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“Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So, the man held out his hand, and it was restored, just like the other one!”  Matthew 12:13 All eyes were on Jesus, but not all were looking to see what great thing He might do next. There were skeptics in the crowd who wanted to do nothing but catch Jesus in a trap. They weren’t interested in anyone being healed, they just wanted to protect their religious traditions. For the man needing to be healed, he was faced with a choice. As Jesus called him to the front of the synagogue,[…]

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”  2 Timothy 1:7 In 1933, at his inaugural address to the nation, newly elected President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt set a new tone for the future to a fearful nation. The famous words from that speech, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” will forever be etched in the heart of American history. This statement brought a glimmer of hope to a nation that had found itself paralyzed with fear on the heels[…]

“Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!” Psalm 34:8  All doubt had been removed from David’s mind, and there was no denying the fact that Saul wanted to kill him. If David ever wondered if just maybe it was King Saul’s bad mood that led him to throw a javelin at David twice, or send guards to his house to arrest him, now all doubt had been removed. Jonathan confirmed David’s worst fears that, yes indeed, Saul wanted him dead. David’s heart must have sunk in fear as he asked[…]

“Jesus called out to them, ‘Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people’!” Matthew 4:19 Although I love to fish, I’m by no means an “angler.” For me it’s more about being on or near the water that I enjoy most. And yes, I love catching the fish when they’re biting, but just being out there on a beautiful day is plenty satisfying to me. I do have a friend, however, who’s a real pro when it comes to fishing and he’d be considered a pretty good angler by most anyone’s standard. He knows exactly what[…]

“And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!” 1 Samuel 17:47 Most everyone loves rooting for the underdog. Whether it’s the team no one expected to be playing for the National Championship, or the NASCAR driver who makes a come-from-behind win to take the checkered flag, we all love to cheer for the one least expected to win. Such was the case for David as he stepped out of the crowd to take on the giant. Aside from the story of Jesus’[…]

“So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah.” 1 Samuel 16:13 In 1 Samuel 17 we see that because of Saul’s continued disobedience and his lack of willingness to follow God wholeheartedly, the Holy Spirit left him. God had told Samuel that He had found another, one who was “after His heart.” I can remember hearing that phrase, “David was a man after God’s own heart” and[…]

“Your unfailing love will last forever.Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.” Psalm 89:2  How many times have you thought to yourself, “That really needs to change.”?  Maybe you saw a change was needed in the life of someone close to you like a loved one, a child, a coworker or friend. Maybe you’ve felt that way about yourself, knowing that within yourself things needed to change. At the point of frustration, you may have asked yourself, “When will this area of my life ever change?” You know right from wrong, yet no matter how hard you’ve tried, with[…]

“Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it.” 1 Corinthians 15:1 If you’re like most folks, you need a lot of reminders. In fact, as I’ve been sitting here reading and writing this post, I’ve received two reminders from my phone about an upcoming appointment. My “catchall reminder” is my wife. I’ll often end a text sharing some info with her and asking her “don’t let me forget…”. Just recently she responded to me with, “I don’t know that I[…]