Flawed BUT Faithful
Think of King David, the apostles Paul and Peter, flawed heroes of Scripture. Not always faithful, but today a witness to faithfulness.
Think of King David, the apostles Paul and Peter, flawed heroes of Scripture. Not always faithful, but today a witness to faithfulness.
John the Baptist's ministry serves as a pivotal point in the timeline of biblical events, marking the transition from the Old Testament era to the dawn of the New Testament....
I sit tapping away grasping Jesus tightly, because I can and I want to - He rose from the dead.
Smith Wigglesworth was aptly described as 'an apostle of faith.
I must realise that my obedience even in the smallest detail of life has all the omnipotent power of the grace of God behind it.
Righteousness and JUSTICE are the foundation of Your throne. . .
For we live by faith and not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7) To be living at our faith's best is a difficult task.
New Zealand is rather affectionately named The Shaky Isles. Why, no doubt you wonder? With over 14000 earthquakes per annum the eptithet is well deserved.
There exists no other doorway into the appraisal of things spiritual than a grace given capacity. There is no casual Holy Spirit gift for discernment.
You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to You.
. . . live your life as strangers here in reverent fear. (1 Peter 1:17b) The Apostle Peter addresses the elect (Christians) scattered throughout the 'reachable' world.
For You are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God. (Psalm 86:10) 'God gives Himself to us.
Because Jesus suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those being tempted. (Hebrews 2:18) Jesus entered the arena of ministry in the hardest way.
Humans are as frail as the world is fleeting. Almost all live unaware, yet 'eternity' is splashed across mankind's DNA.
I was young, and now I am old, but I have never seen good people left helpless or their children begging for food. (Psalm 37:25) We worry.
The Dead Sea has long been a place of mystery, fortune and wonderment. It captivates mankind to this very day.
We sometimes forget that what God takes from us, He takes with fire. (Consider Jacob at the Jabbok, or Lot and family fleeing Sodom for instance.
"We are strong with God only to the degree that self is conquered and is dead. " ~ J. R.
Confidence is the yeast of action. The Bible secures confidence through faith. Taste these gems: I am not hidden away from God.
When struggles abound, the spirit is crushed or health refuses to heal, re-play: God is still sovereign The Lamb is still on the Throne The Holy Spirit still walks with me, AND God does...
Barren Hannah held a dry womb, but rich faith. The bitterness of her soul did not jettison her faith.
APPREHENDING THE SUPERNATURALChristians believe in the resurrection of the dead. This is supernatural. But, after that many a Christian simply resides in a slippery spiritual acquiescence.
Path's can deviate as troubles approach. Disciples pass through countless difficulties, many alone. Unless their eyes are upon The Cross.
'I will remain silent and look on from My dwelling-place. ' (Isaiah 18:4) In this passage Assyria is marching against Ethiopia, whose people are described as 'tall and smooth-skinned'.
The wise will unerringly pursue freedom - they just follow the Lord.
Lot chose to dwell in an 'eye-candy' valley, but its wicked shadow was soon to catch him out.
Christians are bed partners with faith. Their path is as unseen and unknown as glory is assured. And, the difficulty of the path does not deter their determination.
From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.
Sifting is always associated with a cleansing loss. It is a process ensuring that the end product is purer than the original one.
Faith lives. Faith, like a muscle, grows by stretching. ~ A. W. Tozer It is a spiritual organism, much the same as physical organisms. Faith feels.
Cast your bread across the waters (Ecclesiastes 11:1a) . . . was SoulSupply's call to action in 2005. The above photo was SoulSupply's first branded image.
Let God be God. The Christ who rules us, rules all things for us. ~ Jim Packer The Lord of the Cross is the one and only God.
Heaven is the country of the soul. ~ AugustineMen have accused other men of being too heavenly minded to be of any earthly use.
Who is more likely to injure me, me or Jesus? The self-made man has no one to blame but himself. (Anon) Ourselves are the greatest snares to ourselves.
