1 Kings 17:12 "`As surely as the Lord your God lives,` she replied, `I don't have any bread-only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it-and die`."
She did not have any bread or any means of getting what she needed. There was a famine in the land. There was nothing...

Matthew 15:22-23 "A Canaanite woman from the vicinity came to Him, crying out, `Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession`. Jesus did not answer a word. So His disciples came to Him and urged Him, `Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us`."
She called Him Lord. Who was she kidding? She was a Gentile. The disciples wished she would get lost. Jesus did not want anyone to know He...

Luke 18:35-38 "As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, `Jesus of Nazareth is passing by`. He called out, `Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!`"
The blind man "seen" what other people in the crowd missed. When he proclaimed Jesus as the Son of David, he acknowledged that Jesus was the promised Messiah. By proclaiming that, he displayed...

Luke 18:1-8 "Then Jesus told His disciples, a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said `In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea...Grant me justice against my adversary... For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, even though I do not fear God or...

Matthew 7:25 "The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock."
Sometimes everything we do in life seems to go just right and everything seems to be so easy and we take it all for granted.
We have this euphoric feeling that whatever we desire will be, not because we earn it, but because we feel it should...

Acts 16:25 "But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them."
Praising God is not "just" something to do on a Sunday morning, in our favorite seat, in our family church. This story, about Paul and Silas, tells us we can and should praise God all of the time and wherever we happen to be. We never know who may be listening.
This scripture and the following verse also tell...

Philippians 3:8b-9 "...that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;"
We can, as parents, identify with the pleasure which God receives from His only Son, Jesus. We can know these feelings when we sit back and watch as our children accomplish what we have taught them. While we are observing them and...

John 8:10-11 "Jesus straightened up and asked her, `Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?` `No one, Sir,` she said. `Then neither do I condemn you,` Jesus declared. `Go now and leave your life of sin.`"
In John 8:1-11 we read the story about the adulteress. But, who caught her? In those times it took two eyewitnesses for a person to be put to death for the act of adultery. The death was to be by stoning. So...

Acts 5:7-8 "About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, `Tell me is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?` `Yes,` she said, `that is the price`."
If Sapphira wanted a unique place in history, she sure did receive it, but I am sure not in the way she imagined. The names of Sapphira and Ananias, her husband, are synonymous with hypocrisy, deceit and God's wrath...not a legacy of...

Philippians 2:14 "Do everything without complaining or arguing,"
Grumbling and complaining. It is a national past time which is practiced in every home, school, office and church in America. It sometimes seems as if it is a recreational activity in the foyer of many churches
Although we know it is a sin and that it breaks God's heart we continue to tolerate it in our own lives and in the lives of others. No one wants the job of task master...

Philippians 1:27-28 "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you..."
Following Christ means accepting a new set of standards that is far beyond our reach. We could never hope...

Philippians 1:6 "being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
Unfinished projects. Unkept promises. Unfulfilled dreams. We all know the disappointment which comes from starting down a road with excitement and never seeming to reach the end. Our intentions are good at the start, but as time passes we lose steam.
Now comes the good news! When it comes to our spiritual life and...

1 Peter 5:8-9 "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world."
The level of spiritual authority at which we operate is partly determined by the level of integrity and choices we make daily. Understanding godly principles will help us live a victorious lifestyle which will ultimately affect...

Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."
There is nothing in the overall teaching of the Bible to suggest that God is found by, or reveals Himself to, casual inquirers...but only to diligent seekers. When we mean business with God, He will do business with us. That should be a great comfort to...

Colossians 3:8 "But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth."
Did you know that we can influence our own destiny, either for good or for bad? No one else has the power to keep us from fulfilling our destiny. It does not matter what others have said about us or what others have done to us. Our gender cannot stop us, our color cannot stop us and what...