Intentional Faith

Taking Notes

Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. —Psalm 117:1 When I was a new believer in Jesus, a spiritual mentor encouraged me to keep a thanks journal—a booklet I carried with me everywhere. Taking note of praise items is a good habit. It reminds us of God’s presence, provision, and care.Continue reading “Taking Notes”

A Nook and a Book

But his delight is in the law of the LORD and in His law he meditates day and night (Psalm 1:2 NKJV). Thomas à Kempis said, “I have no rest but in a nook with the Book.” Communion with the Lord through meditation on the Scriptures provided profound rest and refreshment in the midst ofContinue reading “A Nook and a Book”

Don’t Fail Watching

[Be] confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. PHILIPPIANS 1:6 Before Bill Gates was one of the richest men in the world, he was a Harvard dropout with a failed business. He co-founded a business called Traf-O-Data. HaveContinue reading “Don’t Fail Watching”

The Promise Maker

All the way through Scripture, from the earliest beginnings of humanity to the beautiful future that the book of Revelation offers, God is revealed as the One who makes promises. In the New Testament, there are around forty references to promises, and with one exception, they are all about God making promises to us. PerhapsContinue reading “The Promise Maker”

Don’t Cheapen the Supernatural

“It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4). “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God’” (Matthew 4:7). “Begone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, andContinue reading “Don’t Cheapen the Supernatural”

God Tells Jokes

God tells jokes—well, puns. In Jeremiah 1:11–19, God got the nervous prophet-to-be’s attention with a lesson that included a subtle little witticism we don’t notice in the English translation. The words for “almond” and “watch” are very similar. When Jeremiah saw an almond tree, a pot, and a pillar, he discovered three vital truths. TheContinue reading “God Tells Jokes”

The Master

“You call me ‘Master’ and ‘Lord’ and rightly so, for that is what I am” (John 13:13, NEB). The title, “Master,” is one of the most widely used of Christ’s titles. In the four Gospels alone, He is addressed as “master” ten times, while He refers to Himself by the same title eight times. ThereContinue reading “The Master”

Seek the Shade

I still remember the feeling of confusion as we zig-zagged across the golf course near our home in Florida. To me, the pattern made no sense at all. We’d go to what seemed like a random place on each hole, irrespective to the location of our golf balls, and my father and I would sitContinue reading “Seek the Shade”

The Fierce Struggle

In 1896, an explorer named Carl Akeley found himself in a remote section of Ethiopia, chased by an eighty-pound leopard. He remembered the leopard pouncing, trying “to sink her teeth into my throat.” She missed, snagging his right arm with her vicious jaws. The two rolled in the sand—a long, fierce struggle. Akeley weakened, andContinue reading “The Fierce Struggle”

Hard Places

Charles Spurgeon, the known Baptist preacher in Victorian England once said, “One night alone in prayer might make us new men, changed from poverty of soul to spiritual wealth, from trembling to triumphing.” There is a powerful truth conveyed in this statement, that even in our hardest times and in the hardest places, we canContinue reading “Hard Places”