Delightsome Land

If you could peek into the minds of people around you, chances are you’d find very few of them completely absorbed in the moment they are living right now. Some may be replaying a conversation they just had, thinking of all the things they should have said. Others are dreaming about a person they’re excited to see, and what outfit they should wear (or buy). A few might be going over a presentation they’re about to make, just to be sure they’ve got it down. And at least half the population is thinking about a sports team, and why in the world they gave away that point. Our minds meander from the past to the future, with only brief stops in the present. Most of our emotions are tied to something that was or will be — until that rare moment when something demands all our attention, propelling us to live entirely in the now. These can be our most promising moments, for it is in the now that God can be found. Henri Nouwen writes, “If we could just be, for a few minutes each day...

As the man of God taught, the reality of the Lord's desire in Paul's prayer for the saints dawned on the delegates present to live " strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness. " (Colossians 1:11)  Be motivated to live the Christ life of power and humility as you watch the featured video.

In this video excerpt from the teaching series – The Integrity of God’s Word – Pastor Chris affirmed, " God doesn’t expect you to run your life with your senses ." Tendering the scriptures in 2 Corinthians 5:7 and Romans 8:13, Pastor Chris established that there is no victory for a Christian through the flesh, and Christians should therefore walk by faith and not by sight (sensory perception). Watch the Video here

Morning You shall put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. So Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord. [Jesus], because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. • [He] is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory. Seeing... that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace. The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him, who shelters him all the day long; and he shall dwell between His shoulders. Exodus 28:12; Hebrews 7:24–25; Jude 24; Hebr...

But Moses replied in the LORD’s presence, “Since I am such a poor speaker, how will Pharaoh listen to me?” — Exodus 6:30 HCSB It used to be that if you had a problem with your toilet, you would call a plumber. If you had some faulty lighting, an electrician was the person to call. Whatever your need may have been, the logical thing to do was to get in touch with an expert in that area. Most folks would never have considered shingling their own roofs or remodeling their own kitchens. There are professionals for that sort of thing. Then the DIY movement took over. People began to realize that, with just a little guidance, they could do just about anything. Instead of reaching for the phone, a person can simply watch a how-to video and do it herself. A little confidence and the proper tools are all that is necessary. Sometimes God calls people to do things that they may think would be better left to the professionals. The Bible, however, is full of DIYers. Moses didn’t...

You know how God told Noah to build a boat in order to save his wife and kids from the Flood? The ark rescued this family by providing refuge from the chaos of the storm that surrounded them. In your family, here’s what shelter looks like: A Christian home is a place where dad is respected and mom is really loved . It’s a place where children are nurtured . Respect Dad Most men don’t mind the battle. Every man does mind disrespect. You can take on a man nose to nose. You can challenge him on the tennis court or baseball diamond and not smile. You can go for it. But don’t roll your eyes or look askance at him. Don’t talk carelessly about him with your friends. Don’t disrespect him. When a man falls into an affair, it’s rarely about sex. He’s found someone who respects him. In your refuge, family members may not always agree with dad, but they always respect him. “I think you’re wrong” works. “You’re stupid” does not. Love Mom Like every new husband, I entere...

This is an excerpt from 52 Little Lessons from Les Misérables. Bob Welch walks readers through Hugo’s masterpiece, extracting dozens of uniquely spiritual reflections from this enduring portrait of poverty, social injustice, mercy, and redemption.  * * * Have you knocked at that one there? - A woman in Digne who takes pity on Valjean In Digne as a recently released convict, Jean Valjean is turned away for this job and turned away from that inn. He is even turned away when he asks a jailer if he can stay for a night; the irony is that Valjean, though technically a free man, is a slave to his past — so much so that he is willing to go to jail as a means of survival. In Hugo’s no-room-in-the-jail scene, Valjean resembles the prodigal son, who became so desperate to survive that “he longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating.” Alas, “no one gave him anything” (Luke 15:16). “Everybody has driven me away,” Valjean tells a woman who takes enough pity on...

The desert can be a dangerous place. In Bible times it was always a place of uncertainty, peril, trial, and death. Not the kind of place you want to go on vacation! Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands. — Deuteronomy 8:2 During desert experiences we can too easily focus on our circum­stances instead of God’s character. We grow weary instead of waiting patiently. Yet God’s Word reminds us, Do not let your heart be troubled . — John 14:1 Believing that God is good and that He can take care of us through our desert experiences gives us hope and joy in the midst of our uncertainty. When our feelings threaten to overshadow our trust in Him, we must turn my heart immediately to His promises. Remind ourselves that the Lord isn’t slow to fulfill His promises (2 Peter 3:9). His ways are perfect (Psalm 18:30)...

