SPIRITUAL INCREASE REQUIRES COMMITMENT AND EFFORT. ADHERENCE TO THESE FOUR SPIRITUAL DESCIPLINES WILL FEED YOUR INNER MAN WHAT HE NEEDS TO FLOURISH.

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Even in the midst of difficult challenges, busy schedules and awkward moments, God wants us to enjoy our time on earth. He promised that His joy would be our strength (see Neh. 8:10); He personally participates in our lives, eager to see us face each day with grace and confidence, holding us up when the hard places on our journey threaten our ability to stand. The good news of Christ is that God has not left us alone.

Neither has He left us to figure out life on our own. Scripture provides signposts for the journey, helping us live active and balanced lives in Christ, keeping us from falling along the way and enabling us to partake of the feast of life as He intended. Just as the four basic food groups help us live a healthy physical life, so the four spiritual food groups God has defined produce an energetic, balanced faith that helps us live a vibrant spiritual life. read more

7:00PM EST 1/31/2000

Amid the gummy worms, stale life savers and expired coupons overtaking my purse, I discovered something much more valuable--the presence of God.

I carry the basic essentials of life in my purse. Aspirin, lipstick, hand lotion, credit cards...you name it, it's in there. If it's not, it will be. I seem to have some sort of purse reflex. I can stuff things in there without even knowing it.

On the positive side, I found a five-dollar bill in a sneaky secret pocket last week. Even better, I found a candy bar. Now that was interesting! It was squished--almost liquefied--but it was still inside the wrapper. read more

7:00PM EST 11/30/2002

GOD WANTS US TO SUBMIT EVERY MOMENT TO HIM AND TO USE OUR TIME AS HE DIRECTS.

How you spend your time changes with the different seasons of your life, but one principle applies to every moment of time: Don't waste it. Every season has various tasks that God has appointed for you to do, and you will give an account to Him of how you have spent your time. God never wants you to look at any time in your life as purposeless. He doesn't want you to spend your time apart from Him.

The important thing to know is how God wants you to use your time. You will not learn this through hard work or schooling or a keen intellect, but by seeking God with a pure and upright heart. You also must put aside the schemes of your self-love just as soon as you notice them. For you do not waste time only by doing nothing or even by doing something you know is wrong; you also waste time when you do a seemingly "good" thing that God has not asked you to do. read more

7:00PM EST 1/31/2001

WE AREN'T DELIVERED FROM TEMPTATION THE DAY WE'RE BORN AGAIN. BUT WE CAN OVERCOME BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

How comforting it is to know that the Lord's Prayer covers every aspect of the Christian life! I have stated many times that if all we had was this small portion of the Bible as given from the lips of Jesus, we would have enough gospel to know how to be saved and how to live victoriously. This prayer includes every facet of a man's physical and spiritual life.

It's no surprise, then, that it includes the phrase "Lead us not into temptation." Jesus knew the difficulties we would face and the temptations that would lure every human being. read more

7:00PM EST 11/30/2003

Too often women settle for less—not realizing that our heavenly Father longs to give us true spiritual riches.

My heart sneks up on me when I least expect it. Just this morning, after dropping off one of my sons at school, I was sitting at a red light, impatient for it to change, when suddenly I was overcome with sadness. A longing filled my heart, an ache, a desire for more.

My immediate response to this surfacing desire was to chastise myself. What is wrong with me? I thought. I have a good life. My family is healthy. My husband loves me. read more

8:00PM EDT 9/30/2005

When we focus our hearts on righteousness, we leave little room for the works of iniquity to be found in our lives. Righteousness is a spiritual force that if yielded to will cause our motivations, thoughts and intentions to be pure, just as Jesus is pure.

Our personal righteousness in Christ is a powerful weapon, and yet so often we reduce its inherent power and authority. But righteousness is who we are in conjunction with what we are empowered to do through the grace of God.

God has given us a flawless standard, seen only in the face of Jesus Christ. When we see Jesus, we see the sum total of perfect righteousness, the same measure that is offered to all those who receive His provision. read more

8:00PM EDT 7/31/2004

It takes time and the skill of the Master Potter to craft a vessel that will be fit for his use in the end.

Suppose you had been assigned the task of inquiring into the qualifications of those who sought to become disciples of Jesus. Suppose you were asked to examine their credentials. How would you have voted on them?

Let's examine our first candidate. He has just come up from the beach. His fishing boat, drawn up on the pebbled shore, has worn seats, patched sails and the high rudder that is characteristic of Galilean fishing craft. read more

7:00PM EST 1/31/2002