Enjoying the Journey

Keeping Your Prayer Life Fresh

Good things can get stale.  Even our prayer life.  One of the great challenges of using a prayer list is not allowing it to become mechanical.  How many days I have just gone through the motions!  God doesn’t need me to read Him what is on the paper; He wants me to tell Him what is on my heart. Recently the Lord led me to develop a prayer list that would simply remind me each day of needs for which I should pray.  They are really just prayer prompters but they have helped me to keep my prayer time fresh.  I share them with you in the hope that they may help you in some way. It is easy to…

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Praying the Proverbs

Many years ago someone suggested to me that I make a practice of reading a passage in the book of Proverbs every day.  It is a book of wisdom for living – and I for one need that wisdom!  If you read the chapter that corresponds with the day of the month you can easily stay on schedule and read through all 31 chapters in a month. A few weeks ago I began a new journey through this powerful book.  I have read the chapters often and memorized many of the verses.  But this trip through Solomon’s proverbs has been different.  I have tried to personalize each verse. Nothing makes truth personal like prayer – taking it to heart and…

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The Greatest Method of Bible Study

Weeks ago I received a message late one evening from a fine teenager in our youth group.  This young lady has been a great encouragement to me and my wife.  She is growing in the Lord and serious about knowing Him better.  Her message was to the point: “I have been reading the Bible but I don’t know how to study it.  Can you help?” My mind flooded with ideas and suggestions – all helpful things.  We have an entire college class at Crown College on “Methods of Bible Study!”  But how could all of that be conveyed to a senior in high school in a brief period of time? Could it be that the greatest method of Bible study…

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3 Days I Never Want to Forget

Every day is a precious gift from God.  Even difficult days are reminders of God’s mercy and grace.  I have enjoyed some wonderful days along the journey.  June 13, 1997 was a great day.  It was the day I married my best friend.  (It was Friday the 13th, proving that good things do happen on that day!)  I remember well the days that our three children were born.  Amazing days! Christian people should seek to make the most of every day.  There are three days that I remind myself of often – three days I never want to forget.  Thinking about these days helps me to make the most of this day. 1.  I never want to forget the day…

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8 Words That Have Helped Me Get More Done

We all have 1,440 minutes in a day.  Try as you might, it is impossible to add time!  It is possible, however, to make a wiser investment of the time that you have.  Paul was led of the Holy Spirit to tell us twice about “redeeming the time” ( Eph. 5:16; Col. 4:5). Are you spending your life or investing it? This means more than proper “time management.” Life is about emphasis. A divinely ordered life and ministry will help you place the emphasis on that which is eternal. Order is more than organization. Recently I shared with a group of our youth ministry majors at Crown College 8 simple words that have helped me be a wiser steward of the…

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Lessons God Is Teaching Me about My Family – Part 1

The kids are growing up so quickly.  At the same time I feel like I am getting old so quickly!  Life moves along at a rapid pace and God is teaching me many things.  I am not the husband or father that I should be.  More and more I thank God for the wife that He has given to me and the mother that she is to our three children. Our home is not perfect.  No home is.  Every day the Holy Spirit is showing me areas that we need to work on.  I would like to share a few things that God is teaching me.  These are not the words of a teacher.  They are the words of a…

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