Is Fear Of God All That’s Holding You There?

Fear of God is not foolish. But if “fear” is all you have you need to go on into fullness.

Kids are sweet but I find they are about 55% sweeter when they’re asleep.

When my rugbugs were little, sometimes I’d stand close to their bed and look at them by the moonlight as they slept. At times like that, you feel like you’re going to swell up and burst with love.

I’ve wondered if God sometimes watches us when we’re asleep. So many people think that the Lord is constantly mad at his people but personally I think He spends more time smiling at us.

We forget how much God loves us because we’re afraid of Him, I guess. Continue reading

The Dog-meat Story

We all tell ourselves stories each day. We act on those stories. Make sure they are faith-filled and uplifting.

Little Johnny (name changed to protect the guilty) was the terror of children’s church. Ricky, our children’s director struggled to control this unruly four-year old. He wasn’t mean, but he certainly disrupted the program.

One Sunday while the others were leaving, Ricky confronted the little fellow. “Johnny, why are you like this?”

“It’s a long story,” Johnny responded.

“I’ve got time.”

“Well, you see when I was little I was walking on the rails of a railroad track. I fell and knock a hunk of meat out of my leg and they replaced it with dog meat. It’s the dog meat that makes me act like that.”

“Okaaay.” Continue reading

Break Out of Your Prison of Feelings

The prisoner sat slumped on the side of his bed in a corner of his cell. I say cell, but no one else saw any bars. They were there, though.

Many times he awoke and thought the hated walls had collapsed. He would jump to his feet and try to run only to crash once again against a wall of … of … something, falling back to the floor in despair. Then he saw him most clearly—the jailer–huge, hideous, grinning viciously at his desperate efforts.

Someone had to come with the key because he couldn’t get out on his own.

Prison of Praiselessness

That’s the way David felt in Psalms 142, “Set me free from my prison that I may praise your name.” (v. 7, NIV).
Continue reading