I love to write through chapters of the Bible or spend time on thinking and writing through Biblical topics. Here is that collection, arranged easily to be able to find what you are looking for. Here is the list of things I have written on.
There are several ideas in the Bible that work in partnership. If you look at them separately, without the balance of working together it is easy to get into error. I believe grace and faith is a perfect example of this. It is easy to fall heavily to one side or the other. Many claim to ‘error on the side of grace’ while others boast of being ‘faith people’. Admittedly I do this myself, (although I would claim to be heavily vested in both camps), but still looking at them as very separate things—here’s an idea, they are not exclusive, they are meant to be used together.
There is a balance between grace and faith; when realized you exist in a sweet spot of unity with the Lord.
“True faith is not something we do to gain a response from God; but true faith is our positive response to what God has already done by grace” Andrew Wommack.
I recently listened in on a conversation where the message of grace was attacked. It was called cheap and accused of ruining the [American] church by devaluing obedience to the commandments—What? Somehow in this mindset, the message of grace gives a license to sin rather than bringing believers into a full revelation of the finished work of the cross.
Here’s the shocking truth about grace—It Is NOT Cheap!
How can believers ever call the grace of God cheap! In this conversation more weight was given to recognizing the condition of being a sinner and obedience to the Commandments than was given to Jesus for solving the problem. To me, this logic is cheap grace! The argument was that Paul called himself the chief of sinners so we too must recognize it and wear it as a badge (1 Tim. 1:15). Brothers and sisters this should not be!
"God, if it’s your will, you can ...’ This is unbelief masked as faith, it will not work. Friends, first before you pray, find out what God’s will is (Rom. 12:2), which we can know because we have the mind of Christ (I Cor. 2:10, 16) and He’s revealed His will through His Word. Know what He’s promised and then ask in faith believing it will happen (Mark 11:24; I John 5:14-15).... Just Saying!" [ Read Orginal Article Here ].
'God, please use me as a living sacrifice to be a witness to Jesus Christ and to lead others to you as it is in your will'
Lately, I’ve been mulling over the ins and outs of faith. Not the label we give ourselves to describe our belief systems. Rather the substance of the unseen that procures promises from God.
Faith is defined by the author of Hebrews as “...the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]” (Heb. 11:1 AMP).
So in this we see that faith is a substance or the title deed to the things we both hope for and are convinced of. And yet so many times we are in this flux of longing and waiting for the things that we both have ownership to and are completely persuaded of.
Is there a disconnect? Or is this merely part of the path that faith takes as we walk it out?
I had an opportunity to present ideas on cultivating the discipline of Bible study recently at a weekend retreat. I only had fifteen minutes to present so I worked really hard on being succinct which meant cutting five points down to the one main thing with ways to immediately apply. I love to teach, almost as much as I love to write, but this exercise on whittling down my sermon to fit within the time constraints was challenging, but proved effective.
The next day, the retreat organizer thanked me for presenting and commented that what I shared was simple and straightforward, what everyone needed to hear. My ego would have loved to hear that I had wowed them or that it was full of wisdom but in reality this is one of the best compliments a Bible teacher could receive. A simple and straightforward message from the Word of God makes it accessible and understandable.
This past week I, like 90,000 other leaders, spent Thursday and Friday participating in the Global Leadership Summit. The Summit is a two-day event that is telecast live from Willow Creek’s campus near Chicago. They bring in amazing speakers, both within the body of Christ and also leadership experts and social scientists. It was a great event.
Because of the flux of information during these two days, I really tried to take minimum notes and just be present to listen. Fortunately, I have this luxury as a coworker is an amazing note taker, so I knew I’d have the margin to go back and access his notes. (You can get them too; click here!) Thanks @BenInIowa!
After it was over, I tried to boil everything down to bite-sized takeaways to immediately apply— So here they are…
#1—The highest calling of leadership
“The highest calling of leadership is to unlock the untapped, unlimited potential of others” Carly Fiorina (@CarlyFiorina).
God places incredible value on His Word, In fact, the greatest gift God gave us outside of Jesus was the scriptures. He places incredible value on the Word that was written, preserved and passed down to us. It says in the Psalms, “You have exalted above all else Your name and Your word and You have magnified Your word above all Your name!” (Psalm 138:2b AMP). We know God values His word because He magnifies it above the His name, and if it’s this important to Him; it needs to be this important to us.
But what happens when we let our insecurities about the Bible keep us from delving into it? Here’s five ways in which I’ve found helpful to make the Word of God an integral part of my life.
I have never fancied myself as a gardener, in fact I’ve never had the time or interest in it until recently. The reason I started was for two things. First, I love tomatoes—not the flavorless kind you buy at the store, rather I’m crazy about the sweet delicious fruit that ripens in the sun until it obtains perfect flavor (this could be my favorite food!). The other reason is that I love fresh salsa—not the kind that labeled mild or medium. The kind that comes with a warning that only the bravest could possible enjoy it. (The hotter the better!) This is really the reasoning behind my foray into gardening—availability for the things I love.
This spring, my husband tilled up a new larger spot in full sun and we branched out to plant a variety of vegetables. Everything from sugar snap peas, to eggplant, to sweet corn (what can I say, I’m an Iowa girl, sweet corn is a must!) And of course, half of our garden is dedicated to my delectable tomatoes, hot peppers, onions and cilantro—everything I need for my two favorite summer items.
Sometimes, in deep places there is a spot where profound disappointment can live. In this place, if given the right circumstances it can grow and do damaging things to not only our lives, but our souls as well. If we learn the skills to address disappointment and gain godly perspective surrounding our feelings, then we allow room for God’s healing work to begin in our hearts.
I believe that Psalm 77 can give us these skills. Because this Psalm is also a story of disappointment. It is an intimate conversation between Asaph and God. Asaph was a contemporary of David and while we do not know much about him, we do know that he was assigned by King David as a worship leader in the tabernacle and he was a skilled singer and poets and he’s also mentioned as prophet (1 Chron. 6:31–32; 2 Chron.s 29:30).
Through his writing, we have a record of an intimate conversation between Him and God. While we don’t know the particular circumstances he was facing, we get the expression of what he was thinking.
As you read this Psalm, notices the words, notice the emotion, notice the questions…
Check out this Sunday sermon by Juli entitled Permission to Speak In Disappointment. Juli shares a very personal story of disappointment highlighting God's faithfulness in midst of the situation. This message will encourage you to address disappointment head on while making room for God's healing work to begin in your heart.
Scripture: Psalms 77:1-15 Summary: Disappointment taints our view of God. Disappointment can lead to discouragement, resentment and bitterness. Only when the author of this Psalms was able to confess his feelings of disappointment before God, was God able to impart perspective. This Psalms gives us permission to be honest and tell God how we feel, rather than hiding our feelings. Through this, if we focus on God's faithfulness than we allow for God’s healing to begin its work in our lives.
*Juli taught this sermon at Orchard Hill Church on August 10, 2014.
I have never fancied myself as a gardener, in fact I’ve never had the time or interest in it until recently. The reason I started was for two things. First, I love tomatoes—not the flavorless kind you buy at the store, rather I’m crazy about the sweet delicious fruit that ripens in the sun until it obtains perfect flavor (this could be my favorite food!). The other reason is that I love fresh salsa—not the kind that labeled mild or medium. The kind that comes with a warning that only the bravest could possible enjoy it. (The hotter the better!) This is really the reasoning behind my foray into gardening—availability for the things I love.