Remember back in the day when we used the self-timer feature on our camera to take a self-portrait? Don’t need to anymore. With mobile phones and digital cameras, “selfies” are the new and easy way to go. You can hold your camera at arm’s length or point it at a mirror and voila! Although the word “selfie” has been around since...
Read MoreWriting in Wet Cement
Proverbs 3:3 – “Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them about your neck, write them upon the table of your heart”. A very successful college professor left a lucrative job, one with tenure, at a major American university, to teach…
Read MoreDo-Overs
Jonah 3:1 - “And the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time”. One of the great careers of any athlete in any sport came to an end last week. I’m speaking of the “captain” himself, Derek Jeter! This is the twentieth year of his outstanding and memorable career. He is #1 in hits, games, runs scored...the list goes on and on. A first ballot hall of famer. Last week...
Read MoreLess Than $1 Grace...Free
Ephesians 2:8 (Amplified Bible) – “For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment {and} made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;” Did you hear the story of the people who put some antiques out on their front lawn with a sign that read “free” on them? People could have taken whatever they wanted, but...
Read MoreFrom Beggar to Businessman
1 Samuel 10:6 – “And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophecy with them, and shall be turned into another man”. American author, salesman and motivational speaker, “Zig” Ziglar tells this story…A number of years ago, he was walking down a major street in a large American city, and he saw a beggar with a container of pencils for sale for $1.00...
Read MoreEffortless Flight
Psalm 55:6 - “And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.” I love this time of year, the sky is so blue and so high, it amazes me. So often, I notice a hawk circling our neighborhood (hence, the name of the local elementary school mascot), just gliding on air, not moving its wings, carried effortlessly by the current. Far more proficient in flight is the...
Read MoreGod is Calling You Forward
Romans 10:17 (Amplified Bible) - "So then faith comes (increases) by hearing, and hearing (understanding) by the Word of God." When you truly meditate on the Word of God regarding a pressing issue in your life, something beautiful happens...
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Let Go of the Rope
Matthew 11:30 - "…My Yoke is Easy and My Burden is Light"
The Oxford English Dictionary says that the phrase "tug of war" originally meant "the decisive contest; the real struggle or tussle; a severe contest for supremacy". Only in the 19th century was it used for what we know today as a contest between two teams tugging on opposite sides of a rope, determined to pull the opposing team across a designated line...
Read MoreLife A La Mode
John 10:10 (Amplified Bible) – “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have {and} enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).”
Whoever put ice cream on a pie first is a topic of discussion without a definitive answer. What is known is that it was served at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, where some restaurant venue served slices of pie with a scoop of ice cream on top. The French saw it as audacious...
Read MoreFly a 747
Luke 7:47 – “Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
This past summer I had the privilege of ministering at the International Pastor’s and Minister’s Conference in Gabon, Africa. What an amazing conference, outstanding people and wonderful country. We saw miracles and healing that were a testimony to God’s unmerited favor. However, my multiple flights on Royal Air Morocco to Africa was, shall I say…not quite as invigorating. I left on a Friday night from New York...
Read MoreThere's A Blessing With Your Name On It
Numbers 13:30 - "And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it."
How you see yourself is how you will experience life! Winners win long before they get in the competition. In my first year of college...
Read MoreDon't Be A Know-It-All
Hebrews 11:8 "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing where he went."
It was a Monday morning, after an anointed Sunday service, and I was standing in the hallway of the offices where I worked at the time as a staff minister at Faith Fellowship Ministries World Outreach Center. I saw my pastor walking toward me...
Read More10-4, Over and Out
Romans 10:4 – “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes”.
My friend and me were texting back and forth, and were about to wrap it up when he texted, “10-4”. Remember that phrase? Haven’t heard it in a while. For those of you who are not familiar with the “ten-codes”, they are...
Read MoreWinning in Troubled Times
2 Corinthians 4:17 – “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”. I read a story about a woman in Haiti that was caught under a collapsed house and rubble during the earthquake that hit Haiti on Tuesday, January 12, 2010. She told of how she immediately began quoting Psalm 91. Still under the house, on Wednesday she quoted Psalm 91, on Thursday... 2 Corinthians 4:17 – “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”. I read a story about a woman in Haiti that was caught under a collapsed house and rubble during the earthquake that hit Haiti on Tuesday, January 12, 2010. She told of how she immediately began quoting Psalm 91. Still under the house, on Wednesday she quoted Psalm 91, on Thursday...
Read More12 Items Or Less
2 Chronicles 20:25 – “And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.”
Now, that’s a scripture that will get you shouting! I believe that on the other side of your battle, there’s abundance. Last week, I stopped at the grocery store, picked up two gallons of Raspberry Iced Tea, and went to the Express Checkout for “12 items or less”. The woman in front of me was loading her MORE than 12 items onto the belt...
Read MoreI Had a Dream
Psalm 126:1 “When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream”.
If you’ve been watching the World Cup, you may have heard the remarkable story of the game between the United States and Ghana, a very strong team that had beaten the U.S. in the two previous World Cups. Well, this time around...
Read MoreWhat You Guys Can't See
Matthew 6:4 “The Father which sees in secret, Himself shall reward you openly”
Want a recipe for greatness? Read on. While playing in Game 3 of the National Basketball League finals, LeBron James, the greatest player in the world, had such severe leg cramps that he could barely walk, let alone play the last seven minutes of the game. Everyone wondered, “How will he perform the next game”, “How will he do it?” “Is he the same player?” ...
Read MoreBite Your Tongue
1 Peter 3:10 – “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile”
Don’t you hate when you bite your tongue? It happens when you least expect it and it really hurts! But it’s in the Bible you know…well, not exactly, but the same principle is…
Read MoreRight Place, Right Time
Genesis 24:12 – “And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham.”
Talk about being in the right place at the right time…The parents of a young baseball player named Conrad Gregor, traveled five hours over Memorial Day weekend to see their son play for the River Bandits, an affiliate team of the Houston Astros. With his team down in the sixth inning, 2-1, Gregor launched a three-run homer over the fence, straight to a fan who made an over-the-shoulder basket catch, narrowly eluded by another fan’s grasp. The fan who made the catch - Conrad’s father, Marty!
Read MoreA Life of Salt
Ephesians 2:8 “by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,”
Sodium is a chemical that, all by itself, will kill you if ingested. Similarly, chloride is another chemical, which consumed all by itself would kill an average human being. But when you mix sodium and chloride together, you get something that no human can live without…salt! Imagine that, alone, each element can kill you, but together they are a preservative, adds flavor to our food, and has many other attributes. God is amazing!
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