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Why I Kept Failing to Truly Forgive
Forgiveness always felt like a mind game. When people hurt me, I would tell them that I forgave them. But the truth was I was rarely able to move on from painful experiences.
Better Than a Piñata
There cannot be a Mexican party without a piñata—a carton or clay container filled with candies and treats. Children strike it with a stick and try to break it in order to enjoy its contents.
Monks used the piñatas in the 16th century to teach lessons to the indigenous people of Mexico. Piñatas were stars with seven points that represented the seven deadly sins. Beating the piñata showed the struggle against evil, and once the treats inside fell to the ground, people could take them home in remembrance of the rewards of keeping the faith.
But we cannot fight evil on our…
The Inspiration of Spiritual Initiative
Not all initiative, the willingness to take the first step, is inspired by God. Someone may say to you, “Get up and get going! Take your reluctance by the throat and throw it overboard—just do what needs to be done!” That is what we mean by ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes to us and says, in effect, “Get up and get going,” suddenly we find that the initiative is inspired.
We all have many dreams and aspirations when we are young, but sooner or later we realize we have no power to accomplish them. We cannot do the things we long to do, so our tendency is to think of our dreams and aspirations as dead.
Little Lies and Kittens
Mom noticed four-year-old Elias as he scurried away from the newborn kittens. She had told him not to touch them. “Did you touch the kitties, Elias?” she asked.
“No!” he said earnestly. So Mom had another question: “Were they soft?”
“Yes,” he volunteered, “and the black one mewed.”
With a toddler, we smile at such duplicity. But Elias’s disobedience underscores our human condition. No one has to teach a four-year-old to lie. “For I was born a sinner,” wrote David in his classic confession, “yes, from the moment my mother conceived me” (Ps. 51:5 nlt). The apostle Paul said: “When Adam sinned, sin…
Rebuilding
When Edward Klee returned to Berlin after being away for many years, the city he remembered and loved was no longer there. It had changed dramatically, and so had he. Writing in Hemispheres magazine, Klee said, “Returning to a city you once loved tends to be a hit-or-miss proposition . . . . It can be a letdown.” Going back to the places of our past may produce a feeling of sorrow and loss. We are not the same person we were then, nor is the place that was so significant in our lives exactly as it was.
Nehemiah had been in…
5 Reasons You Should Repent – Again and Again
As believers, we know that Jesus calls people who have yet to believe in Him (Matthew 4:17) and Christians to repent when they have fallen away from Him (Revelation 2:5; 2:16; 2:21; 3:3; 3:19).
Why Should I Still Believe in God?
I don’t see, hear, or feel God anymore. Why love God then? Why go to church then? Why believe then? Recently, a friend whom I had led to Christ seemed to have such thoughts. And they were the same thoughts that went through my mind about a decade ago.
Now Is the Day
Our preschool-age granddaughter Maggie and her kindergarten-age sister Katie hauled several blankets to the backyard, where they proceeded to build a blanket tent in which to play. They had been outside a while when their mom heard Maggie call for her.
“Mom, come here quick!” Maggie yelled. “I want to ask Jesus into my heart, and I need your help!” Apparently at that moment her need for Jesus became clear to her, and she was ready to put her faith in Him.
Maggie’s urgent call for help in trusting Jesus brings to mind Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 6 about…
God’s gift of salvation is available to all!
No matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done, God’s gift of salvation is available to all! And that’s good news! Today on Discover the Word, we begin a week featuring some classic Christmas programs with past Discover the Word hosts; Haddon Robinson, Alice Mathews, and Mart DeHaan. Revisit this special Christmas mini-series based on […]
What Can I Give Him?
One year, those responsible for decorating their church for Christmas decided to use the theme of “Christmas lists.” Instead of decorating with the usual shiny gold and silver ornaments, they gave each person a red or green tag. On one side they were to write down the gift they would like from Jesus, and on the other they were to list the gift they would give to the One whose birth they were celebrating.
If you were to do this, what gift would you ask for and what would you offer? The Bible gives us lots of ideas. God promises to…
Our Covering
When talking about faith in Jesus, we sometimes use words without understanding or explaining them. One of those words is righteous. We say that God has righteousness and that He makes people righteous, but this can be a tough concept to grasp.
The way the word righteousness is pictured in the Chinese language is helpful. It is a combination of two characters. The top word is lamb. The bottom word is me. The lamb covers or is above the person.
When Jesus came to this world, John the Baptist called Him “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John…
Are you brave enough to forgive?
We can’t give what we don’t have, right? Well, today on Discover the Word, we along with our guest Nicole Unice discuss John chapter 20 and how those who’ve received forgiveness should logically be best able to give forgiveness. But that’s not always how we work. How being forgiven can make us “Brave Enough” to […]
Are you brave enough to move into God’s grace?
How do you respond when you “blow it”? Do you have a tough time not punishing yourself and shaming yourself into a bad place? Today on Discover the Word, the group along with our guest, author Nicole Unice encourage us to be “Brave Enough” to love grace, and move from shame and condemnation to that […]
Editor’s Picks: Top 5 Articles | Giving
In a matter of weeks—or even days—streets will be lined with dazzling displays, shops will be brimming with holiday gifts and Christmas carols will reverberate through the air. For many of us, it’s a welcome change.
What Are You Worth?
There is a story that in 75 bc a young Roman nobleman named Julius Caesar was kidnapped by pirates and held for ransom. When they demanded 20 talents of silver in ransom (about $600,000 today), Caesar laughed and said they obviously had no idea who he was. He insisted they raise the ransom to 50 talents! Why? Because he believed he was worth far more than 20 talents.
What a difference we see between Caesar’s arrogant measure of his own worth and the value God places on each of us. Our worth is not measured in terms of monetary value but…
