Morning Musings: John 16:13

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

If you are a follower of Jesus, you have the Spirit of God living within you.  Reflect on that for a minute.  The power and presence of the God who created the universe is dwelling within you.  That’s a pretty game-changing idea.

If you are a follower of Jesus and you don’t know where to go in life, you need merely to look inside of you.  And I don’t mean that in some kind of a new-agey way as if you were somehow divine yourself.  Rather, I mean this in the sense that if you are a follower of Jesus, you have within you the Spirit who can answer your questions.  Now, He may answer by telling you to go and consult with His word and other believers, but you can at least start there.  And His answers will not often come in the ways or times we would most prefer given our druthers, but they will come.  We can count on it.

Morning Musings: Proverbs 3:9-10

“Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.”  (ESV)

As much as many would like and have even tried to argue this is the case, one of the things the Bible does not teach is a kind of tit-for-tat giving arrangement whereby every time we give something, God gives back to us in equal amounts.  Any preacher or teacher who has said otherwise is a snake oil salesman in disguise.  But… Read the rest…

Morning Musings: John 14:26

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Living the life of Christ day-in-and day-out is a tall order.  It’s a huge task.  If we let it, the thought that we are to live each day following after the pattern of Christ and doing what He said can be an overwhelming thought.  If we think about it in the wrong way, it can leave us wondering whether it’s really all worth it.  How are we supposed to do this on our own? Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Romans 8:28

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”  (NIV – Read the chapter)

This verse is one of the single biggest clichés in the Scriptures.  We hear it often as a way to justify practically anything.  If something bad happens, well, God will work it out for good.  If something good happens, see, Paul was right.  If something good doesn’t happen quickly after something bad, well, we must not love Him very well.  If tragedy strikes, God can still bring good out of this even though you can’t imagine what it could be.  Clichés! Read the rest…