(PART 1)

A major key to Christian living involves learning how to interact daily with God. Studying God's Word and praying helps us learn how to hear and follow His direction. read more

8:00PM EDT 7/31/2003

Hannah was lost in the travails of life, until she discovered her true mission.

As a single African-American mother, Sonya Carson knew suffering and sorrow. Uneducated, poor and living in a cracker-box house she couldn't afford, she had two active boys to raise alone and no marketable skills to help her survive.

Her only resources were her own two hands, a fierce determination to do whatever it took to make a better life for her sons and her unbending faith in God. read more

8:00PM EDT 5/31/2006

If you're serious about knowing God, you'll need to be committed to the study of his Word. Here are some basic tools you'll need for this lifelong venture.

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Although it is true that the divine life of Christ resides within us, it also is true that we must make ourselves available to His working by filling our minds with the Word of God. If you're seeking fresh revelation from God, you're ready for some very practical guidelines and methods for mining this precious silver (see Prov. 2:1-8).

Some will undoubtedly prefer to gaze at the beauty of the treasure others have rather than picking up the tools and digging for themselves. But the revelation of another will not have the same power to redeem our souls that a personal encounter with God's Word has. read more

8:00PM EDT 5/31/2001

AMID ITS DESCRIPTIONS OF TRIALS AND TESTINGS, THE BOOK OF JAMES REVEALS THE BESTOWING OF GOD'S WISDOM AND GRACE FOR EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE.

The 1970s were a decade of significant breakthrough in my personal relationship with God. As a young wife and mother who had been saved at age 9, I found myself hungry for God, His presence, His voice, and the personal knowledge of Him that produces intimacy.

The decade had brought brokenness and blessing, but as I approached the threshold of the 1980s the Holy Spirit began to address deeper issues related to my perception of abundant Christian living. I found myself faced with a deep inner struggle over a call to public ministry. read more

8:00PM EDT 9/30/2000

Job's friends are an example of how not to treat a friend in need. What can we learn from them about how to pray for those we love?

Those of you who know the story of Job, the righteous man God bragged about to Satan, will remember that God gave Satan license to afflict Job. Job lost his possessions and his health. His seven sons and three daughters, for whom he had interceded daily, pleading their cases before God as a defense attorney might plead their cases in court, were killed in a freakish windstorm (see Job 1:18-19).

His wife lost her confidence in the Lord and any respect she had for her husband. She eventually encouraged him to forget his integrity, to "curse God and die" (Job 2:9). read more

8:00PM EDT 7/31/2001

THE TWENTY-THIRD PSALM PROVIDES US WITH A PICTURE OF TRUE REST-THE PEACE AND SECURITY THAT COME FROM KNOWING WE ARE IN THE HANDS OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD.

One of man's most basic needs is the need for rest. Although physical rest is important, we possess a much greater need--a need for more than just a break from work or the refreshment of sleep. We search for true rest.

True rest refers to more than physical needs. It embodies a sense of being cared for, of knowing that all our needs will be met by loving hands, and of feeling protected and cherished. True rest involves all we are and all we do. One of the most comforting pictures of this true, total rest appears in Psalm 23, which begins, "The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want" (NKJV). read more

8:00PM EDT 9/30/2000