Dirty Bible, Clean Heart

  "At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship ." -Job 1:20 NIV What is your most painful memory? Think about this. Have you ever found yourself in a desperate place? When you cry out, "W hy, God? Why did you allow this to happen ?" or "Why haven't you changed my circumstances?" Have you been there before? Perhaps for some readers, this is not a distant memory but a present reality! A broken marriage, a financial crisis, or the unexpected death of a loved one are all enough to throw us into our own pit of despair. None of us are exempt from pain. And pain is a topic that the Scriptures do not shy away from discussing. In fact many  (if not all )  of the Biblical "heroes" experienced long dark valleys. Jesus is the foremost example. Of whom the Bible says, " He was despised and rejected by mankind,  a man of suffering, and familiar with pain " (Isaiah 53:3) . Therefore if our Hea...

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...