When Life Overwhelms

       The “EASY” button was a brilliant advertising idea.  It readily connects to that part of each person’s psyche which prefers life to be far less stressful and far more convenient than it is.  Because the “EASY” button is fictional, anyone feeling overwhelmed by…

Overwhelmed by Life

       I learned recently of a speaker who told her audience that Christians ought always to be optimistic.  She explained that Elijah’s negativity and pessimism after his titanic battle with the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18-19) was unacceptable to her.  Though tolerated compassionately…

In the Sight of the Righteous God

       “I don’t see anything wrong with it.”  How often that foolish statement has been used as the standard to justify a person’s actions.  “Behold, I thought” kept General Naaman a leper (2 Kings 5:1-11) and Saul of Tarsus a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent…

God’s Faithfulness and Righteousness

        Two important pillars of prayer are God’s faithfulness and righteousness.  David begins Psalm 143 by touching on both these foundational matters.  He writes: “Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications!  In Your faithfulness answer me, and in Your righteousness do not enter…

Importunity

       When His disciples asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray” in Luke 11, Jesus’ instructions addressed two essential areas—the verbal component (vv. 2-4) and the spiritual component (vv. 5-13) of prayer.  To engage in genuine prayer, both components are essential.    Send article…

Peace in a World of Injustice

       A corrupt legal system that dispenses injustice as frequently or more often than it does true justice is nothing new in our world.     David prayed against the deeds of the wicked and their judges who legally aided and abetted their evil and left…

How the Righteous Rebukes

       According to Psalm 141:5, the rebuke of the righteous is a kindness, like an excellent oil (think of one that has the perfect combination of optimal medicinal healing and pleasing aroma).  David would know such to be true, because the righteous prophet Nathan…