Paul Tag

May 26, 2013

Don’t Let Satan Stop You

Satan and his demons will try to hinder you, but they can only do what God allows them to do. One of the biggest mistakes Christians make in relation to Satan is that they consider him to have unlimited power. Lucifer is a fallen angel; he isn’t the dark side of the force. He isn’t omnipotent. Only God is omnipotent. Satan doesn’t have unlimited power. God permits Satan to tempt us and to challenge us because He knows when we endure adversity, it builds our character.

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April 28, 2013

How God Turns Failure into Favor

According to the world’s standard, Paul was a failure. He was unpopular. There was usually a mob after him. He spent more time in jail than he did in hotels. He was shipwrecked, beaten, and stoned. According to Ignatius, when Nero was Emperor, Paul was locked in the Mamartine prison in Rome. He was taken from the prison and beheaded, which was a benefit afforded him as a Roman citizen. Beheading was quick death, unlike crucifixion. The moment his head was severed from his body, he was absent from the body and present with the Lord. A failure? Think again. Today we name our sons Paul and our dogs Nero. Why? Because God can turn human failure into heavenly favor.

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November 20, 2011

How God Rescues Sinners

Justified margins means the left margin and the right margin are both straight; they agree. Justified people are those who have been made right with God. Here are God’s standard on the left—absolute perfection—straight up. And here we are on the right—our lives are ragged. Religion or legalism is the attempt to JUSTIFY our lives with God’s perfect standard. But we can’t justify our lives to God’s standard. Thankfully, God does the justification. It is His act, not ours!

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October 30, 2011

Too Graced to be Two-Faced

Of these three characters, whose sandals are you wearing? Are you like Paul and you need to help someone who has stumbled? Or are you in the sandals of Barnabas and you’re following the wrong leader? Or perhaps, like Peter, you need to examine your life and make sure your conduct matches what you believe about the gospel.

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October 23, 2011

Born (Again) Free

The legalism that exists today isn’t about keeping Jewish festivals as much as it is thinking that a Christian can earn God’s love and acceptance by what they do or don’t do. Legalism is the belief that if I can just keep all my spiritual plates spinning, then I can earn more of God’s favor.

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October 16, 2011

From Terrorist to Evangelist

Have you ever found yourself in a spiritual desert and wondered what God was doing? You were thirsty for the living water and hungry for the bread of the Word, but instead, all you found was more desert? Desert experiences can help you grow.

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January 31, 2010

If I Could Talk to the Animals

Jesus says we are to be like sheep, snakes, and doves. The wolves are those who are enemies of the cross. I want to examine what it means for us to be like these three animals. If we could talk to the animals, or they could talk to us, what would they say to us about being like a lamb, a snake, and a dove? God has called us to go out into the world and share His truth. We are sent out like sheep among wolves. We must be as clever as snakes, and as innocent as doves.

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October 12, 2008

Are You Being Torn by a Thorn?

Experts are saying this crisis affects the global economy—every nation. Do you think God is worried? Instead of listening to all the pundits and so-called experts, maybe we should listen to God’s Word written 3,000 years ago found in Psalm 2:1, “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?” There’s plenty of raging going on, and there are more bailout plots and rescue plans than we can handle. But I love verse 4. It simply says, “The One enthroned in heaven laughs.” When we try to scramble around to fix a problem that is the symptom of the greedy, sinful human heart, God must surely chuckle. Maybe God is using this to remind us that happiness and security will never come in stocks, bonds, and possessions.

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September 28, 2008

True Confessions from a Basket Case

Do you have an episode of failure in your past that you can look back to and say, “I blew it there. I was a flop, a failure. But I got back up and God has blessed me since.”? If you’ve had a midnight basket escape of your own, it equips you to deal with the next time you fail. That’s a great promise of God from the Bible: We will fail, but failure doesn’t have to define us. God can still use failures like Paul and like us.

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April 6, 2008

Converting Trouble Into Joy

The amazing thing about God’s power is He can convert our troubles into joy. When the world does it worst to us, that’s when God can do His best for us! Do you think I’m making this up? Here’s a quick reality check. Joseph in the Old Testament—beaten up by his brothers—trouble. Sold into slavery—double trouble. Spent time in prison for a crime he never committed—triple trouble. Through it all, Joseph kept his focus on God, and he found joy in the midst of his troubles. So that in Genesis 50:20 Joseph said to his brothers, “You intended this to HURT me, but God intended it for GOOD, for the saving of many lives.” Joseph did look at the thorns, he looked at the rose. He never focused on the black clouds, he looked for the silver lining. He never stopped making lemonade with the lemons life game him.

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March 12, 2006

And Now for Some Really Good News

It’s not a question of whether you have faith, because everyone has faith. When you mail a letter you’re putting faith in the postal system. When you drive over a bridge you’re putting trust in the architect and builders of that bridge. The key question is: In what (or whom) are you placing your ultimate faith?

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April 5, 1998

The Résumé of a Real Christian

Have you ever wondered what the apostle Paul looked like? While it is true we do not have any written eyewitness description of Jesus’ physical appearance, we have a fairly reliable one for Paul the apostle. A pastor living in the second century (which means the 100s) who perhaps as a child had actually seen Paul, describes him: “A man small of stature with a bald head and crooked legs in a good state of body, with eyebrows meeting and nose somewhat hooked, full of friendliness for now he appeared like a man, and now he had the face of an angel.” Can you just see this little man so full of energy? Before he became a Christian, he was full of energy for the wrong thing, but once he was tamed and changed by Jesus Christ, he used his energy for the right cause. Three ways Paul was changed by Jesus.

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January 29, 1995

Blessed with the Best

A lot of Christians are like a wasp. When a wasp first comes out of the egg, it is larger at that time than at any time in its life. It continually shrinks in size until it dies. When a lot of people are first born to the kingdom of God—when they are first saved—they are so excited, it seems like they are closer to God at that moment than they are at any other time. That’s a real problem. Ephesians is a book about how to grow as a Christian, how to increase your intimacy with God. It’s not how high you jump when you get saved; it’s how straight you walk when you come down. This book is a guide book for growth.

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August 28, 1994

The Preacher Who Had Stage Fright

There are a lot of preachers who like to use double-jointed, obtuse, 16-cylinder words, and we must remember that Jesus didn’t tell us to feed his giraffes, but to feed his sheep. And I’m constantly trying to make it simple.

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August 2, 1992

Bad + Evil + Misfortune = Good

The apostle Paul’s priority was advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ. What is that thing that you think about or talk about the most? Where do you invest most of your money and time? Whatever your priority is will determine how your entire life is directed. Three principals we can learn from Paul’s life and apply to our lives.

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