Dying to self involves handing our plans over to God, knowing that whatever He wills to do with them is for His glory and our good. To be clear, it is not inherently wrong to make plans. In fact, there can be much wisdom in planning. However, the heart-revealing question to ask when we start to formulate an agenda is this: are my plans held with clenched fists, or open hands that are willing to submit to whatever God tells me to do?..
Read MoreIn college, I was taught to “preach the gospel to myself daily,” or rather to flex my mental muscles and engage in the discipline of remembrance. Without remembering, I-- we-- lose clarity of truth and fill in gaps with lies and falsehoods…
Read MoreThe best and easiest way to show this love and care is to ignore any weird pressures around hospitality and simply be yourself in front of the people who find themselves in your space. This is hard to do if you aren’t accustomed to it. It takes a willingness to get over some things, namely yourself and your means. But if you are willing to practice, you can overcome the tension you feel when people show up at the door, which will leave you free to relax and enjoy people…
Read MoreThat evening, I made this my prayer and asked the Lord to wake me at 5am. The next morning, my eyes opened exactly at that time. I was so amazed that I immediately praised the Lord, but not a minute later did I fall back asleep only to wake up at my usual 6am. I realized that I had only asked the Lord to wake me, not to give me the energy to actually get out of bed. The next night I asked for both and he granted my prayer…
Read MoreIf the early Christians were to follow all that Peter wrote to them about, they would have no choice but to face the questions from the unbelievers that they interacted with on a daily basis. For Peter does not tell them to prepare clever ways to bring up conversations about God, or to look for ways to insert God’s wisdom into the lives of unbelievers, but rather he tells them to prepare a response for when the inevitable questions come from unbelievers…
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