Can we be in two places at once?

shhhhh…don’t mention “it”.

Don’t we have to do SOMEthing?

You might be a Pharisee if . . .

You might be a Pharisee if . . .

you catch yourself saying, “You can’t talk to me like that!”

you think life is not always fair.

your prayers are more self-talk than talking with God.

you catch yourself mumbling, “Did you hear about…”

you believe you’re more spiritual than your friends.

you justify your anger because you know you’re in the right.

you enjoy receiving praise from other believers.

you believe you’re pleasing God by following rules.

you believe you’re humble.

you don’t think you need anybody’s help”.

outward righteousness is better than heart holiness.

you  celebrate the failures of others.

you obsess over the opinion of others.

you are convinced your opinion is the only right one.

you’re quick to criticize others when they disagree with you.

you think “Christians” who don’t agree with you are “compromisers”.

you feel good when you catch someone’s Scriptural error.

you look down on people who are not on your spiritual level.

To some who were confident of their own righteousness
and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee
and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood by himself
and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—
robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not
even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said,
‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other,
went home justified before God. For all those who
exalt themselves will be humbled, and those
who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 18:9-14

Meekness: A Fruit Of The Spirit

“Evangelical” Ping Pong

Learning To Ask

Completed. Finished.

“For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete.” Colossians 2:9-10a New American Standard

It’s done. Jesus did it all for us. In John 17:4 Jesus told the Father, “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.” He said on the cross: “It is finished” (John 19:30).

We are “complete” in Christ. We have all the power, knowledge, and wisdom we will ever need in Christ.

The question becomes: what will we do with it all? I think for many believers, salvation is enough. They believe, “if we occupy a pew most Sundays, set a Bible on the coffee table, mumble the Lord’s prayer occasionally, usher once a quarter, give some, volunteer some–then we’ll be in good standing with the Man upstairs. Right?”

God doesn’t want us in good standing. He wants us standing on His promises. (I cringe every time I hear someone call The Creator of The Universe, my Savior, “The Man Upstairs”.) He wants us to believe and accept that we can’t do anything to “help God” sanctify us.

His work FOR us is finished. If He’s going to work IN us, He wants us to accept ourselves as complete–as righteous and holy, consecrated to God so He can mold us into His likeness.

for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Philippians 2:13

They Made It Across The Red Sea

Butterflies Are Free

I love to watch butterflies. So fragile, so beautiful, so colorful. So free. I remember warm summer days passing patches of flowers and witnessing kaleidoscope of

Cherish My Words

The words in this post are from one of my wife, Marie’s, favorite books, Come Away My Beloved copyright 1973 by by Frances J. Roberts.