Memo 1119: Your Hair
Last week we looked at how the Lord spoke to young boy named Samuel to tell him what his life work was going to be. We learned that before Samuel was born, his mother Hannah had dedicated him to the Lord. Here is her prayer when gave him to God:
Memo 1119: "Speak to Me, Lord"
This week, we start a new series directed toward young people to help them find their purpose. I am confident there will be lessons for both adults and children in each entry, but I will write with younger readers in mind. I hope you will share these with the young folks in your life.
Memo 1118: A New Series
It's time to start a new series, this one titled "Never Too Young." For the next six months, we'll look at examples from the Bible of young people, some infants or children and others in their teenage years who God used in some significant way. We will look at people like Joseph, Samuel, David, Mary the mother of Jesus, Moses...
Memo 1117: Protecting Your Abundant Life
There are other lessons to be learned about David from his psalms, but this entry will conclude our series titled PowerPoints for Living the Abundant Life. Our objective has been to identify elements in David's life that we can apply in our own pursuit of God's will. In some ways, Psalm 37 like the perfect place to end, for it gives us...
Memo 1116: A Real Conspiracy
It's fashionable these days for people to try and find evidence of a conspiracy in almost any walk of life. When they do, it often makes me think of what the Lord told Isaiah, “Do not call conspiracy everything this people calls a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not...
Memo 1115: A Future Audience
Jesus said, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10, KJV, emphasis added). Abundant life—what is it exactly? Other translations attempt to define it this way:
Memo 1114: The Look
When I was a child, I knew when my mother was displeased because she would give me "the look." She didn't have to raise her voice or say anything for that matter. All I needed to do was catch a glimpse of "the look" and I knew that I either had to stop doing what I was doing or start doing something I wasn't—or else. The look told me everything I needed to know.
Memo 1113: Mr. Lonely
Every psalm that David wrote reveals more of who he was, what he went through, and how he interpreted God and his circumstances. Our goal in this series is to extract lessons from his life and these psalms to help us live an abundant that Jesus said He came to give us. This week, we move on to Psalm 25, where we read...
Memo 1112: Worldview
Everyone has a worldview, even you. You may not be aware of it or even know what a worldview is for that matter, but you have one. Simply put, it's your lens through which you "view your world"—defining who made it, what makes it work, its problems, and possible solutions.
Memo 1111: Total Confidence
When I was a child, we started every day in school with a Bible reading—and it was a public school (my, how times have changed). Since we were young, most of us knew nothing of the Bible so we often chose the only passage we knew and that was Psalm 23. It's only six verses long, but it's words have comforted many throughout the centuries and is a good place for us to pause this week as we...
Memo 1110: Your Heart Matters
Let's continue to examine David's life for principles we can apply to our own in order to live what Jesus called the abundant life. The principles we identify I have labeled PowerPoints for Living and this week we stay in the psalms: The king rejoices in your strength, Lord. How great is his joy in the victories you give! You have granted him...
Memo 1109: Using The Name
This series, PowerPoints for Living, is designed to examine David's life for lessons we can apply that will help us live the abundant life Jesus came to give us. For many of our lessons, we have looked at David's psalms and this week is no exception:
Memo 1108: Short-Term Memory Loss
You're a powerful person in the Lord because you carry the power of God through the presence of His Spirit. What's more, you have proved this again and again, but you may not realize it. Some "experts" say that we pass through our successes and victories much too quickly and thus are unable to extract all the lessons from those outcomes.
Memo 1107: Vindication
It's interesting that David was in as much trouble as he was despite the fact that he was God's anointed and God was with him throughout his life. That may give you an indication that even though God is with you, you will probably encounter the same dynamic—trouble—as you seek to live in the abundant life God promised. David prayed,
Memo 1106: "Keep Me Safe As I Go"
There are so many beautiful psalms that it's hard to identify any one that stands out from the rest. What often makes them special is the message they bring to us in our times of need, or the words we need to praise or pray to the Lord. Let's look at Psalm 16 this week as we continue to search for behaviors and attitudes that will help us live the abundant life:
Memo 1105: Laundry List for Life
We've been searching for clues to help you live an abundant and overcoming life, as Jesus promised, as you occupy the throne of purposeful living God has assigned you. This week, let's take a quick look at a 'laundry list' of life...
Memo 1104: Limitation Thinking
People regularly ask me how I have been able to do what I've done—write books, publish books, travel, speak, daily social media presence, and teaching. My answer is pretty much the same as I share with them my journey over the last 20 years to confront and replace limitation thinking.
Memo 1103: Poor and Needy
It's obvious that when David sat on his throne, he had power. In fact, he had power before he became king due to his skill with a sling, his musical abilities, and his charisma that caused men to follow him before he had a title.
Memo 1102: No Hiding
Have you noticed how often we have discussed fear in this and in the previous two series? While you may tire of the topic, the Spirit of God has done this with purpose, for there's no greater enemy to your faith than fear. In fact, unbelief is not the antithesis of faith: fear is.
Memo 1101: Answered Prayer
Let's continue to search for clues in David's life that will help us live an abundant life as we sit on the purpose throne God has given us. This week, let's start with Psalm 7, where David was crying out to the Lord because of a man named Cush who was trying to take David's life:
Memo 1100: Internal Enemies
In Psalm 4, we read these words of David: In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety" (Psalm 4:8, emphasis added) but just two psalms later, we read, Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or...
Memo 1099: Termites
Let's continue our look into the psalms to see what they can teach us about David that will help us live the abundant life Jesus promised. This week, we move on to Psalm 58 and look at a word that we seldom hear much about, but it's something David deployed all the time:
Memo 1098: Bed Time
As we examine David's life for clues on how we can lead an abundant life, we have turned to the psalms to see what we can find and learn. This week, let's look at Psalm 4, one of the many David wrote: Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and...
Memo 1097: "Be There In A Minute"
We're searching the psalms for lessons and insight from David's life that will help us live an abundant life as Jesus' promised we would. In our search, we want to distill one main point which I'm calling a PowerPoint for Living that will help guide you to the place of power and fruitfulness God wants you to have. Last week, we looked at...
