"Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me - to keep me from exalting myself!" -Paul, 2 Corinthians 12:7 I love Hugh Laurie's character in the TV series "House". In fact, I haven't met anyone yet who doesn't like him. It makes no sense. He's downright mean. No tact. Sarcastic. Everything a girl despises. Yet, he's smart, witty, funny, a

"Knowing their thoughts, (the Pharisees) Jesus said, 'Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, "Your sins are forgiven," or to say, "Get up and walk"? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins....' Then he said to the paralytic, 'Get up, take your mat and go home.' And the man got up and went home." -Matthew 9:4-8 There are times in life when we feel like giving up. We don't want to try again; we s

"They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built." -Luke 6:48 What does it mean to have a life built on Jesus? I heard someone say once, "Many people build their lives around Jesus. But that's very different from building your life upon Jesus. When the storm comes, everything that's not built on a solid foundation won't be able to stand

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" -Matthew 6:27 We have a problem with stress in our culture. Coupled by the fact that we work a lot and have many distractions, we juggle all our plates on sticks hoping to make something of ourselves, overcome our problems, and try to make it look easy. But is it really easy? According to the American Institute of Stress, Time Magazine's June 6, 1983 cover story was called "The Epidemic of the Eighties" and cited str

"Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously." -2 Corinthians 9:6 Have you ever experienced extraordinary blessing in your life? Or, have you had the opportunity to be a conduit for blessing in someone else's life? Generosity is a huge key that unlocks the door of God's kingdom into our lives. I had just received a very large gift from someone that was rather unexpected. So large, in fact, that the gift

"David asked the men standing near him, '...Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?'" -1 Samuel 17:26 Most of us know the story of David and Goliath. But what we may not know is the reason behind David's courage. David was young, probably around 17. The Israelites were all afraid of Goliath because he was so big. No one had yet had the courage to challenge him, and when the Israelites saw him, "They all fled in great fear." (v.2

"I will bring that group through the fire and make them pure. I will refine them like silver and purify them like gold. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, "These are my people," and they will say, "The Lord is our God.'" -Zechariah 13:9 Did you know that God tests us? He doesn't do it to be mean or to play a joke on us, but He does it to see where our heart is. He does this because this is the most important thing to him - our heart. As child

"But though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity." -Proverbs 24:16 Have people ever let you down? If you're dealing with human beings, in ministry or in business, or anywhere for that matter, it's likely they will! But what do we do when people mess up? Do we tell them there's no hope, that God is angry with them, or do we tell them that God is a God of second chances, waiting with open arms for us to run back to Him w

"Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear." -1 John 4:18 Once at our Toastmaster's meeting, there was a man who was the Toastmaster (or host for the meeting), who ended the meeting very unusually. He said, "Along with our theme of 'out with the old, in with the new', I want you to take out a piece of paper, and write your biggest fear on it." We did so, and awaited the next instruction. Next, he unveiled a box that had the word FEAR printed on it in big, bo

"Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, 'The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, "Here it is," or "There it is," because the kingdom of God is within you.'" -Luke 17:20 & 21 The late Dr. Myles Munroe, former senior pastor of Bahamas Faith Ministries International, wrote a book called Kingdom Principles: Preparing for Kingdom Experience and Expansion. In the book he describe