf and wish we could magically make the spill go away.

Romans 1:18-32 records how God revealed Himself to humanity through His creation.  Sadly, however, unbelieving mankind suppressed the truth about God and supplanted Him with other things, even things He had created.  So God let them have the cravings of their hearts.

In the end, we seem to get what we really want.  If we want Him, we find life, satisfaction and peace.  If we seek “life” from another source, we find emptiness and disappointment which only intensifies the cravings. That is not God’s punishment. We were created by God for a relationship with God and when we go other places, it doesn’t work for long.  We only have to look at the broken lives of many of the rich and famous to see things don’t satisfy. (Read More)

Suppose someone you respected and trusted in the financial world, someone with impeccable credentials, came to you and said that they had information that the world economy would soon collapse but if you invested in X, you would not only be protected, you would be financially secure for the rest of your life. Would you be angry that this person specified where you had to invest to secure your financial future?  Would you accuse them of being narrow minded and demand that they use their influence to make your present investments succeed? Or would you be grateful for the tip? Wouldn’t you at least check it out?

Jesus has given us such a tip to secure our eternal well being. “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:11-13).

Some see this as being incredibly narrow. Is this an unreasonable restrictive limit or is God giving us inside knowledge that can save us from ultimate loss of the worse kind? I believe the latter. Let me briefly show you why. (Read More)

I don’t think of myself as an idol worshipper but recently I was forced to reconsider. After a series of unpleasant twists and turns in the road of life, one morning I discovered that one of my favorite French chairs was coming apart. At this sight, I mimicked the chair and internally came unglued.

Now that may sound dramatic, but remember, I am not a morning person and this happened on the heels of a series of setbacks. This event, however, had a very positive result. Like lancing an infected boil, all my fears and confusion surfaced and spewed out. I was able to get down to business with the Lord. He cleaned out my infection by exposing some idols that had crept into my heart and in so doing reminded me anew that brokenness and surrender are the only avenues to real peace. (Read More)