Christian Living

On Thanksgiving Day millions of Americans will enjoy and be thankful for a delicious meal (deep fry my turkey, please). As we prepare to dig in to the turkey, dressing, and gravy, we may express our gratitude for family and friends. Perhaps we will go around the table and share specific things for which we are thankful. Truly, we are a blessed people living in a blessed land.

Don’t let anyone tell you—and don’t you ever tell anyone—that believers are exempt from tough times in life. There is an element in the broad range of “Christendom” that claims God intends for us to be problem free. Just fly away towards Heaven… they have created their own form of escapism. God never works that way. Note, God says, “When ye fall into…” not if!

There are times in the Christian walk when the Lord seems far away. The dew of His conscious presence no longer saturates the contemplations of our heart. The clouds of unbelief hide the Son from us and we feel all alone.

It’s not usually the great burdens of life that kill our joy. In fact, our joy often flourishes during these times because we are more likely to draw close to the Lord and experience His presence at a new level. What kills our joy are the subtle temptations that draw us from walking in the presence of God.

The book of Second Peter was written as the final inspired statement of Simon Peter to Christians before his death. At the beginning of the letter, he says he is writing to remind us of important things so that we will remember them after he is gone. Many of the truths about real New Testament Christianity are easily and soon forgotten by Christians who once knew them, both by study and by experience.

If there is one thing we should model as Christians, and particularly as Christian leaders, it is the joy of the Lord. God designed the Christian life to be an abundant life. The fruit of the Spirit is joy. Although joy should be the norm for Christian ministry, we can go days, weeks, or months operating in “joyless mode”—diligent in going through the motions but empty inside.

All of us come upon times when our time with the Lord is not as fresh as it could or should be. Below are tips I recently shared with my Sunday school class. They were a blessing to me to compile, and I hope they’re helpful to you. Perhaps you could pull just one or two of these to incorporate into your time with the Lord.

Recently I was preparing a message encouraging our people to implement godly habits in their lives. As I thought about habits I was reminded that doing something habitually can lose its power for good.

Occasionally, I am asked why a Christian should become a member of a local church. Some insist that membership is merely a technicality, not seeing much difference between attendance and membership. Some argue they can worship God on their own disconnected from a church family. Others feel qualified to invent their own definition of the word church is an attempt to release themselves of responsibility.

In a world of darkness, there should be a place where one can go to find the light of life. There should be a place where the seeking can find understanding, the hungry-hearted can find manna from above, and those bound by sin’s chains can be set free.

Ephesians 4:1-3 is one of the most convicting passages to me, because I am guilty of causing a stir more times than I am guilty of stirring the cause. And if I’m honest, it is often rooted in my pride. “Only by pride,” the Scriptures teach us, “cometh contention;” and most of the time, that pride comes from me.

I am not a neat freak. In fact, the title of this little article is extremely descriptive of my natural tendencies. I have no patience for those who waste valuable time making sure all the paper clips in their desk are in perfect order, all the pencils point the same direction, and any papers are stacked as neatly and squarely as when they came in the original ream from the office supply store.

The devil does have a plan for your life. And it can be expressed pretty fully with five words:doubt, discouragement, diversion, defeat, and delay—they’re temptations to all of us. The key is to recognize them for what they are, submit to God, and resist Satan.

The United States of America has historically been a nation of freedom in a world acquainted with dictatorial leaders, restricted liberties, and government control. As a bastion of independence, our country designed a structure of leadership that held to balanced powers, establishing a trio of institutional branches to check against one another.

I recently read the book Marion and His Men written by John De Morgan in 1802. It is the story of American Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion, who was also known as “The Swamp Fox.” Marion both made his mark on the Revolutionary War and earned his moniker by his fighting tactics.

Clouds do not extinguish the light of the sun; they simply cover it temporarily. No matter how dark it gets, beyond the clouds we find the sun unchanged in its radiance and warmth. Spiritually speaking, God allows the clouds of sickness and sorrow to roll into our lives. Our days become long and dark. Our spirits sink low. Our faith begins to waver.

After preaching in a foreign country, a ministry friend took my wife and me to a remote hotel “resort” in Central America for a night and day of rest before we would travel home. After a frightful journey on deteriorating roads, we arrived for our time of refreshment.

Chapters 13 through 17 make up a very significant portion of the book of John. It is the section of the book that is devoted to a record of the talk Jesus gave to His apostles the night before He died. Five chapters out of twenty-one make it a sizable and significant section of the book! However the subject of the discourse is the primary factor that gives it its importance.

The Apostle Paul wrote about dealing with great adversity in 2 Corinthians 1. In verse 8, he made this statement about his trouble, “For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life.”

As travelers through life, God never intended that we make our journey alone. There are simply too many obstacles and challenges to navigate without the help and assistance of others. Plus, life is simply too grand not to have someone to share the joy and wonder of it all with!