Set Your Course The devil is ever so crafty in communicating negative messages. He will do everything in his power to keep us from getting on the right train of thought. He’ll bombard our thoughts because he knows that most people don’t even think about what they are thinking about. He knows they will believe any lie he tells, that they will think any thought that comes to their minds. So we have to be committed to know, to learn, and to retrain our thinking. We have to work at believing God’s voice spoken through His Word, more than all the other voices that have spoken into our lives — including our own. Begin every day by first checking the destination board and picking the right train of thoughts. Ask yourself Where do I want to end up today? and then set your course going in the right direction. Take God’s thoughts and replace yours with His. This is the process of renewing your mind — of becoming someone who thinks, and consequently, lives differently than you...

Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. Psalm 68:19 No matter how many days God gives us, He gives them to us one day at a time. So when you think about it...today is all we have. That may sound like a cliché, but it’s one of the most basic principles in all of life. Yesterday is gone, and tomorrow may never come. All you really have is today. How do you know what is going to happen tomorrow? the apostle James asked. For the length of your lives is as uncertain as the morning fog — now you see it; soon it is gone. — James 4:14 TLB In the Lord’s model prayer that He gave us — the one we call “the Lord’s Prayer” — He tells us that we are to pray, Give us this day our daily bread. — Matthew 6:11 Not tomorrow’s bread or next week’s bread. God is a daily provider who provides for our needs today. It was the same way in the Old Testament with the manna He provided for the children of Israel in the wilderness...

There is a missing vow — and it’s a big one! It is the vow to love your spouse with kids in the house. The missing vow has to do with our commitment to love each other when we transition from marriage as a couple to marriage with children. Without this vow, we lack the complete picture of God’s vision for marriage and family. Without this vow, we are quite comfortable living a child-centered or me-centered marriage. It comes naturally to us! So we need this vow to remind us that God has something more — a God-centered marriage and family — for us. It might sound strange, but one of the greatest challenges we face in order to live out the missing vow is our desire to be great parents. Most couples who have children have a sincere desire to be really good parents. Raising and releasing kids to love God and love the world requires an immense amount of time, energy, work, and prayer! So we pour ourselves into it with everything we’ve got. After all, what could be so bad about ...

What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. — Psalm 8:4-5 Adolf Hitler’s political philosophy has been summed up to say: “Society’s needs come before the individual’s needs.” History, of course, tells us how that way of thinking worked out. Similarly, Communism stresses the importance of the political party over the person. In fact, under Joseph Stalin’s collectivization efforts in the Soviet Union during the early 1900s, peasant farmers were forced, for the benefit of the state, to give up their land and animals in order to become part of collective farms. This resulted in the starvation and death of many millions of innocent people. In contrast to these philosophies, the biblical worldview holds that people matter supremely because they matter to God. Genesis 1:26-27 makes it clear that human beings are uniquely created in the image of God...

Jesus would rather not even go to Jerusalem. It was chaos. He much preferred more normal places with more normal people. He left more of His grace in those places than He did in the bigger cities. Actually, other than fulfilling the cultural necessity of attending Jewish festivals and events, Jesus largely ignored Jerusalem. He spent far more time in the idyllic hills surrounding the Sea of Galilee. The big-city folk in Jerusalem would have looked down on Jesus as a peasant who liked peasant sorts of places with peasant sorts of people. Jesus wasn’t the cocktail-party type. He was the son-of-a-carpenter type. The folks who shopped on fancy streets wouldn’t have given Him a passing glance. Jesus wore painter’s pants, not Prada. When Jesus did go to Jerusalem, it was a disturbing and difficult experience for Him. The religious and political leaders would often incite arguments with Him, and the commercialization of the temple seemed to drive him mad. Eventually, ...

Give your child peace and reassurance before falling asleep with these Bible verses. Bedtime is an intimate appointment with our children. Our kids need certain cues before falling asleep to let them know all is well. In every home bedtime routines are slightly different. Perhaps in your home you sing a lullaby, give a big hug, pray, wrap your child in a special blanket or talk about plans for tomorrow. Whatever your normal bedtime game plan is, there’s no doubt children gain security by going through the same motions and receiving reminders of your unwavering love. God’s Word can be part of this routine. Some moms can get pretty ambitious with bedtime routines. We want to fit in so many cute elements that the plan just becomes too much to implement every single night. Or there are many of us who just get plain ol' tired of bedtime routines because, well, at the end of the day we are tired and  ready for some quiet and alone time. Either way, today I want to remind us a...