Living For Jesus
“My Tribute,” one of my favorite worship songs, addresses how to adequately respond to God’s undeserved mercy and grace. The lyrics note that although we can never thank Him enough, we can live in ways that please Him. Similarly, Paul describes our lives as the best way we can give thanks: “Give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice” (Romans 12:1). While that sacrifice means some believers will die for Jesus, all of us are called to live for Him.
Laying Down Our Lives
Writer James Bryan Smith tells the story of how author and speaker Brennan Manning came to better understand the deep love of God. Brennan had a best friend named Ray. They hung around, double-dated, and even bought a car together. In time they enlisted and served in the same military unit.
Washed
Steady rains had transformed the hardened terrain of our backyard into a soaked softness. Walking outside, I felt the coolness of the water and mud squishing between my toes. Our dogs had been digging in a small area, so I decided to move a few cement blocks to block the patch of ground from their reach. My work left me covered with moist dirt and grass. Deciding to wash before heading indoors, I watched the clear stream of water make my skin clean once again.
Restoration and Salvation
An antivirus update for my laptop kept blocking the last phase of my radio recordings—the words I spoke between songs. I tried restoring the computer to an earlier date, prior to the update, which worked for one session of recordings. But when I tried to record another radio show, the antivirus once again stopped me from saving my work. In the end, I restored the laptop to a time when it worked properly, uninstalled the antivirus, and reinstalled a different one. The new antivirus is now working well alongside my recording software and I can save my work without hindrance. Phew!
faith & marriage
Family members pleaded with him not to marry. But the young man wouldn’t listen. What was the family’s concern? He was a believer in Jesus; she was not. They knew that the union would dishonor God and that the two would face struggles due to disunity. They were right. One year after they walked the aisle, the couple divorced.
obsession
Return me to the cross
and let me be completely lost
in the wonder of the love
that You’ve shown me.
This is everything I want.
This is everything I need.
I want this to be
my one consuming passion,
everything my heart desires.
Lord, I want it all to be
for You, Jesus.
Be my magnificent obsession.
These lyrics…
visible
With steam covering the bathroom mirror, the outline of a group of words became apparent. Trying to clear the view so I could finish getting ready for work, I had been initially surprised when the image appeared. But I smiled as I remembered why it was there. Far from a supernatural occurrence, the hidden message was the remnant of a…
Christmas accusation
Few things seem more out of place than the appalling account of Herod’s slaughter of the innocents (Matthew 2:16). Why would a loving God permit a tyrant’s massacre of children to stain the beauty and poignancy of the Christmas story?
Matthew recounts in stark simplicity: “[Herod] sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two…
free
There are different kinds of free. Some things are free because they’re cheap, like the plastic toy in a McDonald’s Happy Meal. Some things are free because they’re part of a “buy-one-get-one-free” offer. And some things are free because they’re priceless—you literally can’t put a price on them without cheapening them.
Imagine asking a woman to marry you, and she…
you are loved
A counselor was conducting a family therapy session with the parents of a teenager who had been caught using drugs. The parents excused their daughter’s drug use, saying that it was no big deal and just a phase that most teenagers go through. After a while the counselor told the parents to leave the room and, turning to the daughter,…
universal problem
In his book Human Universals, anthropologist Donald Brown lists over 400 human behaviors common across all cultures. Some of his findings are touching: All cultures have toys, jokes, dances, and proverbs; they have music, poetry, tickling, and thumb-sucking; the people of each culture develop languages, take names, are wary of snakes, and tie things with string!
Likewise, Brown discovered a…
receiving and deceiving
My husband and I were leaving a restaurant one evening when a distraught couple approached us. Their story? Car problems. From out of town. Waiting for their ride. We responded with compassion, desiring to help them and possibly introduce them to Jesus. We even went to buy two meals and brought them to the hotel where they said they were…
dying to me
Over the last several weeks I’ve been dying—dying to me. My wife left her part-time teaching job at the community college to teach full-time at one of the local high schools. I was excited for her new opportunity and didn’t mind making some sacrifices for her success. But I hadn’t realized that sometimes she would have to leave early, stay…
