Submitted by Dale Cresap on October 18, 2018 - 10:05
I was hungry and you fed me, and thirsty and you gave me a drink. You are probably familiar with these entries from a list of ways you can help others, and there are a few others mentioned. Do you think the list was meant to be exhaustive? You could apply the same principle to the world you live in. My car broke down and you gave me a ride, or my battery was dead and you gave me a jump start. If thoughtfulness, kindness, and generosity are your guiding principles then you will look for every opportunity to exercise them, and you will be doing so unto me as much as in the Biblical list.
Submitted by Charity Kayembe on October 17, 2018 - 13:29
One of the many exciting things we discover as we explore Scripture are all the different ways God intends for the angelic realm to intersect our everyday lives. While we most often think of angels in spiritual warfare or protecting our physical well-being, the Bible reveals God has created them to do so much more than that!
Submitted by Dale Cresap on October 17, 2018 - 10:03
Do people confide in you? Do you find it flattering when they do? Do they confide their own faults and shortcomings or those of others? This is a crucial distinction. In the first case it follows the Biblical concept of confessing your faults to one another that you may be healed. In the second case it follows the Biblical concept of gossip and tale bearing. Do you know intuitively who is a receptive audience for what information? It doesn’t take much discernment to figure this out, and it is just as easy for others to see it in you. So the harmful things that people are willing to confide in you about others may tell you something about yourself.
Submitted by Dale Cresap on October 16, 2018 - 09:41
What comes to mind when you think of heaven? Great wealth? The descriptions you find in my word describe a magnificent place. What is the deepest longing of your heart right now? Is it for money? Or is it for belonging, connection, meaning, and purpose? I placed these within everyone and you see people using a wide variety of approaches to satisfy them. I know you need money, but doesn’t your soul have a greater hunger for these things? I do not promise that you will have money in heaven; you won’t need it there. But if heaven is a place where these deeper desires are satisfied, isn’t that better?
Submitted by Mark Virkler on October 15, 2018 - 11:13
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me. The LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted parts within me. He has sent me to bind up broken areas, to proclaim liberty to captive areas and freedom to parts within which are being held prisoner. Today is my day of release! (Isaiah 61:1, paraphrase)
Principles: Prayer is most effective when applied directly to the point in time at which the wound occurred and when the broken, captive part has direct encounters with Jesus.
Submitted by Dale Cresap on October 15, 2018 - 11:12
Have you ever heard the saying, it isn’t what you know but who you know? This is most commonly used as a cynical expression in the world of commerce where, for example, the most qualified applicant for a job was not hired because they didn’t have connections. Yet there is still an underlying transcendent truth in this concept. For your faith consists of relational truth. Doesn’t every believer describe the essence of their faith this way? In this case it isn’t enough to know about me, but eternal life is for those who know me. No amount of classroom or book study will get you there but it is readily available to children.
Submitted by Dale Cresap on October 14, 2018 - 14:22
Are you familiar with the doctrine of the Trinity? Do you see it as a math problem? How can three be one? Other faith traditions reject this concept and Christians struggle to come up with metaphors to explain it. You may have heard many of these and perhaps used some of them yourself. I want you to understand the concept of the Trinity as an expression of relationship rather than a math problem. It is a mystery but not a riddle. This is important because you use the concept of relationship to describe the very essence of your faith in me, and one of my last acts on earth was to invite you to be a part of it.
Submitted by Dale Cresap on October 13, 2018 - 18:27
I offer you the promise of transformation. What do you expect this to look like? Is this something you greatly desire, or do you think you are OK the way you are? Do you think that transformation would require the loss of your identity and leave you in a condition that is not uniquely you? You are fearfully and wonderfully made, and I created you with a purpose in mind. You are unique in all creation and this is my doing and I have no intention of changing that. Yet transformation is still the greatest promise I offer you. I want you to understand this and value it as the pathway to being the best version of yourself.
Submitted by Dale Cresap on October 12, 2018 - 10:53
There is an important distinction between your faith and animism, but they are not as far apart as you may think. Animism is the default faith of primitive peoples and is based on the premise that everything has an indwelling spirit. You do not concur that all things are god, but can you see me in all things? I left my fingerprints on everything I made and you shouldn’t need a microscope to see them, but they are also visible with a microscope. I promised that if you would seek for me then you would find me, but also that you would not have to go to a special place to do it. If you have eyes to see you can see me everywhere.
Submitted by Mark Virkler on October 11, 2018 - 16:04
I LOVE to discover new amazing ways to pray which release Spirit life and healing and restoration to my being. I am now up to 50+ ways of praying which I have found effective and meaningful in allowing me to live a blessed life and speed me into my Promised Land.
