Trading Your "Cows" for Kingdom Beans

If you are not familiar with the story of Jack and the Bean Stalk... Jack is a poor boy who lives with his widowed mother. They are farmers, who own very little. Their only valuable possession is their cow. Over time, their situation becomes very worse and worse, so the mother sends Jack to town to trade the cow for much needed money. On the way to town, a stranger approaches Jack and offers to trade some magic beans for the cow. Curious and trusting of the stranger, Jack agrees to the trade. 

Praying the Fruits of the Spirit

The fruits of the Spirit are an important outworking of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who follow Jesus. These fruits include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). For us to cultivate these fruits in our lives, we must take an active role with the Holy Spirit by means of prayer, intentionality and partnership (to name a few). If we are to follow Jesus, these nine fruits are essential indicators of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Guarding Against the Devil: Shame

One of Satan's greatest tactics is the use of shame. Shame is an extremely powerful emotion that can render us immobilized. Shame generates fear of relationships. Shame causes us to hide. We hide from ourselves, others and especially God. But shame is a lie. Shame tells us we cannot accept ourselves, that we cannot be accepted by others and we especially cannot be accepted by God. Shame says, You did what?! That happened to you?! If Satan can wrap our hearts and lives in shame, we can become his captives. But there is hope. There is an antidote to shame. And I believe the antidote is acceptance. Acceptance of ourselves. Acceptance from others. And most importantly, acceptance from God. Let us examine Scripture and Satan's tactics of shame more fully.

Heart Work for Answered Prayer

God loves to answer the prayers of His people. He enjoys blessing those who call on His name. But sometimes our prayers can be hindered or not answered because of the condition of our heart. Scripture calls us as followers of Jesus to do heart work with the Holy Spirit for our prayers to be answered. Please note: there are many other factors that hinder prayer; these are just a few that pertain to our heart. And remember, God is sovereign and can choose to answer prayer above and beyond our sin and brokenness. Now let us examine some areas where Scripture makes clear the standard God has set for His people in relationship with Him.

10 Tips for Reading Scripture

Reading Scripture is foundational for the Christian faith. Without Scripture, we could not know the Triune God (Father God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit). The Scriptures are our best source for learning who God is and growing in knowledge of Him. But what is interesting is that a large portion of Christians do not consistently (or daily) read the Scriptures. There are a lot of different reasons (and sometimes excuses for this), but my hope is that these ten tips for reading Scripture will encourage, challenge and equip you to consistently read Scripture, so you may know and encounter the Living God.

Guarding Against the Devil: Temptation

Scripture is extremely clear that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil who stand against God's people in any way possible (Ephesians 6:11-12). The enemy is intelligent, has a will and knows the human race better than we know ourselves. A major goal of the enemy is to tempt believers with sin so that when Christians choose to sin, they will become enslaved to sin and in bondage to the works of the devil. I am not downplaying our sinful nature, which I believe permeates our entire being, but I think the Western worldview hides the biblical reality of how much these spiritual forces are at work in humanity today.

10 Tips for Praying

Sometimes we just need a few pointers to improve our skills. The 10 Tips for Praying will hopefully provide insight that will help you improve your prayer life and deepen your relationship with God. These tips are not "the best tips in the world" but are what I have found useful when assisting others to lay a foundation for deepening prayer. May God give you insight into how you can improve your prayer life though these tips!

Emptied to be Filled

God longs and desires to fill us with an inner drive and passion to pursue Him with all that we are. The inner drive cannot come from ourselves, it must come from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). And if it must come from God, we must ask Him to do this work in our souls. We must take the necessary steps to receive what He longs and desires to give us.

Unfortunately, this cannot be done if we are already filled with things other than what are of God. There will be no room for Him to fill us with the inner drive and passion to pursue Him. We must be emptied to be filled.

Praying for Spiritual Renewal

"Parents" magazine, December 2013, artist unknown.

Before you read any further, I would encourage you to prayerfully, with the Holy Spirit, examine the above picture. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak into your heart and life using this image.

Praying in the Desert

Praying in the desert can be one of the most difficult spiritual seasons of a Christian's life. How do we pray when God is distant? How do we pray when we do not feel like praying? How do we pray when God allows devastation to rip our life apart? These are the questions we face when praying in the desert.

Prayer of Examen

The prayer of examen is a spiritual practice that creates a space and opportunity for us to spiritually reflect on our day. Ignatius of Loyola of the 1500s is accredited with developing this spiritual exercise to assist others in growing deeper in their awareness of God and awareness of self. The prayer of examen is quite simple, yet has profound spiritual impact in our lives.

A High Call

God tests His people. He tests our integrity and obedience. And the decisions we make will determine who we will be. God has a high call.

Simple Prayer

Often times prayer can seem intimidating and complicated. This can discourage us from investing in our prayer life with God and can keep us from living daily life with God. Yet be encouraged. Simple prayer opens up a whole new frontier of prayer and relationship with God that cultivates genuineness and authenticity with our Creator.

Reading Scripture Well

Reading Scripture is a pillar of the Christian faith. If we are to follow Jesus, we will only come to know Him more fully for who He is by reading Scripture. The Old and New Testaments are foundational for a deepening faith and cultivated heart relationship with God.

Whether you struggle with reading Scripture or read it each day, I hope what follows will help you read Scripture well.

Praying on the Armor of God.

Spiritual warfare. This term sparks many different thoughts, perspectives and emotions for different people. No matter our theological or experiential understand of spiritual warfare, Scripture is clear that everyone (Christian and non-Christian alike) are engaged is a spiritual battle.

What Has 5 Legs and Smells Kinda Funny?

My guess is that you are trying to figure out the answer the question above. It's not what you might expect.

Do You Know Your Season?

Back in high school, I had the privilege of flying to Indonesia after the tsunami of 2004 to assist with food distribution. On our way to Indonesia, we had a layover in Singapore. We stepped off the plane and into the air conditioned airport with many different sounds, smells and sights than I had experienced before. We walked through customs encountering a new culture, a new way of life and proceeded to the main exit doors of the airport. Right when we stepped through the invisible layer that separated the air conditioned airport and the Singapore climate, I was struck by a wave of heat and humidity I was not expecting!

God Has a Sense of Humor, You Should Too :)

Awhile back, I was pretty mad at God. I was reading some theology and reflecting on other theology I had read some time ago about the sovereignty and providence of God. Wrestling with God's providence and our free will, I let loose on God about what is the point of even investing in a prayer life or seeking to prepare for a calling if He is gonna do what He is gonna do. Frustrated, I just let God know how I felt. He can take whatever I throw at Him, anyway.

What We All Need, But Often Do Not Want

Sitting in church on Sunday listening to the sermon, a war broke out. Not a war between people over a minor theological detail or that the music was this or that, but a war in my soul. It was as if a conflict broke loose between the Spirit, my flesh and the devil. I heard this quote read on the screen...

Learning to Listen to God's Voice

Standing in Barnes & Noble in 2003, I noticed a woman who could have been the age of my mother. She stuck out to me, and I did not really know why. It was like she was being emphasized by an invisible highlighter. Something stirred in my spirit, but I did not understand or know what it was. I felt a nudge. Not physically, but spiritually, whatever that meant. I felt like the Holy Spirit was prompting me to start a conversation with this woman and eventually pray for her at some point. So, not really knowing what I was doing, I started a conversation with the woman and eventually prayed for her. The woman was very touched and encountered the Living God.

This was one of the first times I learned to recognize the voice of God in my life.