Tag: trust
Praying For Our Daily Bread
God promises to take care of our basic needs. This is something that we tend to forget – often. Jesus points this out in several places, most prominently when he tells us not to worry in Matthew 6, “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” I was reminded by this when I heard Pastor Ron’s Sunday sermon on the Lord’s Prayer taught by Jesus, especially the line, “Give us this day our daily bread.” → Read more...
Mortification
I hope you have been enjoying Pastor Ron’s CENTERED sermon series for the past few Sundays. I know I have been challenged by the truth he has been sharing from the book of Colossians. There is one truth that I have been especially grappling with these past few days, and it’s from Colossians 3:5, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” In his discussion of this passage, he called this process mortification, which is defined as “practicing ascetic discipline or self-denial of the body and its appetites.” → Read more...
God’s Will vs. You
I’m currently knee-deep in the book of 1 Samuel. If you haven’t read this particular book, it’s a very harrowing read about the rise and fall of Israel’s first king, Saul, and the lengths he goes to fight against God’s will. The book opens with a brief prelude about the birth of the man that this book is named after, the prophet Samuel. Through God’s leading, Samuel anoints Saul to be the first king that would unite the fractured nation of Israel. → Read more...
Doubt in the Midst of Miracles
A small note: This was written as an experiment to try to understand what could drive someone to doubt in the middle of all the amazing grace found in Exodus 4-17. – Matt Imagine you and your family are part of a group of people that has been enslaved for hundred of years to servitude and indentured labor. It’s been this way for as long as anyone living can remember and there’s no hope. All of a sudden, there comes a whisper of a man – one of your people – who is daring to challenge the king that has kept your race enslaved. → Read more...
God Has a Plan, Just Wait
I just finished reading the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. Most of us know this story from Sunday School. It is one of the early Bible lessons that we learn. Joseph, the favorite of twelve sons, was sold into slavery to passing Arab merchants who, in turn, sold him to one of the prominent officials of an Egyptian pharaoh. Through his integrity and God’s blessing, he rose to prominence in the official’s household only to be thrown into jail after falsely being accused of adultery by the official’s wife. → Read more...
Mary, Did You Know?
It’s interesting: the process of aging, getting older, usually means that when you hear the same stories that you’ve heard before, sometimes you discover something that you hadn’t noticed before. Life has given you a different perspective from when you heard the story originally. Nowhere else, for me at least, has this held true than the Christmas story. By age 30 – if you’ve been a life-long Christian like I am – the story gets very familiar. → Read more...
Give Us Each Day Our Daily Bread
It’s been a tough holiday season for me so far. Well, that’s not really true. I’m fine, but there are a few friends of mine who are going through some emotional turmoil from a wide range of events including losses of jobs and divorces. One friend of mine didn’t get a Christmas tree this year as she and her husband needed money for groceries. It’s always easier to read about things like that happening to other people in the newspaper or hear it on the television. → Read more...
With God, Anything’s Possible… Part I
Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee, and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. → Read more...
A Leap of Faith
One of my favorite scenes in all of the cinema I’ve seen in my life is in 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In it, Indy, played by Harrison Ford, is on the quest for the Holy Grail. In order to get to the room that houses the grail, Indy has to pass three separate tests. The first two he passes just fine, but on the third, he pauses. The third test is called “The Leap of Faith” where he has to cross a chasm that has no apparent bridge. → Read more...
What Does It Mean to Trust in God?
February 13, 2015
Devotionals
Comments Off on What Does It Mean to Trust in God?
Matt
I went out for coffee with a friend of mine the other day. Over warm cup of mochas, we both discussed our current life situations. I talked about how I was struggling with finding a new job / niche in life that would allow me to support my family. She talked about her husband’s search for a new job after losing his. I said that I felt like everything as of late in my life is part of one big trust exercise. → Read more...
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