Reaching for Heaven

The coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, 'Look, here it is,' or, 'There it is.' For behold, the kingdom of God is among you." Then he said to his disciples, "The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. There will be those who will say to you, 'Look, there he is,' (or) 'Look, here he is.' Do not go off, do not run in pursuit. Luke 17:20-23 Does it seem to anyone else that we hear more and more people these days trying to predict the end of the world or the second coming? With movies like 2012 hitting the big screen, it can be tempting to ...

For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. Ephesians 6:12-13 We talk at great length about the power of God in our lives. In this current culture, though, to talk about the power of the evil one is not as comfortable a topic. No one wants to point the finger at something and claim it to be the work of evil. Yet, if we believe in the Word of God, we know that evil ...

Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined. Matthew 7:24-27We continue on our theme of dwelling and building today with this passage from Matthew. Once again, our lives and our bodies are likened to a house. What strikes me in reading this passage is that ...

Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16When we think of a temple or church, what immediately comes to mind? Most likely it is an image of a structure, a building, something external to ourselves. How many of us would readily say that we are worthy to be a house of God? I know I wouldn't. That is, however, exactly what Paul reminds us that we are - a temple of our living God. If we remembered this and really took it to heart, how would we change our lives? Apart from the blatantly physical ramifications (for instance, perhaps God does NOT like McDonald's quite as much as I do), how would our behavior toward others change? How ...