Mankind denies God, abuses God and even attempts to replace Him with a myriad of false gods - mere deceiving demons who are feeble pretenders to gain the worship that...
Fear is F. E. A. R – False Evidence Appearing Real. Fear is the negative future that has not happened yet.
It is far too easy to find the reason to not do things, than to do things. There are two futures ahead for all of us.
God works in ways no man can imagine. (BUT - we all really know that anyway.
I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best, and who directs you in the way you should go.
On April 3rd 2017 "Time" magazine devoted its red and black full cover page to merely three words, and no images: Is Truth Dead?Mankind is a nomad upon earth in the...
The panoramic views of Babylon always entice . . . The nightly news of Babylon continually saddens . . .
What lies behind us and lies ahead of us are tiny matters to what lies within us.
Pursue righteousness, flee the love of money. Lay firm hold of the eternal, and jettison the temporal from the mind.
Impossibly dead, Lazarus lay in a cave and Jesus ached. . . Impossibly bleeding for twelve years a crushed woman dared to reach through a crowd to Jesus. .
Planes, trains and automobiles can all carry a ticket to ride. The ticket gets you on the vehicle and off. It requires a payment.
As with a labyrinth there exists a blind impossibility to not finding the right way out of life.
Christians carry ever deepening hardship in this furious world. Weakness is further multiplied by the weariness of age.
We have sophisticated scientists today who make sober statements declaring that the whole universe was created by chance.
While the future is unseen, it needs not be unknown. Life is full of 'T' intersections. There is always a choice in life.
Jesus' disciples were having a rough time. This He still guarantees.
A funny epitaph might read: Here lies fearsome Frank, he bet he could rob a bank.
From the intercourse of daily religion and its sober observances I fear that the merciful things of faith have become too lost.
Faith is the daring of the soul to go farther than it can see. ~ anonReason finds the daring of faith outrageous.
You have found Jesus to be true. This fact does not change.
The Dead Sea has long been a place of fortune, legend and mystery. The Egyptians were wise to its properties in using its balms for mummification.
Faith ushers us into the right relationship with God. It gives Him more opportunity to work well in our lives.
Would you rather live in the presence of God that seeks the miraculous than the weakness of faith that dismisses the miraculous? Jesus still teaches that the Father gives the Holy...
When your life is built on the Rock, Jesus, storms will come but you will stand and not be defeated. God is a vindicator.
Adam and Eve hid, and we have all used them as role models. (Brennan Manning) Adam and Eve hid from God in Eden after that first sin.
If I listed everything the church could say ten years ago that she can’t say today—you would be horrified.
We all live between the now and the not yet. A comprehended god is no god at all.
You may have just victoriously gone through a great crisis, but now be alert about the things that may appear to be the least likely to tempt you.
Once upon a time (in pre-history) there was no faith. This time will arrive again soon, when the dwelling of God returns to be with men.
Long have I wandered in God's word. His trails and tracks with its vistas and views always reach into my soul. Often my wandering opens my wondering.
I recall the water's edge in a sheltered cove, a quiet backwater to a much larger basin that spilled into the ocean.
Suffering confronts the benevolence of God. It is in our appalling darknesses that we mistrust the love He has shown us in our easy light.
I have cast my lot with Jesus I choose Him to navigate my calm or stormy seas I pray, I plead, my soul long wrestles with self-will Yet, I have cast my lot...
Too many, too long have lived at hell's doors. Visiting the vestibule of hell is surely a metaphor to living without hope. For, hell holds no hope.
Believers travel an unfamiliar path. They move as journeymen, competent but not masters in the ways of holiness. This path is trodden by gentle and steadfast people.
Often your tasks will be many, And more than you think you can do. Often the road will be rugged And the hills insurmountable, too.
Kindly many have advised me that I may well be a certifiable nut.
