Dirty Bible, Clean Heart

While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader.  “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?” -Mark 5:35  Has God ever given you a specific promise for your life? For some that might mean a new business venture, or a baby, perhaps a spouse, or maybe even a ministry. These are some of the things that many of us desire and that (I believe) God wants to freely give us (Rom 8:32). All throughout the Bible, we see God making promises with His chosen people. And because Hebrews 13:8 declares that God "is the same yesterday, today, and forever" we can rest assured that if God fulfilled promises to His people then, He will do so today as well. But what if the promise God made you is taking longer than expected? In fact, what if between the time that God spoke that promise over your life and now, things have actually grown worse?!  What do we do then? The Bible has plenty to say about waitin...

"But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt , because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord."  James 1:6-7 I recently heard a podcast interview between a well-known psychologist and his patient. The patient struggled with binge-eating disorder and this counselor sought to help the woman overcome her addiction. As I listened to the conversation, I was struck by a statement that the psychologist frequently uses with his patients- " feelings aren't facts !" The counselor had the woman repeat this phrase out loud several times and then instructed her to say it (but more importantly internalize it) whenever she felt the urge to binge. This mantra, said he, was one of the slogans that helped him differentiate between what was true and what was a lie which in turn helped him defeat his previous food addiction. Listening to this conversation made me realize ho...