MY DESIRE! Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. —II Corinthians 3:5             Our only competence comes from God. In ourselves we have none and for ourselves we have none! Any ability that will be impacting for our Lord comes from Him.   He gives knowledge. He gives skill. He gives proficiency. He gives ability. He gives capacity. All this He gives and we are to be obedient and apply what He has given us. He is to get all the glory!             This is huge as we ponder what our Lord wants to do in and through our life.…

ISOLATION IS UNHEALTHY Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment. A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. Proverbs 18:1-2             We were not made to be in isolation but to be interdependent on each other. To only go by one’s own opinion is to be unteachable and is a lack of understanding. How true this is of the Church, the body of Christ. It is clearly stated in Romans 12:5 that “in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”               In your body your hand has a function,…

PLANS ACCORDING TO HIS WILL The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. —Proverbs 16:1 Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established. —Proverbs 16:3 The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. —Proverbs 16:9 Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed. —Proverbs 15:22 Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me. —Psalm 119:133 Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that. —James 4:15              We are to make plans as we seek our Lord’s…

GRANDCHILDREN! Grandchildren are the crown of the aged… —Proverbs 17:6             There are three things that catch my attention in this verse. The first is “grandchildren.” It is hard to believe that Elaine and I have seven grandchildren. Seven! Not only seven grandchildren, but seven grand-daughters— Abigail, Jordyn, Caroline, Maria, the twins— Jose & Julia and Autumn! Each one is so precious and so loved. Each one is so unique and special. What a joy to have my own children, but now what a joy for my children to have children and to be able to see this! I am grateful for these blessed gifts.             The second thing that…

DEATH IS DEFEATED IN JESUS! The last enemy to be destroyed is death. —I Corinthians 15:26 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”  “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. —I Corinthians 15:54-58…

THE GOSPEL Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and…

ONLY LOVING OBEDIENCE BRINGS BLESSING! My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you; keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye; bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. —Proverbs 7:1-3 And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. —Proverbs 8:32-33 All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I…

BUILD UP AND DON’T TEAR DOWN! So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. —Ephesians 4:11-13 For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his paths. —Proverbs 5:21 There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed…

LOVE WITH GOD’S LOVE If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it…

FOR THE COMMON GOOD! To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good… But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose… Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. —I Corinthians 12:7, 18, 27             God’s Holy Spirit is manifested in each believer by “the fruit of the Spirit” and by the gifts of His Holy Spirit. The manifestation of the Holy Spirit in each believer’s life is for the common God of His Body, the Church. He has arranged you in the body and placed you where you are (Acts 17:26) and…