Clearly, in the age we live in, as we are facing high inflation rates and rising fuel and food prices, we need to know Him as Jehovah Jireh, God our Provider. We need to know that our source of sustenance is not the economy, not the job market, not the housing market, not the government, but Jehovah Jireh – the Lord, our provider.

Conflict is an inevitable part of life, whether it’s conflict in marriage, on the job, with a friend or family member. It’s so inevitable that it happens at times when you’d least expect it to. For example, conflict arising with your spouse as you’re driving to church. Does this sound familiar? You’re headed to the house of God as a family, doing one of the spiritual practices that produces a higher level of spiritual maturity and character development, and wham – conflict.

My wife and I have mastered this particular trap – we take separate cars!

Conflict is often caused by selfishness; we want what we want.

“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but you don’t get it” (James 4:1).

We can see this even in the little things of life. We have dual controls on electric blankets and zone controls for our car’s air conditioning. It’s why we argue over whether towels should be folded in half or in thirds, and whether the toilet seat should be left up or down. What’s the solution when our opinions and preferences are based on what is simply more convenient for ourselves? Consideration for others generally runs against the human condition of selfishness.

And the truth is, we don’t usually handle conflict well. In fact, we humans have developed some pretty interesting ways of improperly handling conflict.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/KTStock

God has called us to love, honor and provide for our families. And God wants us to love ourselves. So what about our hard-saying of Jesus? “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). What does this warning actually mean for us? 

“…fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth” (Joshua 24:14).

God loves His Church – His bride! 

His Church is the center of His focus; it was created to be salt and light in this dark world. As a whole, we are the Body of Christ, working together, each bringing our specific gifts, talents and finances to do the will of the Father. It is part of the blueprint for the Gospel mission:

“And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17:22-23).

It’s the way we’re created: we can do more for God together than we can do as individuals. We can accomplish more for God working as a team, than we can by ourselves.

Therefore, God expects us to have love for one another and come together as His Church in service to Him. But as it’s often been said, it seems 20% of the people in the local church do 80% of the work, while the rest sit in the pews like spectators in the bleachers watching a sporting event. Understandably, this makes the church much less effective and hinders the spread of the Gospel.

So, if we want to be “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14) like young King David, we have to have a heart for the same things as God – and that includes His house. We do this by cheerfully assuming our position on the “team” of His Church.

Now, if you recognize yourself as a person still sitting in the bleachers, be encouraged! Jesus loves you, believes in you, and has created you with very special abilities that are greatly needed in the Church. And He is challenging every one of us to stand up, come down from the bleachers and get to work.

Photo credit: Unsplash/krispaparo

“And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed” (Mark 1:35).

Isn’t it interesting that Jesus (God incarnate, Who demonstrated amazing power to do miracles), spent so much time in prayer? Scripture often records Him waking “a great while” before dawn to go off alone and spend time in prayer. Due to His intense ministry schedule, Jesus began each morning with Father God and powered up in preparation for the day. He consistently prioritized prayer – before the day got away from Him and stole His time to pray.

As the Gospel of Mark records, Jesus’ ministry was cranked up hot. He was training His crew of twelve to have faith to trust God for themselves; He was reassuring friends and family that He had not lost His mind, nor had He been possessed by a devil; He was conducting 8-hour marathon sermons and healing services to spiritually hungry people, clinging to His every word. And He had to deal with His own very real, very human exhaustion.

“Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was . . . And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?’ Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!’ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:36-39).

Clearly, He was drained from the demands of ministry, exhausted, physically worn out. Ready to get some rest! He was so tired that He remained deeply asleep, even as a sudden storm threatened to tear their boat apart.

But what does this have to do with Jesus habitually getting up before dawn to pray?

These constant enemy assaults on Jesus and His disciples had to be put down, and He had to be spiritually prepared for the battle – through prayer. Indeed, there were just too many pulls on his life, and too much coming at Him to destroy God’s plan, not to pray!

There were too many rumors to deal with, lost and sick people to deal with, “staffing” problems to deal with, traps to deal with and demonic attacks to deal with . . . not to pray!

In other words, if Jesus had to choose between sleep and prayer – prayer wins. His schedule was simply too busy and too demanding not to pray!

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/pcess609

Everybody doing anything for God still gets “stoned” some time. While not physically crushing, these stones of persecution can cause emotional pain and cause real damage, for example, loss of jobs, reputations, and relationships. How we handle being stoned has a lot to do with how effective we can be in life and how our example affects others.

“… For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14).

It’s a very simple truth – our lives are short. Human existence is but a breath, a moment. The wisest man in history pointed out that our days are numbered and that we should never forget this uncomfortable truth (Ecclesiastes 7:2).

Perhaps we should pray along with King David,

“Show me, Lord, my life’s end
and the number of my days;

let me know how fleeting my life is.
You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
the span of my years is as nothing before you.

Everyone is but a breath,
even those who seem secure.”
(Psalm 39:4-5).

It appears there is something in the human spirit that draws us to seek meaning, destiny, and purpose with the time we have being given on this earth. Don’t we all want to be remembered for the right things? Don’t we want our lives to matter and leave a God-honoring legacy? What our lives are remembered for is, in effect, our “story.”

