"It is easy to be nice, even to an enemy-from lack of character." -Dag Hammarskjold Christians are called to love their enemies. For fallen human beings this is one of the hardest messages Jesus preached. The old man's desire is to doanythingbut love those who have caused uspain. For most believers learning to be loving towards enemies is a slow and difficult process tha...

Psalm 3 Arise, Lord! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. I used to think David was praying for revenge, for justice, for vengeance. But I was talking to a pastor who is much smarter than me and he said that the jaw and the teeth were symbols of the strength of an animal. A lion would have its prey in his teeth, his j...

"In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry" Ephesians 4:26 It has been said that those who anger us control us. Having such control may not be the conscious goal of the person our anger is directed towards, in fact oftentimes they may not even know we feel this way, but whatever the knowledge and attitude of the person in question we h...

There is a certain cold logic to bitterness. Bitterness appeals most strongly to our sense of right and wrong, to our sense of fairness. Bitterness says that we have a permanent right to hate those who have hurt us or allowed us to be hurt by others. It is more interested in past losses than present and future gains. It forfeits hope and doesn't care. When we are caught up...

A fruitful Christian life does not come fromworkingever harder in the power of the flesh, rather It comes from being in ever more intimate union with Jesus Christ. We are so often tempted by the idea of "redoubling our efforts" when we fall flat on our faces spiritually, but that is the last thing that will put us back on our feet. The "old man" depended exclusively on the...

Real love can be a difficult thing to both give and receive. This is especially true for those of us for whom human affection has been an inconstant, conditional thing. It is also true of we who, for that and other reasons, have a terrible tendency towards "self-preservation" at the cost of relationship. As with many aspects of our flawed nature we can be loveless partiall...

About seven years ago I had a personal trainer who told me one day that his wife had been treated for abdominal cysts that had been serious enough to warrant surgical intervention, apparently more than once. He also told me that she would be going for testing the next day because the doctors were virtually certain that she had another one. I told him that I would pray for ...

In 2010 my life was drastically changed. I was filled with an overwhelming feeling that I needed to find a church and renew my relationship with God. In August I started my journey back into God's fold. It was an amazing time in my life I felt the best I ever had. In October I had a routine surgery andthree days laterI was given the news that I had a rare and aggressive fo...

There are abuses with every doctrine in Scripture. And based on what you have experienced in your life, you will add your "Yeah but what about." after reading certain biblical passages. When John says that 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.." (1 John 1:9) some of us respond with, "But what ...

A couple of years ago my mom had both hips replaced. Even with the replacement she was still in a lot of pain, and walked around with a cane. A couple of weeks ago, when my dad had his first stint surgery, she go up and started walking down the hospital hallway. When she began to walk without her cane, In panic Iasked her where her cane was. She really can't walk without ...