Abba Euprepius (a fourth century A. D. desert monk) taught: knowing that God is mighty and faithful, have faith in Him and you shall share what is His.
The minds of men vainly attempt to sabotage the words of God. The truth remains, God's word is not subject to mankind's mind, either individually or collectively.
I want to play, but I can't. . . I can feel this but I can't see it. . .
With a multiplying frequency Christians are assailed. The spirit of the antichrist gains momentum.
Spiritual heroes, who truly knows of them? Surely the greatest men of faith to this day choose to remain unknown? You too can become a spiritual hero.
Maybe you have marched through your rhythms of life behind the Lord's shield a long time? Has the Lord held your shield of faith, pulled you safely into its protection? Behind the...
Jesus has imprisoned my attention, my faith He has relentlessly stirred. Jesus has turned my misadventures into benefit, my losses into gain.
Circa 1500 B. C. the Israelites fled Egypt for the Promised Land, Canaan. The sons of Abraham were free, but their thoughts were not.
What surges in your heart also runs deep. But this is of no mystery to our Lord.
Eight decades ago Francis Schaeffer argued: The concept that the final reality is energy which has existed forever in some form and takes its present form by chance has totally destructive...
Persistent passions plague/wash/enhance/. . . . . (insert your chosen description) all lives. Sometimes they control us, but almost always they help us navigate each day.
Previously this bold teenager had rescued sheep from lions' mouths -- bear battles would not be any more troublesome.
In my 60th year, approaching the only birthday I have thought noteworthy - I reflected much (too much?).
A Christian's soul battles his heart. His soul suggests righteousness while his heart stresses indulgence. Hudson Taylor held tightly to his soul's suggestions.
Slavery in Egypt gave the Israelites a dream. They dreamt of Canaan but tripped in the desert.
The wrestle with ambition. . . the visible inadequacy of supplies. . . or the fears of absent skills have long hindered the divine call landing upon human ears.
No easy space exists for those who would bear Christ's cross, surrender their will and audit their life in obedience to Him who was faithful unto death.
Long gentle thuds drone up the ledges. Your boots kick, stones fall.
Giants still menace every Christian life, those who choose to travel those rocky and thorn edged paths of faith.
When the day breaks as bleak as the night was lonely. . . When rest flees and health holds its hand. . .
Impossibly dead Lazarus lay in a cave and Jesus ached. . . Impossibly bleeding for twelve years a crushed woman dared to reach through a crowd to Jesus. .
Don't drag the flag of God in the earth! Put it up and don't bring shame upon it! Set your face like a soldier to overcome.
The Lord created the universe from His righteousness and for His righteousness. Righteousness is the foundation of His throne, His measuring line of behavior.
Spoken words can program your spirit (heart) either to success or defeat. Words are containers. They carry faith, or fear, and they produce their kind.
King David penned the Psalms of eternity. He knew when life disappointed and he could jump no more.
A human heart is set to travel, adventure stirs the soul. My heart is set on a pilgrimage, my eyes are fixed to Zion.
Wealth sits in God's unlocked vault. We all will live very, very well, a rich life when each day is sandwiched between these two verses: . . .
Ambition and righteousness are not bed partners. Confession time. . . I find it far too easy to pursue godliness ambitiously, for personal gain.
Littering each day's paths are the morsels of earth's offerings. They distract our eyes, claim our hearts and trip our feet.
Sickening smoke billowed from Ravensbruck's crematorium. This, no doubt caused each inmate to fearfully ponder both evil and their brief mortality.
November 3rd 1992 saw Jon Bon Jovi release his chart shaking 'Keep the Faith'. He sung that keeping the faith is 'living though the rain'.
Children teach adults with innocent words long lost to the adults they unwittingly instruct. This true story is told: The year was 1894.
Heroes of faith ROCK! As regular readers know, my enduring (YEP - until I hand my knife and fork in) super-hero remains Hudson Taylor of China Inland Mission fame.
