Sitting in front of the perfect stone, the sculptor begins his work, taking the image that is in his mind and slowly, with carefully calculated taps more than giant blows, what he sees in his mind becomes reality. Every person has an image of God. The image is either shaped by our life experiences — both good and bad — or we conform our image of God to that which God,…

Part two of the journey was about to begin. Part one had lasted 30 earth years—a period of relative obscurity, during which Jesus lived and experienced life with all it’s struggles just like every other human. But when the day came for Jesus to be baptized by his cousin John, he knew his journey was about to transition from obscurity to radical visibility. There would be…

The T.V. was on and the sound of the William Tell Overture was playing. I had dozed for a minute on our old couch, but was immediately wide awake…the next episode of the Lone Ranger was starting. I was 9 years old and the flu had given me what every little boy longs for: A day off from school. In this episode of the Lone Ranger, I remember the sheriff had formed a…

The freedom we have in Jesus is one of my favorite topics. But, if you read Jesus’ own words, you’ll often find him qualifying his promises with phrases like, “If you obey my commands…” or “If you follow me…” These phrases sound conditional; they sound like I get blessed if I’m good, but I might get kicked out if I’m bad or something. What’s up with that? When Jesus uses…

You know Satan, our spiritual enemy, is a liar, right? All liars distort the truth. They twist it, nuance it, and obscure it. That which is actually true is still true, but the liar tries to change our perception of the truth. For years I lived with a sort of undercurrent of God’s disappointment. I really didn’t feel like he was happy with me. I knew he loved me and all,…

Nearly 60 times in the New Testament, God speaks about our storing up treasure or rewards in heaven. Then in Paul gives us a clue to what this treasure is when he writes to his dear friends in the ancient city of Thessalonica, “What is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you?”—1 Thessalonians…

Jesus made an audacious promise when he said, “I have come that you may have life and have it to the fullest!” (Who doesn’t want life to the fullest?! ) Then to prove he has the power to deliver on this promise, he dies on the cross to cancel our sin and raises from the dead. If he can do that, what can’t he do! What’s more, Jesus wants every person on the planet to have…

I’ve been praying lately for an increase of the fear of the Lord in me personally (Psalm 111:10). I want to be more in awe of him and to walk in greater humility and reverence. I want to be more repulsed by sin and more aware of my need to stay close to the Lord. Jesus said the pure in heart are blessed because they will see God. That’s what I want! I’m asking the Holy…

Way back I remember feeling like I just couldn’t seem to beat the anger in my life. To make a long story short, the Lord revealed my anger was rooted in a thought that kept running around in my head, telling me I wasn’t good enough.  I remember the time I took the thought captive, bringing it straight to the Word of God. I compared it to Zephaniah 3:17 where God says he…