After his team lost a game, I heard a basketball coach say, “I’ve never felt so positive about a loss.” I don’t know if the man was a Christian, but his statement is very Scriptural. Every born again, Jesus-loving Christian can have the faith to feel positive about the losses that life brings. …
Feeling Positive About Your LossRead More »
Feeling Positive About Your Loss Read More »
The four Gospels show us twelve apostles who stumbled through life from one failure to another. Yes, they did some things right but the Gospel record emphasized their failures. Then we turn to Acts and see the apostles racing from success to success. Why such a contrast between the Gospel narrative and the Acts record? I think God planned this to show us that we are in the process of succeeding. …
In the Process of SucceedingRead More »
In the Process of Succeeding Read More »
Two thousand years ago God’s people felt unblessed. Sure, they repeatedly read the promises God pronounced upon their ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but where were the blessings? A foreign government manipulated their lives and ruthlessly repressed all yearnings for independence. Poverty afflicted almost everyone and religious leaders used their influence for self-gratification. …
When You Don’t Feel BlessedRead More »
When You Don’t Feel Blessed Read More »
God likes company. In fact, he likes lots and lots and lots of company.
There “was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb,” Revelation 7:9. I don’t know why God likes human companions so much. I guess it’s just his gregarious nature. …
Keeping God CompanyRead More »
Keeping God Company Read More »
Panic stricken, fear filled messengers burst into King Jehoshaphat’s throne room. “A huge enemy army from three hostile nations is marching against us, oh King,” 2 Chronicles 20:2. …
Feeling Helpless But Never HopelessRead More »
Feeling Helpless But Never Hopeless Read More »
“If you understand the problem, you’re halfway to solving it.” Ever hear that before? Such beliefs teach us to rack our brains so we can understand the cause of problems. We expect that understanding the cause automatically leads to the solution.
It doesn’t always work that way! Striving to mentally grasp the cause of life’s problems often intensifies the problem’s adverse effect on us.
True, when repairing an automobile we must first discover what’s broken. Replace the defective part and, presto, it works again.
What must we do when the cause of life’s problems defies human understanding?
Quit depending on your ability to understand causes. You may think, “That suggestion is crazy! How do you expect me to not depend upon on my own understanding?” Start depending on God’s superior, infinite understanding. He knows everything about everything including all the hidden causes of each problem in the entire universe. So, when all our worry and anxious thoughts fail to understand causes, it’s time to obey Proverbs 3:5: “Do not lean on your own understanding.” “Well,” you may wonder, “what should I do with my human understanding?” “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.”
No one event constitutes a lifetime. Therefore, we should move on with life and not dwell on individual events. Don’t fear events or they grow out of proportion to their actual importance.
Depending wholly upon God’s understanding redirects your attention from causes to cure. The cure is a Person we call Heavenly Father. Don’t we call on him during life’s difficulties and frustrations? Why not call upon him when you can’t comprehend causes of struggles, difficulties and heartaches? Let him figure it out! He is more than willing to help humans who admit their inability to understand causes. Don’t be distracted by “impossible to understand” causes. Just look up to your heavenly Cure.
Please remember, “Those who hope in Me will not be disappointed,” Isaiah 49:23. God is the cure which annihilates incomprehensible causes.
Seeing the Cure Without Understanding the Cause Read More »
One dark evening in 1991, I sat on a park bench atop Prayer Mountain. No, not Pastor Cho’s Prayer Mountain in Seoul, Korea, but a 20-foot high mound located in a tiny Japanese garden near our home in Tokyo. The pine and oak trees that towered overhead made the evening appear even gloomier.
But the worst gloom was inside me. I felt so shattered. The focusing muscles around my eyes filled my days with pain and fatigue. Office work was torture and writing, impossible. I simply didn’t know what to do. So I decided to give up my missionary assignment and return to the USA.
Back to the Tokyo version of Prayer Mountain. About eighty feet to my right lay a train track for diesel-powered engines. Two hundred feet to my left lay tracks for electric-powered trains. Well, God decided to exert his almighty sense of humor to perk me up.
I heard in the distance the distinct whistle of a diesel freight train. Then a clattering electric passenger train approached; a second passenger train came from the opposite direction on another track, and, believe it or not, a third passenger train showed up. A diesel freight train about eighty feet to my right and three electric passenger trains on my left! The noise level soared. But that’s not all. A large twin engine U.S. Navy plane roared overhead. I hadn’t heard such noise in all my life.
“God, time out! Even you can’t hear me over this noise!” I began laughing at the circumstances orchestrated by the Lord. Only a supreme Creator could synchronize the arrival of four trains and an airplane at a tiny Japanese garden in Tokyo.
As the noise subsided and the evening calm returned, his presence visited me. My inner gloom evaporated as I considered the great love of the Lord who sent four trains and an airplane to remind me of his control. Is God good or what!
The One who always gives me the best of everything also equips me to give the best of myself to him!
God Sends Four Trains and One Plane Read More »
Our Creator chose to envelop earth in an atmosphere we call “air.” Air surrounds and sustains us, refreshes us and protects us from harmful sun rays. Air makes life possible. Two gases comprise the bulk of our atmosphere: nitrogen, about 79% and oxygen, a little more than 20%. …
Your Other AtmosphereRead More »
Your Other Atmosphere Read More »
How big is your God?
“He builds his lofty palace in the heavens and sets its foundation on the earth; he calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land,” Amos 9:6.
He sustains “all things by his powerful word,” Hebrews 1:3.
How big is God?
Well, he “fills everything in every way,” Ephesians 1:23. …
Our Gigantic OpportunityRead More »
Our Gigantic Opportunity Read More »
You probably haven’t dealt with many lions recently. We Americans rarely encounter lions on the city streets or in the back yard.
On the other hand, every one of us must constantly deal with a lion called Satan. Although he doesn’t inhabit a physical body, he unceasingly prowls about in the physical world. “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour,” 1 Peter 5:8. He is an invisible spirit who exerts immeasurable harmful influence in the physical world. …
Dealing with Lions Read More »