Christian Living

This verse is a simple beginning to a lengthy book—some forty-eight chapters—all filled with wonderful visions from God and sometimes some pretty amazing and even difficult to understand prophecies.

I could ask if you have ever made a spiritual decision after a church service, only to break it within twenty-four hours. But every honest Christian would answer that question the same—yes.

Time Magazine has not been normally known for being a staunch supporter of the Scriptures, but in March 5, 1990 they ran an article in their science column. “Science: Score one for the Bible! Fresh clues support the story of Joshua at the walls of Jericho.”

Over the years archaeologists have come to differing conclusions about Jericho. Jericho is the second most excavated city in the land of Jericho, second only to Jerusalem. The 9-acre Tel (or mound) has been examined by Germans, British, Americans, Palestinians, and Israelis.

Last week my wife and I celebrated our forty-seventh anniversary as husband and wife. That is not as long as some, but a whole lot longer than many! They have been wonderfully blessed years, and I thank God for the wife and home He has given me.

We all know we ought to pray more. We all want to pray more effectively. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if God wrote a manual on prayer?

Growing up on the island of Guam, I noticed palm trees with white paint around the base of the tree trunk. I remember asking my dad why those trees were painted white at their base thinking he would give me some profound answer. He simply replied, “The white is there to measure the growth of the tree.”

In Proverbs 3:5, 6 we read, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways, acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Just a few verses later, we read, “Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine” (Proverbs 3:9, 10).

At the beginning of the new year, you eagerly set goals to reach forward for Christ in multiple areas. Both through your goals and the early action steps you have taken, you stretched forward.

Perhaps you have heard the statement, “Jesus loves you just as you are, but He loves you too much to allow you to stay that way.” It’s true. God loves us unconditionally, and He doesn’t love us more or less based on if we are currently growing or backsliding. But He does call us to grow in Him.

Revival is more than simply having a special guest preacher and a few extra nights of meetings. True revival is a work of the Holy Spirit. That is why Habakkuk prayed, “…O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years…” (Habakkuk 3:2).

People are dangerous! Our sinfulness often brings with it the capacity to hurt others. We hurt one another with the words we say and with the things we do or forget to do. Sometimes we injure our relationships with others through carelessness or negligence.

This January marks Terrie’s and my thirty-third New Year at Lancaster Baptist Church. A few weeks ago, we were able to host several families from our church who were here when we came or who we were able to lead to the Lord in those first couple years. Their faithfulness over the decades is such an encouragement to us.

As our Lord is coming to the close of His earthly life and ministry, He shares a meal with His closest followers, girds Himself with a towel, draws a bason of water, and kneels to wash the feet of His friends. It is a wonderful lesson on humility that convicts me each time that I read it. It is my desire to be that kind of a servant.

I was amused when I read a prediction offered in 1962 that reported by 1985, technology would have made so many advances, that the average workweek would be twenty-two hours, and we would only work twenty-seven weeks a year.

I hope you’ve made time over the past week or so to prayerfully evaluate needed areas of growth in your life and set some goals for this New Year. Setting goals, however, is the easy part; living them out in day-sized pieces over the coming year is the challenge.

We find written in the Word of God the words, “He brought them out that He may bring them in.” This statement refers to the children of Israel. They were delivered from Egyptian bondage. The purpose for their deliverance was not that they might wander in the desert, but that they may enter into the promised land.

There’s nothing like a new year to renew our passion for growth and excellence. I think, however, that in our haste to set new goals sometimes we miss careful evaluation of where we’re really at currently in some of the key areas of life.

Have you ever been invited for a special event, only to find out that there was no space for you to sit at the table? I can remember many times being invited as a guest to a dinner event or speaking conference, but somehow the host did not have a spot for me to sit!

The Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons can be a combination of great joy and, oddly, some melancholy. They mark the coming and going of not only the literal seasons of fall to winter, but they also mark the passing of seasons in our lives.

The Bible says, “But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another,” (Galatians 5:15). Sometimes I hear people say, “I just let so-and-so have it.”