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Shackled and Chained? Worship!

“Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundation. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!” (Acts 16:25-26 NLT) Have you ever felt shackled, chained, or imprisoned by your circumstances? You are in a dead-end job, you are enslaved to debt, you are a prisoner of your past, you can’t seem to shake the trauma off. Or perhaps you can’t seem to break that addiction, you’ve tried everything, but you always seem to go back to it. You can’t stop gossiping, you lose your temper no matter how hard you try not to. Bondage can look different for all of us. Though some forms of bondage may be more devastating than others, bondage is oppressive regardless of how it manifests...

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Double For Your Trouble

For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 10:11 ESV) Shame is a powerful negative emotion that can be brought on by different things. It can be caused by rejection instead of acceptance, punishment instead of discipline, criticism instead of praise, neglect instead of love, etc. These different forms of rejection can cause feelings of worthlessness, less than, damaged goods, ultimately causing a low self-image of yourself; devalued from your true priceless worth. How do we let go of shame? How do we get free from this oppressive destructive emotion? The freedom we seek is found in Jesus. “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:31-32)”. Jesus has given us the answer in this scripture. Remain (abide, dwell) faithful (committed, true) to his teachings...

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Through The Noise…Encourage

“When we arrived in new place, there was no rest for us. We faced conflict from every direction, with battles on the outside and fear on the inside. But God, who encourages those who are discouraged, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus.” (2 Corinthians 7:5-6 NLT). Paul has endured “troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. [has] been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food” (2 Cor. 6:5). In our focus scripture, Paul is speaking of external and internal battles and feeling discouraged. (Who can blame him, right?) But despite Paul’s hardships, we see God’s faithfulness in the midst. How? Quite simply put, but God. ‘But’ is an interruption announcing that although a certain outcome was expected, it did not come to pass because of an unexpected disruption (but). I could have lost my job, but God. I...

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Fear of Man

“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trust in the Lord is safe.” (Proverbs 29:25 ESV) A snare in Hebrew (in the context of this scripture) means to lure or set a bait. If you set a bait you are likely trying to catch something. You don’t go fishing without bait to attract your prey but notice the scripture states that the bait is set by an action we choose to engage in – fear of man. When you choose the fear of man over the trust of God, you are making yourself the prey the trap is set for. So, what does fear of man mean? Fear of man is not one set definition, but more of a statement to describe various forms of approval that come from people. The need to be a people-pleaser. The need to make others around you happy. The need to get them...

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Power and Authority

“And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.” (Matthew 10:1 ESV) Right before this passage of scripture takes place, Jesus traveled through many towns and villages in the area teaching about the Good News. He was keenly aware crowds of people followed everywhere he went, noting they seemed as lost sheep in need of a shepherd (Matt.9:35-36). “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields” (Matt.9:37-38). When Jesus said this to his disciples, he was referring to the multitude of people (the harvest), but it lacked workers (shepherds/disciples). He then followed this statement by a specific instruction for a solution – pray; “ask him to send more workers into his...

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Be Intentional and Inspire

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10: 24-25 ESV) Have you ever wanted to do something, but somehow lacked the motivation to do it? Motivation can be described as a desire to do something. You have an inner drive that moves you toward an anticipated outcome. Many of us have goals and dreams we want to reach, but at times lack the desire to keep pressing toward those much-anticipated outcomes. If we look at the scripture in Hebrews, the author is telling us to ‘stir up’ one another. Stir up and motivate are interchangeable. We are called to motivate each other to love and good works. This would suggest, you need each other to press...

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Authority in Jesus

“And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.” (Matthew 10:1 ESV) Right before this passage of scripture takes place, Jesus traveled through many towns and villages in the area teaching the Good News. He was keenly aware crowds of people followed everywhere he went, noting they seemed as lost sheep in need of a shepherd (Matt.9:35-36). “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields” (Matt.9:37-38). When Jesus said this to his disciples, he was referring to the multitude of people that followed him (the harvest), but it lacked workers (shepherds). He then followed this statement by a specific instruction for a solution (to be presented in prayer): ask him to...

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Seek Out the Good

“He who earnestly seeks good finds favor, but trouble will come to him who seeks evil.” (Proverbs 11:27 NKJV) In this scripture, we see that this Proverb is not exclusive to any one group of people. You don’t have to qualify based on your income, have a certain level of education, hold a certain status within the community, or be of a certain age group or ethnic background. It is for, “He who earnestly seeks…”. This statement makes it very inclusive to all who carry it out. Earnestly in Hebrew means to look early or diligently. Isn’t it interesting that the seeking should be done early? This doesn’t necessarily mean early as in the morning, but more so early in your circumstance, early in your situation. If you are heading to a doctor’s appointment don’t wait until you receive a bad medical report to seek out the good, determine to pursue...

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Salt and Light

Taste and see that the Lord is good. (Psalm 34:8a) Have you ever heard or used the expression, “That left a bad taste in my mouth”? Except you weren’t referring to food, but to an individual or an experience you encountered. ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good’ is not referring to a literal palate taste that is produced by the flavoring of food. It’s referring to an encounter with one of the characteristics of God; His goodness. As a believer, there are many ways to experience the goodness of God. Through His word, grace, mercy, peace, joy, favor, unconditional love. The list is endless. But how does one, who is not yet a believer, taste and see the goodness of God? “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to...

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Joy Through Faith

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy…” 1 Peter 1:8 NIV The word “‘though’” represents a stance despite circumstances. Peter is outlining for us that we are clearly not moved by sight (our circumstance), but by faith. Even though we do not or have not physically seen Jesus, we love Him, we believe in Him, and because of our faith and love toward Him, we have an illogical joy that is a direct result of our faith. There are many things that cannot be seen, yet we believe in their existence. Have you ever physically seen one hundred million dollars in person? Maybe not, yet its existence is still real. Have you ever physically seen air? No, yet its existence does not change. Why? Although...

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