Intentional Encouragement

     This morning I read from Matthew 18 where Jesus instructed his disciples (who were debating among themselves which was the greatest) that they needed to become like little children and acknowledge their complete dependence on Him alone.      Then I opened the quarterly that I have been asked to teach from in Sunday school for the next several months and read the first sentence.  "One of the greatest hindrances to true worship is a lack of thankfulness, and the greatest hindrance to thankfulness is the illusion of self-sufficiency."        It has given me the opportunity to think for a little while about this matter of how we view our ability to do what God has called us to do.  This applies to any situation in life.  Whether it is a ministry situation or a "secular" vocation or raising kids or simply being a good spouse, we have to come to the place where we recognize that we simply don't have it in u...

     I was reading from Job this morning in my devotional time and was reminded about the depth of Job's confidence in God.  In one day, he lost almost everything.  His livestock was destroyed.  All but 3 of his hired hands were killed.  All 10 of his children died when the oldest son's house collapsed on them.      The 20th verse of Job 1 challenged me again as I read; "Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head (all signs of deep grief and mourning) and fell on the ground and worshiped."      There is something really powerful in the fact that Job's first instinct (even in the midst of unspeakable grief) was to worship God.  He acknowleged that even though God gave him all that he had, God retained ownership of it all and it was at God's disposal.      As I think about the times of difficulty in my life...the times when I really felt like I was at the bottom; I wonder ...

      “… [Jesus] did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing…” (Philippians 2:6b-7a, ESV)       I'm still mulling over those verses this week and I want to challenge you to remember something as you move toward Christmas Day. When Jesus came here to earth, there was no advantage in it for Him.       Jesus is God in every respect: power…authority…wisdom…eternality…everything about Him is God. There is no one else like the Lord Jesus. He was fully God and fully man. It is beyond my finite ability to understand.       With all of that being true, think about the magnitude of what He did in coming to earth. According to Philippians chapter 2, Jesus veiled his majesty as God and came to earth taking on the nature of humanity. He didn’t stop being God, but He did choose not to exercise His rights and the prerogatives of deity in many cases....