The name of the Lord is a strong tower. A righteous person runs to it and is safe. Proverbs 18:10 (GW) Believers call God by many names. For example, Psalm 18:2 describes Him as our rock and today’s verse calls Him our strong tower.   Now, God is all of the above. But to many Christians, they get an inaccurate image from these words. They think that if they just sit safely on the rock or hide inside the strong tower doing nothing, they are in God’s will. But I can’t find that anywhere in the Bible.   Instead, I find other words for God that we often forget, such as “fire” (Hebrews 12:29) or “mighty, rushing wind” (Acts 2:2, ESV). Those terms involve movement. And God …

Take full advantage of every day as you spend your life for his purposes. Ephesians 5:16 (TPT) ‍What is more important—having a dream or cultivating personal growth? It’s an interesting question because having a dream should make you want to develop toward it, yet I’ve found that’s often not the case for most people. The truth is, growth is what opens up opportunities.   For example, when our church began to explode, it initially created a crisis for us. We quickly had to learn how to handle finances, manage employees and negotiate for buildings and land. However, as we learned effective management principles, I recognized something remarkable: the more we grew, the more opportunities arose.   Offers that exceeded anything we had ever dreamed possible started to …

Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You. Psalm 143:8 (NKJV) Sometimes we want God to lay out all the right decisions for us. But I’ve found that God doesn’t give us a map for our lives. Instead, He provides us with an inner compass.  For example, after serving many years with my parents at their church, Sally and I felt a strong urge from God to plant our own church. So we began dreaming and planning, and that’s when a church without a senior pastor reached out to me to preach. I never wanted to take over a church and truly believed we were to start our own, but God had greater plans!  …

So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.  Ephesians 5:15 (NLT)  Some people think that if they miss an opportunity in life, another one won’t come along. But I disagree entirely.  I think opportunities sail past us daily in every area of life. Often, we’re just asleep at the wheel and don’t recognize what God wants to do in and through our lives.  Sometimes it’s because we’re sitting around waiting for God to launch us through the goalposts of life. We want open and shut doors or specific signs—like Gideon asking God to prove Himself with sheep’s wool (Judges 6:36–40). But if we’re too careful, we’ll sit idly by while great opportunities slide past.  Although today’s verse does …

So get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to—the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires. Your hearts and minds must be made completely new, and you must put on the new self, which is created in God’s likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy.  Ephesians 4:22–24 (GNT)  There’s a crucial part of the Christian life that, in my experience, 90% of believers have never fully experienced. Neglecting this process leaves them frustrated, spiritually immature and stuck in patterns they can’t seem to change.   What is it? They’ve never gone through the process of putting off their old selves and putting on their new identity in Christ.   “But Leon,” you might say, …