Perhaps the defining question for the human race is “Why?” Of all God’s creatures, we are the only ones wo seek to understand, and secure the reason and rationale for circumstances and events. When the answers elude our grasp and the void ignores our questions, we suffer a kind of spiritual vertigo we call doubt. But we need to recognize that doubt is not to opposition of faith, but the opportunity of faith, the growing pains of an eager, seeking spirit. The rue enemy of faith is unbelief, which refuses to consider truth. Doubt is a necessary leg of the journey, that when approached correctly leads to a deeper understanding of life and truth. In John 20 we see Thomas’ struggle to understand the truth that Jesus has raised from the dead. We was missing on the day Jesus first showed up in the upper room, and even though all 10 of the other disciples said they saw Jesus, he doubted the validity of their message. He wanted to come to a clear understanding of this truth for himself, as a result his doubt does not cause Him to abandon his faith, but we find him 8 days later still … READ MORE

1 Corinthians 13:5 says, “Love ….. Thinks no evil.” The teeth of resentment cuts sharp and deep, and can lay waste to the life that God designed as a feast and a celebration of abundant living. Resentful souls draw the drapes and purposely block out the sunshine. Resentment is anger multiplied by time, and does not dissipate like anger, but lurks beneath the surface, undetected by any sonogram. Author Lewis B. Smedes wrote, “We make believe we are at peace while the furies rage within, beneath the surface. There, hidden, and suppressed, our hate opens the subterranean faucets of venom that will eventually infect all of our relationships in ways we cannot predict.” The Bible paints a detailed portrait of the malignant giant called resentment. It is a poison that affects the lives of millions in our society today. But Paul tells us that love keeps no books, no scoreboard, and makes no list of who to hate. Love remembers to forget! Chrysostom, the leader of the fourth-century church, once said, “a wrong done against love is like a spark that falls into the sea and is quenched.” How do you manifest such love when it is so unnatural? Galatians … READ MORE

Life is so much easier when we allow God to work in our lives. The world is filled with so much more joy when we are not blinded by petty resentment. It is a lesson our world never learns. Resentment causes families to break apart, communities to be torn in violence, nations to remain at war for generations. It injects its teeth into countless souls of those who walk among us, so that lives that might have been productive, lives that might have been a blessing, become consumed by self-destructive hatred. This hatred keeps us from knowing the goodness of God, and it keeps us from being faithful parents, children, and neighbors. We do not have to live this way, all we need to do is ask God to free us from the chains of the ledger books of our lives. How many ledgers are you carrying around with you? Won’t you allow Christ to cut them away for good? Throw away the books, walk free and lighthearted, and you will live in an atmosphere of grace and joy you never thought possible. Resist your resentment. Banish every trace of bitterness. Live3 by the liberating law of grace – and … READ MORE