Only hours old, his chin quivered - not from the cold - but from the sudden exposure of birth. His eyes were shaped like almonds and were as black as the deepest well. 

Only after we have met God at the altar of sacrifice are we eligible for petition, praise, and worship at the altar of incense.

We've been so indoctrinated by certain definitions of prayer that all the words "praying unceasingly" mean to us is that the preacher lost his mind and called on Brother Hubert to give the benediction at the end of the service.

If our selfish hearts are trying to trick us into feeling a false sense of dissatisfaction, a good strong dose of thanksgiving will cure what ails us!

Our vanity prevents us from developing spiritual mouths to feed ourselves on God's Word and have relationship with Him through prayer. We may look better than ever, but our spirits are starving!

I hate regrets, don't you? I hate looking back at some mistakes I have made and remembering warnings I chose to ignore.

When was the last time you wanted to run and hide?  Few things make us want to flee more than the prospect of fighting an old battle.

You hear David's loneliness at the top as he says, "Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?"

The fear or feeling of being unloved is probably our greatest source of insecurity, whether or not we can always articulate it.

Something in all of us loves a relationship that we can find both secure and mysterious.

Putting one aspect of our lives in control often brings chaos in our daily routines and spiritual walks.

As long as we see God as Lord of our spirits alone, we will continue to live in areas of defeat. God is as surely Lord of our souls and bodies as He is our spirits.  It's all His turf.

I grew up thinking Christianity and going to church were all about what we "didn't do."  Living a life with the sheer purpose of abstaining from evil wasn't fun or fulfilling.

Are you still searching for your calling?  Are you still wrestling with your purpose on this earth?  Our calling is to please Him - to wake up every morning saying, "Yes, Lord," then live through the day to discover His questions.

Finding a reason to accuse or discredit Jesus would allow the Pharisees to escape accountability to His teachings and make themselves feel more righteous.  What do you do when you desperately want to find fault in a faultless man?  You resort to petty legalism.

Can you recall a time you attended a Bible study or church service that profoundly affected a few of the people you were with, while others were completely unmoved, almost as if they hadn't attended?

How thrilling it would have been for the disciples, nearly seasick from the buffeting of the waves, to see a figure coming toward them in the middle of the night. But they weren't exactly thrilled.  Scripture tells us they were terrified and cried out in fear.

If you could bottle and sell peace, your wealth would be assured.  If, however, you have peace, wealth doesn't really matter. Everybody needs it.  Very few seem to have it.

Few things frighten me more than this testimony of David's life.  We too could be persons of character and integrity, and, without apparent warning, destroy our ministries and ourselves through the choice to gratify our sudden lusts.

2 Samuel 11 chronicles the account of David, the man of God, the Lord's anointed, when he took what did not belong to him and cast himself headlong into a scandal.

Overcoming your crippling addiction can seem just as hopeless as defeating a giant warrior with a slingshot and a stone.  Praise God, the problem is with our perception, because it can be done in His strength!

Addiction is one of the cruelest of all yokes because it deceives unmercifully and ruthlessly.  It comes to us like a friend, promising to bring comfort.  It kisses us on the cheek like Judas, stealing from our treasury, then rents us for a cheap fee to the opposition.

In a personal way God wants us to prepare a path.  Have we made a path for Him to come in and do a powerful work in our lives? 

Let's face it. None of us can do a thousand things to the glory of God. And in our vain attempt we stand the risk of forfeiting a precious thing - excellence.

Satan is the master of accusation. Revelation 12:10 identifies him as the "accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before God day and night." Satan's primary problem is that he is eaten up with jealousy over Jesus Christ.

Our gloriously deliberate God orchestrated the lives of two extraordinary men - John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth - to converge waist-deep in the waters of the Jordan River.  That day, in the river of promise, John baptized Jesus with water, and Jesus baptized the Jordan with glory.

I remember a time in my college years when I was deeply puzzled over ongoing feelings of "guilt" deep within me over a sin for which I had asked forgiveness many times. I could not understand why I never felt out from under the weight or burden of it. Years later God showed me it was not false guilt I was dealing with.

Marriage is a serious matter. After God, marriage is the first building block of society. It has the ability to bless us beyond our wildest imaginations or hurt us more than anything else.

It is a beautiful thing for a truly repentant person to bask in the freedom of God's forgiveness.  This is one of God's greatest gifts to His children.

The twelve apostles spent an incredible season of time with Jesus, watching Him at work and witnessing His miracles.  Can you imagine what it was like for them watch God in the flesh serve, heal and love human beings?

Have you ever met anyone you truly wanted to love, but he or she was so needy for your affections that you were resistant to respond?  Have you ever been the person whose need was so great it overwhelmed the people you sought love from?

On any given day I use the same word to describe how I feel about God, my loved ones, the man of my dreams, shopping and banana pudding.  It doesn't seem right!  The Greeks had the right idea when they used three different words for the concept of love...

Psalm 63

My romance with Christ began in a tiny circle of baby bear chairs in a Sunday school class of a small church.  My teachers were not biblical scholars.  They were moms and homemakers.

I have a mom who has been on the cover of magazines, has sold out arenas with her conferences, has a Sunday school class bigger than most Southern Baptist churches, and has even been invited to the White House.  She's a world traveler, a poet, and an author of so many books that I've lost count.  But let me really tell you about my mommy.

Deception is tacky. It's the glue that holds every stronghold together. If there are areas in our lives where we are being held captive to sin, we can be sure that falsehood is involved.

The plague of the unbelieving heart began to spread through Jerusalem when Jesus of Nazareth was betrayed into the hands of sinful men and crucified.

How the Sabbath hours must have dragged for the women who witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus.

When I first began to research the biblical history of captivity among God's people, I kept running into a conspicuous denominator: idolatry.  I don't know why it was such a news flash.  God warned his people over and over that if they did not resist the false gods of the nations surrounding them they would be snared, and He would ultimately allow them to be taken captive.

Spiritual battles are being waged in the lives of believers that few are prepared to deal with.  We know there are obstacles keeping us from having more intimacy with God, but we are in the dark about how to recognize and conquer them. 

When was the last time someone offended you?  Can you remember the time before that?  What about the time before that?  If you're like me, your flesh keeps a mental list of offenders and a tally of their offenses.

We continue our discussion of makrothumia , or the patience toward others that results from being filled with the Holy Spirit.