Is the soul parched and the spirit cracked? Has repetition at worship dulled your praise? Could the absence of personal devotion be a stealth attack to your faith? Maybe all the above, or...
Cosmetics exaggerate features to a BIGGER place in an observer's eye.
Faith is no man's jailer. Faith has been betrayed. It has been exchanged for knowledge. Abundant Christian knowledge is spuriously advertised from pulpits.
As sure as the candles on my birthday cake accumulate the titans of my flesh and faith war.
Jesus has called His believers to faithfulness while promising them fire. We must go through many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.
As the sun dawned upon recorded time, a deceitfully hairy Jacob masqueraded as his hirsute brother Esau, to steal Esau's blessing.
What kingdom can be built, what storehouses cast open, or what temples erected while the servants simply play? Life is a battleground, it is not a playground.
Deliberately God planted two significant trees beside each other at the center of Eden. So noteworthy in fact, they were the only two trees He named.
Our prayers have risen as incense to heaven. Though persistently released from our heart in great hunger, we may even beg for supernatural healings yet they fail.
It is disturbing to me that God can be viewed by Christ's followers as a willing under-achiever. Countless generations prior to the invention of the printing press (c.
There is an impassioned plea to be made for the God who raises the dead, heals the sick and conquers evil - HE STILL DOES THIS! Yet too many Christians languish...
Has the healing of mortal bodies become inconvenient to God? Does He still repair the injured and heal the sick, for copious evidence would suggest that God does not? Many far more...
Heads explode when pain enters. Pain can be as much internal as external. The soul and spirit can ache as the body.
From within a very ancient Babylon - Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego endured an unimaginable super-heated furnace rather than deny their faith. (See Daniel 3 for this true story.
Israel's second king (David) knew terrifying battles since his youth. In courage he faced down giant enemies from within and without.
'Direct' could be my Christian name. I am given no more to eloquence than I am to singing.
What travail did King David suffer when he penned this tenacious cry to his Lord? What times of trouble was David so anxious would pass? Not one is immune from the weakening...
Joseph was an innocent dreamer and his brothers guilty haters. In a moment sealed by hatred they conspired to kill the innocent.
My dear old mom was wont to repeat to her persistent and untidily clad son, that he may not be too slow to learn: clothes maketh the man.
Amazingly Esau and Jesus faced identical battles. Esau's did not last very long. Satan seized an opportunity and mounted a raid on Jesus' future. (And the future of mankind.
One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of...
Wishes for greener meadows and the gilding of life's lillies flow afresh each new year.
Soul Snack 249/14 . . . Tomorrow is as insecure as yesterday is now past. The New Year always approaches with uncertainties, lingering fears; both thieves rest.
Soul Snack 198/14 . . . TV and cinemas are awash with supernatural invention and intervention in the lives of mortal man.
Soul Snack 165/14 . . . Four year olds hold a faith-sealed wisdom reaching well beyond the passage time.
Soul Snack 144/14 . . . Life is no more random chance than a dice is the guarantee to wealth. There is always cause and effect.
Soul Snack 62/14 . . . As sure as the tide returns my heart is washed by a recurring rolling wave of the best faith is childlike.
Soul Snack 233/13 . . . A False Eden We must shelter our hearts in no rival to God. ~ A. W.
Soul Snack 163/13 . . . Becalmed Faith ~ D The rigging hangs loose, the mast is not secure and the sail is not spread.
Soul Snack 156/13 . . . Seeking Peter's permission? We rarely permit ourselves to feel discomfort - this is the spirit of the age. We play it safe.
Soul Snack 155/13 . . . Becalmed Faith - C An increasing spiritual maturity is an attainable goal, not a constantly receding mirage. ~ J. O.
Soul Snack 154/13 . . . Becalmed Faith ~ B "Too many Christians grow old but never grow up. " (Anon.
