So many people try to quench their spiritual thirst by physical means: family…friends…job…possessions. Yet none of these earthly things can meet their heavenly need, as Augustine famously prayed centuries ago: “Our heart is restless until it rests in You” (Confessions 1.1).
To many people who seek something more from life, God seems remote, unreachable, silent. Yet others have overcome the obstacles of man-made religion to find true meaning through a personal relationship with the eternal God. What does that mean? How can we begin a relationship with God? How can we lead others to truly know Him?
The answer is Jesus Christ, who freely gives living water to all who thirst.
And it was this intensity that caused prayer to degenerate from a flowing spontaneity to a rigid, packaged plan, dispensed routinely by the religious leaders. Prayer changed from privilege to an obligation.
Why don’t we experience more victory in the Christian life? We have neglected the spiritual disciplines and opted for comfort and mediocrity. So now what do we do to find victory?
In his immortal work on the martyrs done in the 16th century, John Fox listed some of the epitaphs that appeared in the catacombs beneath Rome. Fox found other epitaphs on non-Christian graves. The difference is remarkable! So what accounts for the difference in these inscriptions? One word—resurrection!
Perhaps you never realized that it was Jesus’ attitude of unselfishness that launched Him from the splendour of heaven all the way down to a humble manger in Bethlehem…and later to the cross of Calvary.
Unless we view Bethlehem from the perspective of the cross, most of what we sing and celebrate at Christmas amounts to glorying in the cradle, not the cross.
In Ecclesiastes 9:11-18, each verse is a maxim, loosely connected to the next, comprising a whole chapter of contrasts: wisdom versus folly.
The culture in which we live, work, and play complains that God makes no sense, so how can He be trusted? They refuse to worship a God they can’t comprehend. My thought is the exact opposite.
The teaching of Jesus and the apostles is unmistakable. Heaven is for those who have been saved from their sin by trusting in Jesus. Heaven is not a mythical place for all people regardless of their background.
When it seems like things are out of control, choose to believe they’re not. Everything is in God’s omnipotent, wise, and loving control for our good.
It is quite possibly the most abused, misused, and flippant word in the English language. Consider how we use it. I love God, and I love sausage rolls. I love my children, and I love empty parking spaces.
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