The movies do it so well. It amazes me how film can express the awkward, emotional moments that portray the stress of discord in a relationship so vividly that I sit there with a knot in my stomach. A long lost brother coming home for a special occasion, either a funeral or a wedding, puts…
85. Word, Light, World, Darkness.
We have said it already. It is written in the volumes of history. His words stand firm and unchallenged. Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12) Many people have come and gone, claiming to be God, to be the Messiah, to…
84. There is a man.
St Augustine said in everything he ever knew about the world, everything he read and regarded as worth studying, he had never heard of a word becoming a man. It is exactly what John conveys in the first chapter of his Gospel. The mind of God is spoken into life with a body. It is…
83. A word gets a body.
[John 1] We are so familiar with the beautiful words of Scripture – a familiarity that needs to be revived from time to time to infuse new life and understanding into old concepts. We know the phrase: the Word became flesh, so well, that we do not give it another thought. Maybe we could use…
82. Unity and power – hell trembles.
We are called and equipped, never left without every possible thing we need to be victorious. That is the promise …you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes, speaking the tongues of angels, unifying the church to make it powerful and unstoppable. The text characterizes the speaking in tongues as an utterance of prayer…
81. Heavenly words, changing earth.
We are in the process of seeking God – already knowing how awesome He is, that there is none like Him and that He loves us with an everlasting love according to His character of goodness and truth. We are now knocking at the door of heaven, praying in the Spirit that Jesus promised, reaching…
80. Through the door.
In searching you find a door. This is quite a mystery. In all your prayer, all your beseeching God for your fears and worries – is there still a place where you have not been? Of course there is! There is a more excellent life awaiting. Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria,…
79. Overthrowing the powers of hell.
Prayer is a plea for God’s ordained order to prevail above earthly powers. We can overthrow hell-power by prayer. When we pray the Word of God we can have on earth what heaven had already decided on. [Jack Hayford] That is why we pray according to Jesus’ command: Whatever you bind on earth will be…
78. Only the very best – always?
Jesus’ response is very simple. One of the Jewish Rabbis asked, “Is there a man who ever hates his son?” Jesus’ argument is that no father ever refused the request of his son; and God the great Father will never refuse the requests of his children. Jesus’ examples are carefully chosen. He takes three examples;…
77. In the secret place of the Most High.
It doesn’t sound like much. Kneeling by a bed behind a closed door and speaking to the God of heaven and earth. It is after all the image we grew up with, if we had the privilege of being raised in the home of praying parents. We might even have the memory of a mom…
Pebbles of Perpetuity 