The brazen desert sun reflected mercilessly off of every rise, wallowing in the gaps between the dry cliff walls and the tawny wilderness floor. The opening crags of jutting rock faces joining to form the rugged hillsides of the desert of Judea seemed to move toward the afternoon sun as the light played its way in
Tag: Christ
Joshua The Divinely Authorized
Was Jesus’ last name Christ? Were His parents Joseph and Mary Christ? The answer to both of these questions is “no”. In the original Greek text of the Gospels, “Jesus Christ” or “Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς” literally means “Jesus the Anointed One”, or “Joshua the Divinely Authorized by the Pouring or Rubbing of Olive Oil” making reference to the
A Declarative Faith
Jesus taught a declarative faith. Belief is too often relegated to the boundaries of life where your doubt meets your credulity. Jesus didn’t say “If you think this mountain may move it will.” Jesus said, “I assure you, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You
Choosing Abundance
We have all benefited from the rich blessings He brought to us — one gracious blessing after another. The story of Jesus Christ as it is told by John starts with these words: “In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. He was in the beginning with God.
God’s Judgment Advantage
I do not fear the judgment of God. Every day you get judged hundreds of times. You, your parents, your children, your friends, your family, your coworkers, your boss. People you have just met for the first time. People you have known for years. People are continually forming their opinion, updating their take, shaping their
Right Here, Right Now
You were created to make a difference in this world. God designed you to make a unique contribution that no one else can offer. He considered every aspect of every situation that you have faced in life and every aspect of every situation that you will face in life — God planned you on purpose
Skills of the Spirit
Two of the most challenging aspects of life are surprises and change. In the natural, being surprised or making a change can bring on the experience of stress, emotions, and uncertainty, but in the spiritual, some of the richest experiences in life, resulting in the greatest blessings, come packaged in challenges unexpected. Like surfing a
The Back-To-School Frontier Effect
I have so many good memories of back-to-school. The smell of new markers, freshly sharpened pencils, and the vinyl covers of 3-ring binders with that nice clean snap of the rings closing through those nice sharp edges of new paper straight out of the package. As children, the years have sharp definition as you progress
Finding Value In Extraordinary Places
Jesus told the story of a merchant who sold pearls for a living who, when he found a pearl of great value, sold everything that he had so that he could purchase that single pearl. The question is, did he make a good decision? The answer is, if the pearl was more valuable than all
More Than Enough
When God considers what He has to offer in any specific situation, He is not looking for what He can get away with, the bare minimum that He can offer and still be respected, or the least amount of effort that He can put into it and still come out with the relationship intact. God