Have you ever imagined what it would be like to be present at your own funeral, to hear what your friends and family say about you? The pastor, miscellaneous friends and relatives all say nice, publicly acceptable things about you. But then, your children begin to reminisce about you. Whatever they say, whatever they remember of your life and your effect on people is your actual legacy. At that point, many people would listen and reflect somberly on their lives, and may realize they’ve wasted their years.

If you see yourself in that place, be encouraged! You are still here, alive and breathing. And if you are still alive, your life story has not been fully written yet. You have that precious gift of time still on your side to create a life that is celebrated by friends and family.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/ra2studio

Even though we are living in extremely dark times, keep in mind that darkness is the most advantageous condition for light to shine brightly. So, to borrow an age-old axiom, these may be the worst of times, but for the Church, they’re the best of times!

Many people struggle with the effects of their past mistakes, such as saying words in haste or anger that damage relationships, or making life-altering decisions which ended in failure or disappointment. Then there are those regretful promises we made that became impossible to keep. And many people who have experienced such things from their own actions simply can’t get past their past, forgive themselves and move on.

Clearly, in this context “forgive yourself” doesn’t mean “absolve yourself of sin.” Only Christ can do that, if we accept the forgiveness that Christ purchased for us on Calvary. And thankfully, we know that in Christ, we receive His forgiveness through repentance, to enable us to transform, and grow more spiritually mature. It’s somewhat surprising then, given we have such a wonderful Savior, that so many have a difficult time forgiving themselves.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/tommaso79 

It’s ultimately worse for our relationship with God if we were to just sweep things like confusion, pain, and worry under our “emotional rug;” adopting clichéd, religious blanket answers is not healthy, productive, or satisfying. He wants us to hear Him and be led by Him.

“But since you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you — see that you also excel in this grace of giving” (2 Corinthians 8:7).

Are you a generous person?

Here’s a quick “self-check.” Can you honestly say…

- I routinely volunteer to help other people in need.

- I make financial contributions to many charities.

- I buy cards, gifts and mementoes for friends and loved ones.

- I spend quality time with my family.

- I give more energy than required, at home and on the job.

But perhaps, most importantly, would other people say that you are generous?

True, Jesus said we should not be generous because we want to look good in front of other people. 

“Be careful not to perform your righteous acts before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:1).

Ill-motivated generosity actually gets us nowhere. But many people don’t realize that the Fruit of the Holy Spirit includes maturing in generosity! “…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5: 22-23).

“Goodness” here comes from the Greek agathosune, which describes the state of being good, kind, virtuous, benevolent, generous, and God-like in life and conduct.

As Christians, we are the beneficiaries of God's manifest goodness and every spiritual blessing through our restored relationship in Christ. That fact alone should encourage us to live our lives in such a way that we are known to be followers of Christ by our radical, irrational and intentional generosity toward others!

But like all spiritual fruit, we must cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the process of our maturity to cultivate and grow in this grace of generosity. When we do, we will receive Heaven’s benefits!

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Daisy

“And [Elijah] prayed that he might die, and said, ‘It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!’ … So, he said, ‘I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life’” (1 Kings 19:4, 10).

We all need hope to live, otherwise, we will just give up.

Some time ago researchers at Duke University decided that they would put the phrase “where there is life, there’s hope,” to the test, to see if it’s really true. They set laboratory rats in water, in a situation where there was no ability, no hope whatsoever, of escaping. The scientists wanted to know how long the rats would continue to swim when there was no ability to survive. What they observed was that the rats, in that dismal environment, would swim about for a little while seeking to escape. When it appeared that the rats lost hope of finding a way out, they’d just duck their heads under the water and drown themselves. Then when the scientists put rats in a situation where it would be difficult to escape, but possible, the rats would continue to swim for hours until their hearts failed from exertion.

What the scientists decided is that they had actually proven the opposite of “Where there is life, there’s hope.” They had proven “Where there is hope, there’s life.” That is, you and I need hope in order to live.

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12).

Whether you choose to react to events with hope or hopelessness makes all the difference in how you experience life. Is there such a thing as a genetic predisposition to being an optimist or a pessimist? There do seem to be several examples of Biblical heroes who were natural pessimists: Elijah, Moses, even Peter! But even if this is true, the good news is Christ can help us defeat pessimism, and replace it with biblical optimism.

Photo credit: Pexels/Rafael Barros

We live in a time when the politically correct thing to believe and to say is that all religious roads are valid, as long as a person is sincere in holding that belief. That is, it doesn’t matter how a person seeks to worship God, or how one seeks to become spiritually mature or enlightened, or whether it is even necessary to hold any belief at all – because God/Source/the Universe loves every one of us! But Jesus, shockingly, says just the opposite.

But one of the most difficult things for unbelievers to grapple with is the account of the resurrection of Jesus Christ found in the Gospels. Claiming a man came back to life after a torturous death and three days in a grave is enough for many to simply walk away without hearing anything more. However, the fact of the resurrection is a cornerstone of our faith.