Don't Despair
Here’s a funny story from Chuck illustrating how easy it is to talk to someone and yet not communicate with him. To be on the same page we need to meet people where they’re at and accept them without judgment or criticism.
Here’s a funny story from Chuck illustrating how easy it is to talk to someone and yet not communicate with him. To be on the same page we need to meet people where they’re at and accept them without judgment or criticism.
Some of us are fearful of silence. If we stop we may have to think for ourselves. If we listen we may not like what we hear. We find solitude synonymous with loneliness. And so we miss the quiet whisperings of God.
Prophets like Isaiah were not rookies who carried out hit-or-miss pre-game chapel programs for a few teams in Judah. No, they were the real deal, sent and anointed by God to be trusted and revered.
One reason we might not see Scripture’s relevance is because we focus on the discontinuity between the world of the Bible and our world and conclude Scripture’s irrelevant. Instead, we need to look at the points of continuity.
Waiting on the Lord means we are looking to Him for grace—the desire and power needed in a situation. Sometimes we know the thing to do, but don’t want or desire it. We need to wait on the Lord to supply even the desire to do the right thing.
No one will ever know how much energy the human race has wasted through worry. Today, we want to think along scriptural guidelines as we rediscover a life characterized by rest instead of rush, calm instead of confusion, peace instead of panic, tranquility instead of turmoil.
Recognizing how lost we are without Him; Jesus came to Earth to give us a perfect example to follow. Any other shepherd will lead us astray, but Jesus guides us with love, power, and tender care.
From 2 Chronicles 26 and Isaiah 42:5–8, Pastor Chuck Swindoll traces Uzziah’s stunning rise and tragic fall to show what happens when a person stops giving God the credit He deserves. Five timeless warnings emerge from this ancient king’s story.
How tempting it is to claim the credit ourselves for the mighty works God does in and around us. Perhaps no one feels that temptation more than those who serve God in a public ministry—those who have been called to hold His glory in sacred trust. Whether their work becomes a movement of God or calcifies into a monument to themselves depends on one crucial factor: who gets the glory.
The church has always been known for its resolute spirit. Problems occur, though, when we think that because the church’s message is changeless, the church’s methods must be changeless too. How can we expect to make a difference in a rapidly changing world if we’re living in the past? Are we ready for the changes the future will bring?