Soul Snack 97/13 . . . Costly Salvation Will ye also go away? - John 6:67 As recorded in the sixth chapter of John, Jesus lost His crowd.
Soul Snack 88/13 . . . Of Famines & Feasts The prophet Amos bore a great burden.
Soul Snack 70/13 . . . Agents of DarknessRecently my mowing was interrupted with heretical musings across an untidy front lawn.
Soul Snack 39/13 . . . Water Splashing “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water. ” “Come,” he said.
Soul Snack 154/12 . . . Jesus still enters storms The swells roll, waves thunder, and water drenches as the gales of life return with a varying fierceness.
Soul Snack 126/12 . . . New Wine in New Skins Christ's body - His church is always growing, never remaining the same (as with human bodies).
There was no faith in Eden; there will be no faith in heaven. Faith is the Christian's transport between Eden and heaven.
Soul Snack 39/12 . . . How all the Apostles died# Matthew - suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword wound.
Soul Snack 22/12 . . . The Faith Account Life is secured by good planning and many pennies.
Soul Snack 15/12 . . . Faith foundations Faith sees what your physical eyes can never see. Faith knows what your natural mind can never comprehend.
Soul Snack 152/11 . . . Keeping it Satan seeks to rob you of your most precious possession. It is the apex and purpose of all his attacks.
Soul Snack 150/11 . . . Faith's War Zone There is a war-zone of faith - we live in it without escape.
Soul Snack 149/11 . . . Faith's wand The scorched soul and the fallen body both cry out for relief.
Soul Snack 146/11 . . . S. T. A. B. O. A kind hearted soul is difficult to find, a faithful one even harder. S. T. A. B. O.
Soul Snack 115/11 . . . It was meant to be Shattered expectations that shake the entire person with disappointment have pursued us all.
Soul Snack 103 . . . Fuel Fools Devoted to the appearance of the groom, ten young women waited in grace and patience. Only five however exercised wisdom.
Soul Snack 77/13 . . . The Schools of TroubleFaith is my carriage between sunrise and sunset. Faith is my entree to the future and my menu for today.
Soul Snack 173/12 . . . The Feat of Feet Suspended above the ravine, ginger footsteps took him forward.
Soul Snack 1/11 . . . Toddler of Trust A parent so longs for their child to crawl. This is followed by an equal eagerness for them to walk.
Soul Snack 180/10 . . . Heaven's fairy-dust Without discrimination, fairy-dust is sprinkled upon lives of both travail and ease.
Soul Snack 202/12 . . . Hot Faith on a Chilli Diet Moses stood unnerved atop Mount Sinai before the non-consuming flames of heaven.
Soul Snack 158/10 . . . The Tree of Trust Hearts wax and wane on the tides of life.
Soul Snack 75/10 . . . Crossing Jordan - C A flooded Jordan, a promised land and miracles by the 'bucket-load', all spell the fodder for a Hollywood blockbuster.
Soul Snack 73/10 . . . Crossing Jordan - A Three short days previously the Israelites had been instructed to cross the Jordan River.
Soul Snack 30/10 . . . Jesus' Black Swan - B Odyssey Marine Exploration after thirteen years of diligence no longer sailed over treasure.
Soul Snack 29/10 . . . Jesus' Black Swan - A To this very day treasures still lay on the ocean floor.
Soul Snack 9/143 . . . A nocturnal surprise! Bound within the goodness of God he rested.
Soul Snack 9/121 . . . His handprints The unabridged life is an examined life.
Soul Snack 9/109 . . . Fridge Faith Ice Age 3 is here! Young minds are captured, old ones call for more.
Soul Snack 9/35 . . . Pain in Paradise Tears in beautiful places can flow as readily as tears in barren places.
Soul Snack 9/30 . . . Arrested Faith Loomimg menacingly across Jesus now is the spectre of the Cross. Gethsemane is complete.
