Category — Relationship with God

Let’s continue our discussion of the Lord’s Prayer. In a previous blog, we looked at the context of Matthew’s account of this prayer. Now we’ll turn our attention to the context of Luke’s account. The Lord’s Prayer in Luke’s Gospel is flanked on the front end by an incident and on the tail end by two parables. The incident on the front end has to do with two women who had invited Jesus and his disciples to be their guests.

With all these men in the house, Martha was busy and distracted “with much serving.” Mary, however, was captivated by Jesus and the things he was teaching. She sat at Jesus’ feet and listened intently to him. Mary’s sister, Martha became so angry at her sister for not helping her that she scolded Jesus for allowing Mary to sit there, while she (Martha) did all the work. “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” (Luke 10:40) Jesus responded to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42) [Read more →]

In Matthew 6 and Luke 11, we find the “Lord’s Prayer.” These appear to be two separate instances in which Jesus provided a model for prayer, which has come to be called “the Lord’s Prayer.” In the Matthew account, Jesus was teaching a large crowd along with his disciples. This occurrence belongs to what we call the Sermon on the Mount. In Luke’s account, Jesus had spent some time praying. When he finished, his disciples asked him to teach them to pray also. Let’s take a closer look at the context and content of the Lord’s Prayer.

The text of the two prayers is nearly identical. The fact that they are not exactly the same demonstrates that these are two separate incidents, and that Jesus’ intention for this model has more to do with the spirit of prayer than with the repetition of static words. [Read more →]

Lord Jesus, You are God, the One and Only; the beginning and the end. You were before all things and You created all things; by Your power all things exist. In You, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. You are all-powerful, all-knowing, and ever-present. You are the King of kings and Lord of lords. We worship You, humble ourselves before You, and give You all glory and honor and praise!
 
Lord Jesus, at Your appointed time You came to earth, humbling Yourself as Almighty God to become a helpless baby. You were tempted in every way, yet You did not sin. You lived a holy, righteous and blameless life. You accepted mockery, torture and a cruel death for our sakes. You died for us—for me—bearing our sin and shame! How can we thank You for taking our place? We praise You and worship You! [Read more →]

When Paul was being held prisoner in Caesarea under the rule of Governor Felix, Felix and his Jewish wife, Drusilla, would invite Paul to speak with them. We’re told that Felix “was well acquainted with the Way.” (Acts 24:22) The “Way” was a first-century term used to describe those who trusted Christ for salvation and lived their lives according to His ways, teaching and character.

On one occasion we read that Felix, “Sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, ‘That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.’”  (Acts 24:24-25 NIV) [Read more →]

Path of Life is a 12 step recovery program written by Greg Grebe, a close friend, spiritual partner and hiking buddy! Greg has been leading recovery groups for many years and has gleaned from his own experience and that of numerous others to produce a fresh, Bible-based approach to leading people out of addictions.

Please feel free to download and use this Path of Life 12 step recovery program. Click on the icon below. Path of Life is also featured on this site on the Free Stuff page.

 Path of Life

Paraphrased excerpts from Power Through Prayer by E.M. Bounds.

“We are on a constant search for better methods, more clever plans, and new ways to organize in order to advance the church. The church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men and women. The church needs men and women whom the Holy Spirit can use—men and women of prayer—mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through people; people wholly yielded to Him.

The personal character of leaders has more to do with the revolution of nations than any other factor. The character and conduct of followers of Christ have more to do with the impact of the Gospel on a nation than any other factor. The individual makes the servant of the Gospel. God must make the individual. The individual, the whole individual, lies behind the work of God. Our work is not the performance of an hour; it is the outflow of a life. Our work for God must be a thing of life. Our work grows, because we grow. Our work is holy, because we are holy. [Read more →]

The Scripture is clear that followers of Christ obey Christ. In the Great Commission, Jesus said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

God’s Word also plainly distinguishes between the kind of obedience that was demanded of the Mosaic Law and the kind of obedience we strive for as followers of Christ. This distinction is crucial because many well-meaning Christians have merely exchanged the Old Testament set of laws for a New Testament set. This exchange is not God’s intent at all! [Read more →]

There are times when someone hurts us so severely or so repeatedly that we feel we cannot forgive them. We feel justified in not extending them forgiveness, because what they did was so awful, so despicable. If the offending person is our spouse, his or her cruel or thoughtless act may have been repeated so many times that we no longer trust them. We withhold forgiveness because if we do forgive them—again—we cannot trust that they won’t do this awful thing again.

Our forgiveness, however, cannot be based on trust or on the likeliness that the offender will not hurt us again. Instead, our forgiveness must be based on the character and example of God Himself. In three primary passages of the Scripture on forgiveness, every one of them draws attention to God’s character and His example of forgiving us. [Read more →]

Enthralled with God

God created us for relationship with him, but what does that look like? How do we interact with God? What does he expect from us? We are to love God, but what is this about enjoying him? Two-way communication is a hallmark of any relationship, so how does communication function in our relationship with God? How does God speak to us? How do we recognize his voice? What do we do with what he tells us? Rob seeks to answer all these questions and more through the Scriptures and lots of examples from his own life, so that you too may be enthralled with God!

Enthralled with God–Cultivating a Joy-Filled Relationship with Him is available on Amazon.com! You will find the book in both soft-cover and e-version.

Below is the brief introduction from this book that I’m sure you’ll want to read. [Read more →]

Yet another benefit of hardship, suffering and trials is that they offer us the opportunity, like nothing else, to demonstrate the all-sufficiency of Christ in our lives. The apostle Paul was uniquely chosen by God to represent to others the all-sufficiency of Christ in the midst of suffering. In fact, when Paul came to know Jesus, the Lord said of him, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” (Acts 9:16)

After many years of serving Christ and taking the Gospel to those who had not yet heard the good news of Christ, Paul recounts some of his sufferings, persecutions and trials in 2 Corinthians 11. He had been flogged, beaten and imprisoned numerous times. He had been ship-wrecked three times and once had spent a day-and-a-half in the open sea. He’d been in danger from bandits, from his own countrymen and from the Gentiles. He had often worked hard to support himself and others, often gone without sleep, food, shelter and even clothes. Besides all this he often felt overwhelmed by his concern for the welfare of the churches he and his co-workers had established. (2 Corinthians 11:23-28) [Read more →]