Lessons in Listening

 “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to Him!” Mark 9:7 Listening does not come naturally for most of us.  Our educational system provides numerous opportunities to attend classes on speaking.  I cannot recall ever hearing about a class designed to teach us to listen.  James recognized this weakness and in his epistle states …

Resting in God Alone

My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. Psalm 62:1   Webster’s dictionary defines rest as follows: abode, a stopping place, a place of shelter and lodging, freedom from activity, quiet, tranquility, peace of mind or spirit, to repose without anxiety, to trust, rely, and to depend upon.  This psalm, written …

El roi

El Roi (The God who sees) Genesis 16:13-14 El Elyon (The God most High) Genesis 14:17-20 El Shaddai (The All-Sufficient One) Genesis 17:1-8 Every Friday morning at this point in my life began the same way.  I would meet a friend from 6AM to 7AM in the church parking lot.  We spent this time sharing …

On holiness

Read it through. Pray it in. Live it out. Pass it on. The oft quoted phrase above is familiar to many.  It is a brief synopsis of the Christian life, yet how easy it becomes to neglect parts of the statement.  Unless we begin with the Bible, there is no basis for change in our …

More Good Things

 (More Good Things) I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. Philemon 6 The apostle Paul is referring in this verse to a cause and effect relationship.  The activity of sharing our faith brings us naturally …

God is our shield

The Lord said, Fear not, Abram I am your shield, Your exceeding great reward.  Genesis 15:1 (NKJV) After thirty four years of medical practice, I was asked by the hospital where I worked to help support a new program designed to improve the level of care in the intensive care units.  I agreed to do …

Discipleship

Discipleship is more caught than taught. –Jim Morris  I had been invited to a Memorize the Word course for eight weeks in a row.  Each week I continually found some reason for not attending the evening meeting.  Although told of the benefits of memorizing scripture, it made no impression sufficient to lead me to go.  …

Deep water fishing

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”  Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”  Luke 5:4-6   There are few things I enjoy more …