Soul Snack 9/26 . . . Mounting Mountains Regular readers and subscribers may know well Hudson Taylor is my hero. In 1870 he climbed some very tangible Everests.
Soul Snack 9/25 . . . Cosmic Conspiring - B All walk an unseen path. The chances of life appear with neither introduction nor warning.
Soul Snack 107/11 . . . Flying High Carrying all the saints from the earth's surface to heaven's Son is God's unchallengeable faith rocket.
Soul Snack 9/20 . . . God's Telephone Line Steeped in the youthful Ozzie antiquity is "The Rocks".
Soul Snack 9/14 . . . The Skilled Spectator Sometimes she felt as if life had placed her as a skilled spectator during an event on a velodrome track.
Soul Snack 8/209 . . . Lord Locks - B Knock, knock, knocking on your door of your house to no avail, can only bring sadness.
Soul Snack 8/208 . . . Lord Locks - A Closeted in the cerebellum and hidden in the heart is a mechanism that permits no entry.
Soul Snack 107/11 . . . War Safety Arrows thudded with a dull thump into the heavy impenetrable leather.
Soul Snack 8/194 . . . Faith File - A John Kavanaugh intentionally approaches Mother Teresa on the streets of Calcutta.
Soul Snack 8/188 . . . Bonsai Believers - B Neither fame nor infamy are likely to be stressors to the mediocre.
Soul Snack 8/187 . . . Bonsai Believers - A Captives walking freely down the busy streets, the quiet lanes or congested malls.
Soul Snack 8/154 . . . Altitude Attitude - B Clawing through my present toward my future are pleasures and pains of the past.
Soul Snack 8/153 . . . Altitude Attitude - A Bright sunshine so clearly matched his mood. His steps echoed well being, his gait indicated purpose.
Soul Snack 106/11 . . . Heavenly Blacksmithing Forged on the fingertips of faith lovingly extended from heaven is His iron-clad outreach to me.
Soul Snack 8/118 . . . The Cosmic Camera! Click the shutter of your imagination open! Delve further and further into your recesses of delight and adventure.
Soul Snack S18/12 . . . His fourth friend? Four men gathered in a beautiful Mediterranean garden, one dark and cool evening.
Soul Snack 8/115 . . . 'The Long Haul. ' Disregarding entirely any personal interest she reaches out with the intrepid faith of an ancient mariner.
Soul Snack 8/112 . . . Correct Days Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Soul Snack 8/103 . . Deceit, Doubt & Decisiveness A decisive belief is a blessing to behold. In a silence that seduces, deceptive whispers arrive almost imperceptively .
Soul Snack 8/101 . . . Divine Thunder This river bed held untold stories of God's activity bringing both adventure and terror over countless milennia.
Soul Snack 8/100 . . . Divine Stealth With the stealth of The Divine an all enveloping mist rolled effortlessly through the valley.
Soul Snack S7/12 . . . Cheap Faith These people were unable to be numbered. They wore dust stained sandals and a wizened skin from the relentless mid-eastern sun.
Soul Snack 8/77 . . . The Faith Flame Mountain air low and thick commands attention. The freshness enlivening, the cold numbing.
Soul Snack 91/11 . . . 'Great George' I prefer to think of him as Great George.
Soul Snack 8/52 . . . Faith always beats Fear! (Thanks so very much to the subscriber SD who wrote this.
Soul Snack 88/12 . . . Boomerang Words A mist obstructed dawn drifted across the nearby mountain peaks. Lightly filtered beams radiated freshness and hope into his simple cabin.
Soul Snack 8/32 . . . 'A Call to Arms' 24 hours preceding His death Jesus is still teaching.
Soul Snack 8/23 . . . The Balance of Life He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman.
Soul Snack 8/17 . . . Maximum Disappointment Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding.
Soul Snack 8/13 . . . The Root of Greatness - A "And they were all amazed at the greatness of God" Luke 9:43 A young boy convulsed uncontrollably.