“Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.”Isaiah 58:4Many of us will enter into a fast hoping to see something change in the world. When we start to fast, our prayer list might grow. We might long to see change in politics or in communities or even in our own neighborhood. These prayers ar...  Read More

“For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach.”Psalm 69:9-10A call to fast, is a call to humble yourself. Pride is one of the primary enemies of the Christian soul. Pride says things like, “I don’t need to do this…” or “this is something for others to do, not me.” Pride p...  Read More

“And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to ...  Read More

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity. 11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 12  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hu...  Read More

"Supernatural living through supernatural empowering is at the very heart of New Testament Christianity." - J. I. PackerAt the heart of Christianity is the supernatural. In fact, without the supernatural, you don’t have Christianity, you have a philosophy. And many people in the American church are pledging allegiance to a philosophy rather than truly believing in Jesus. The life of Jesus was mark...  Read More

"In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." -Psalm 4:8Recently, I made a statement that true rest comes from relationship with God. In fact, I believe that so much so, that I will expand on it here. You cannot find real rest anywhere apart from God. God invented rest. He was the first person to rest. Rest was his idea, if you will.For me, I feel like ...  Read More

"You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound." - Psalm 4:7We used to sing a song as kids about having joy, joy, joy down in our hearts. The Psalmist coined the term. David here is in the midst of being surrounded by his enemies and disgruntled followers and somehow he has joy in his heart. Too often when I evaluate my own heart, I don't see the same thing that...  Read More

"There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!” - Psalm 4:6Have you ever dealt with someone that is impossible to please? I would say almost all of us have. In fact, some of us are probably that person right now! And others may be married to that person (please don't tag your spouse). When dealing with people who are disgruntled, you can feel ...  Read More

"Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord." - Psalm 4:5The message of the church is the message that David has here for his enemies. Remember David is surrounded by people who are seeking to kill him and his message isn't "I'm getting ready to slaughter all of you" but it's a message of repentance.David says to his enemies essentially, repent. Repent, turn to God. Offer right sacrifi...  Read More

"Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah" - Psalm 4:4Anger is a tough topic. One of the biggest issues with anger can be it's propensity to lead towards violence. Anger can be incredibly hard to deal with for most people. I've met people with extreme anger issues. They fly off the handle at the smallest of things. And the Bible is clear in many other ...  Read More

"But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him." - Psalm 4:3Have you ever prayed and felt like your words were bouncing off the ceiling? I know I have. There have been many times in my life where I wasn't sure the Lord was listening to me. I would pray faithfully, but the only response I got was silence.The truth of the matter, though, was that God d...  Read More

"O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah"- Psalm 4:2One of the hardest things most people ever go through is betrayal. When you are betrayed, the sting seems to never end. Every thought and every mention of the person who betrayed you brings back so much pain. And the result of that is that most of us shut down. We don't wan...  Read More

"Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!" - Psalm 4:1One of the most troublesome places to be in life is when it seems like your prayers are going unanswered. You cry out for the Lord to answer and sometimes all you receive is silence.I recently heard someone say that silence is God's first language. W...  Read More

"Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people! Selah." Psalm 3:7-8Have you ever wondered about the fierce love that God has for you? Do you believe that he even loves that way? Most preachers stay away from verses like this because of the implication - God is not a hip...  Read More

"I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around." Psalm 3:5-6Fear is a powerful emotion. It's controlling. It grabs us and won't let go. David in Psalm 3, has every right to be fearful. He is surrounded by those that want to do him harm. In fact he says he's surrounded by thousands who ha...  Read More

"But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah"- Psalm 3:3-4A while ago, I heard Dr. Henry Cloud talking about tears. He said that it was interesting to him that God decided to place our tear ducts on our face and not on our arm pits. If they were in our arm pits, he says, we could easily hide ou...  Read More

"O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, “There is no salvation for him in God. Selah." Psalm 3:1-2When it comes to deceiving people, I believe one of the primary ways that the enemy does that is by getting us to believe we are all alone and that God isn't going to save us. In Psalm 3, David is a terrible position, his son has betrayed him and is rally...  Read More

"Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him." Psalm 2:12There is not much that is more intimate than a kiss. Most people would never dream of kissing their enemies and few today would kiss their friends. In today's society, we only kiss those that we are incredibly close to, typically your spouse, your childre...  Read More

"Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling." Psalm 2:11The Psalmist offers this advice to those of us who may take serving the Lord lightly. For those that may abuse his grace, the Psalmist admonishes us to serve the Lord with fear. This isn't an unhealthy fear, but a reverence.When we approach God, there must be a holy reverence in our interactions with Him. He is the King of the Unive...  Read More

Have any of you ever ridden in a car with someone and they are driving and they are looking at you while they are driving the car? How does that make you feel? It drives me nuts. Look at the road! Don’t look at me. I know you are talking to me. I’m paying attention. Don’t look at me. Look at where you are going. ‌Why does this bother us? Because what we look at or what we focus on is the direction...  Read More

"Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth." Psalm 2:10The road to the house that I grew up in was curvy. There were some pretty tight turns on the road, but because it was a main road at one time going from one city to the next, the speed limit on the road was 55. When I turned 16, my first car was a Geo Storm. It was not that great of a car, but it was pretty low to the g...  Read More

"You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” - Psalm 2:9Perhaps you have heard of Aesop's fable of the Oak Tree and the Reed. In this fable, the Oak Tree is proud of who he is and he says to the reed, "look at me, I am a strong oak tree, I am unmovable. You are a small reed; you bend and sway with the slightest of breezes. Nothing can blow me over, I'm ...  Read More

"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1The Fourth of July is a day that we celebrate our independence as a nation. We broke free from England's rule and established ourselves as a free country, able to choose our own destiny. We celebrate with barbecues and fireworks.Today our country is struggling with whether we are ...  Read More

"Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession." Psalm 2:8If you could ask God for one thing, what would it be? Would it be money? Power? Wealth? There have been many people who have treated God like a genie in a lamp. They expect for Him to grant their wildest wishes and get mad when he seemingly doesn't respond.But what if there was something God...  Read More