Reflecting God – Embrace Holy LivingReflecting God – Embrace Holy LivingActs 5:33-42. Our passage today begs us to answer the question, why do I pray not to suffer? The disciples were ostracized, judged, beaten, condemned. And yet their response to this awful trial was not despair or grief or lament. They rejoiced “because they had been counted worthy of suffering…
Acts 4:32-37. The unity of the early church amazes me. The Greek word for “one” used here in Acts is heis and it denotes more than a number. It means to live, act, decide, and work in oneness—with unity, harmony, and agreement. When was the last time you were in…
Philippians 2:5-11. When I think of how Jesus left the splendor of heaven, putting on flesh and blood, stepping into time and space, becoming dirty and hungry and thirsty and tired and all the human things . . . honestly, I’m overwhelmed. I know when heaven comes for me, I’ll…
Philippians 1:27—2:4. This week I received a phone call from a friend. She said she needed a safe place to vent, and I silently praised God that I could be that safe place for her! She said, “I’m just over it all: the politics, the drama, the mess, and the…
Psalm 73:21-28. Asaph wrote Psalm 73, beginning with a confession that he had become envious of the wicked. That’s not hard to do, even for a believer, especially when all is going well for those outside the will of God. It’s even easy to become jealous of another Christian. Peter…
James 1:12-18. As a young pastor in Nebraska, I was once offered a church in Florida—in the dead of winter! Driving 90 miles on ice to Omaha made me late for my flight. I assumed the Lord was not in it. At the gate I found the flight was delayed…
Hebrews 10:32-39. Do you recall when you first learned about Jesus? Do you remember how you tried your best to be faithful, though at times it was a struggle? Perhaps you were even ridiculed by your friends, maybe even your family. I grew up in church, but as a teenager…
2 Timothy 4:1-8. Never will I forget my ordination day in Kearney, Nebraska. After reading the challenges of verse 2, General Superintendent Eugene L. Stowe placed his hands on my head and ordained me an elder in the Church of the Nazarene. For almost four-and-a-half decades, I continued to “preach…
Romans 5:1-8. Christians are not exempt from struggles. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). So how, then, should believers react to the experiences of life that are dark and difficult? Paul says we are to rejoice, even…
Philippians 1:20-26. The dying desire of the apostle Paul was to exalt Jesus (vv. 20-23). Verse 23 in the KJV says, “I am in a strait betwixt two.” Have you ever been “in a strait betwixt two?” Unsure of his fate, it was okay with Paul if he lived or…