“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:9–10 (NKJV)  Growing up in church, I noticed everyone handled money differently. Some believers held tight to their money, while some gave it away freely. Others believed poverty was godly and resisted any talk of financial success. Where did we get such a range of beliefs?  First let’s go back to early church history. Back then, thousands of Christians faced death because they refused to recant their faith and worship the Roman emperor. Then a new leader came to power and made Christianity the state religion, ending the persecution. That sounds great—but this emperor began to institute …

Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared. Matthew 8:3 (NLT)  It is God’s will to heal and perform miracles. However, some believers think, “I prayed. I asked. I gave God five minutes to do it, and it didn’t happen, so it’s not His will.” Unfortunately, that is an inaccurate doctrine.  I remember walking through a situation with a close friend who was hanging on for his life and believing for healing. It took a year or two for his miracle to complete. However, I’ve seen other miracles happen in five minutes.  First of all, we need to recognize God’s will is not confined to our experiences. Here’s a good example of what that means. …

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)  It takes a stubborn faith to decide that you will not be held back from doing great exploits just because you don’t know how.  But not everybody thinks this way. For example, some people’s finances are a disaster because they lack budgeting knowledge and have not pursued learning how to handle money.  But if God says a lack of knowledge destroys His people, that means the opposite is also true: we thrive when we have it.  If any area of your life isn’t working, apply this principle and watch things change! Simply recognize, “There’s more I need to learn to help these areas along. If there’s something I don’t know about how to best …

And they laughed and jeered at Him. But He put them all out, and, taking the child’s father and mother and those who were with Him, He went in where the little girl was lying. Mark 5:40 (AMPC)  Most North Americans’ sense of humour involves sarcasm. In your life, chances are you know some friends or co-workers who are constantly sarcastic. They likely have a knack for making snarky, cynical comments that often come off as funny.  But we should choose our company carefully because the more we’re around perpetually sarcastic people, the more quickly we can begin to follow suit.  What is sarcasm? It is someone mockingly speaking their doubt and unbelief. The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes sarcasm as “a sharp and often satirical or …

Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. Mark 6:3 (NLT)  Sometimes we can become too familiar with the people God wants to use in our lives.  That’s what happened to people in Jesus’ hometown. Mark 6:1–6 says Jesus returned to Nazareth with His disciples and taught in the synagogue on the Sabbath.  But as amazed as the congregants were with Jesus’ wisdom and ability to perform miracles, they couldn’t get past their familiarity with Him. They looked at Him and thought, “That’s just Joseph and Mary’s son who grew up down the street. Who …