Whatever He Says

Luke 5:16 (New Living Translation) New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. 16But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. In the fifth chapter of Luke's gospel, I am struck by the fact that Jesus' ministry was clearly responsive to people's physical needs as well as spiritual. Doctor Luke would have found it important to record this fact accurately. I see too, Jesus withdrawing yet again. That was one of his "essentials," and the thing that gave him the ability to stride out into the hours ahead of him with such clarity of purpose. I want to really absorb that fact and make it my pattern. God is teaching me to say "No," with confidence to anything that is not in line with his best purposes for my life. He is teaching me that I have limited energy and time (what a surprise), and that spreading myself thin and tiring myse...

Luke 4:42-43 (New Living Translation) New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. 42 Early the next morning Jesus went out into the wilderness. The crowds searched everywhere for him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave them. 43 But he replied, "I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other places, too, because that is why I was sent." "Because that is why I was sent." Ah, Lord, what a lesson you have given me this morning in focus. In Proverbs 4:25-27 are some verses that I've written in the flyleaf of my Bible: 25 Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. 26 Mark out a straight path for your feet; then stick to the path and stay safe. 27 Don't get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil. "Evil" can be anything that distracts me from the path that the Lord has ...

1 Samuel 18:17 (New Living Translation) New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. 17 One day Saul said to David, "I am ready to give you my older daughter, Merab, as your wife. But first you must prove yourself to be a real warrior by fighting the LORD's battles." For Saul thought to himself, "I'll send him out against the Philistines and let them kill him rather than doing it myself." What a plot of deception; what a trap, the enemy, through Saul, the insanely jealous king, laid for David: "But first you must prove yourself to be a real warrior by fighting the Lord's battles." The truth is the Lord fights his own battles! David's strength was his trust in the Lord, his obedience, and humility, not his skill as a warrior. In chapter 17:47, David said to Goliath, "Everyone will know that the LORD does not need weapo...

Ephesians 5:15-16 (New International Version) New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society 15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 2 Peter 1:10 (New International Version) New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society 10Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, In their mother’s womb he wove together every part of their beings with tender care, brooding over them with love, singing softly as he planned their days, thinking them into existence… She wrote poems and stories in a cardboard covered note book with a brown wrapping paper cover. Her pictures illustrated the words on the pages; childish, crudely drawn pictures to be sure, but full of imagination and showing a compulsion to record thoughts and feelings...

Matthew 13:16 (The Message) The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson 16-17"But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance. He sought a few precious moments alone; a respite from the endless questions and demands of the Pharisees and the intensity of teaching radical concepts to uncomprehending followers. Slipping from the house, he headed for the gently lapping waters on the shore of the lake and sat down gratefully on sand that felt like it had been saving the warmth of the sun’s rays all day, just to ease his weary bones. He craved solitude like a dry, baked riverbed waits for rain; it was a time to listen for his Father’s voice. Voices, people, soon the crowds found him and to escape being crushed he got into a boat. As the hu...

Matthew 12:22-23 (New International Version) New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society 22Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 23All the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?" Jesus saw the hideous spirit creature that crouched on the man’s shoulders. He smelled the putrid, decaying, rotten stench of the creatures’ breath. One of the demon's ice cold, clammy, gnarled hands was clasped over the man’s eyes, while its other hand reached from behind, covering his lips, sealing them firmly closed. Its eyes glittered mockingly and his lips curled with a satisfied sneer. It’s said the eyes are the windows of the soul, and these windows opened into hell. The demon’s eyes turned on Jesus with hatred and spite, for a split second seeing just another son of Adam; that creation of God despised by Satan and his hordes; b...

Revelation 6:12-14 (New Living Translation) New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. 12I watched as the Lamb broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became as dark as black cloth, and the moon became as red as blood. 13Then the stars of the sky fell to the earth like green figs falling from trees shaken by mighty winds. 14And the sky was rolled up like a scroll and taken away. And all of the mountains and all of the islands disappeared. From verse 12 to the end of the sixth chapter of Revelation, a picture is painted of a "day of reckoning" when God shows his true might, restrained to this point. He shakes the stars from the sky "like green figs falling from trees shaken by mighty winds" - then he rolls up the sky and takes it away! Mountains and islands disappear. How we should reverence and hold in awe the One who crea...