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What I think is enough.  I grew up with "enough" in a happy home defined by a mom and dad who loved each other and my sister and me. Thus, even though we didn't have much money, we had "enough."  What also helped us know that we had enough was our relationship with Jesus Christ. My parents taught my sister and me that we could be satisfied with a love for the Lord and little else. That didn't mean that we never did anything fun because we did many fun things. My dad liked to travel, and we visited many states and provinces. However, our church life was the most significant part of our social life.  Dawn and I carried this same philosophy into our family life. I worked as a painter for twenty-two years at GMC Truck and Bus, and Dawn cared for our three girls. We also traveled as a family and even visited places like the Dominican Republic and Brazil. Those trips were with the idea of helping the less fortunate.  I am now sixty-eight and nearing what most call...

Haven't we all wanted to ask God a few questions along life's way? If you haven't, you are a rare case. The trouble with this scenario is that God knows, and you don't. He plays the "omniscience-card" and always has the correct answer to any query. In Jeremiah chapter 12, the prophet wants to know more about God's justice. Why are God's people treated so harshly, and the wicked seem to go their merry way? God's answer is similar to other responses that he has given. "My unfaithful people deserve all that is coming their way. I have grown to hate my 'inheritance.' I will eliminate them, and the land will waste away. However, I won't let her enemies go unpunished. They too will pay a severe price for what they do to my people." God's harsh justice and great compassion are seen in this chapter. Man's frustration with God's seeming lack of attention to what is going on is also in view. So, these sentiments are not new....

  What do you want me to do to you? And he said, Lord, that I may see again.  Luke 18:41 The answer to the blind’s question seems obvious. Jesus was talking to a man who had spent years in the dark of blindness. Why then did He ask such a conspicuous question. Didn’t Jesus know what the man needed? Of course, He did. Jesus knew what he  really  needed, but he wanted to hear from the man’s lips what he thought he needed. Receiving his vision was primary in the blind man’s mind, for I imagine he had thought about seeing since he had gone blind years earlier. However, this encounter changed everything because, with Jesus’ question, the man also received salvation; did you see that? Look again what Luke tells us,  And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your  faith  has made you  well .” And immediately, he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God . His faith in the Savior had made him  well.  The word  well  means...

Do you remember that promise? The one I made with you a long time ago? Yeah, that one. I told you that if you did what I told you, good things would happen to you. Unfortunately, however, you didn't do what I told you. So, bad stuff is coming. And soon. It will be so bad that there will be no way out. Crying will not bring sympathy. Do you want to know why? It's because you, Judah, have more little-g gods than you have towns. Incredible. So, Jeremiah, don't even pray for these people because I will not answer your prayers. "The Lord Almighty, who planted you, has decreed disaster for you because the people of both Israel and Judah have done evil and aroused my anger by burning incense to Baal" (Jer 11:17). You know, when God's people receive a message like this, they should run to God and fall on their faces in repentance. But, often, that is not the case. It wasn't here, and even if they had, they had lost that option.  In this case, the people weren'...

For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. —Ephesians 1:4 (CSB) God loves us and demonstrates his love by choosing us to be his. This concept is difficult for many to grasp. How can God choose some and not all? Isn't that showing favoritism? Isn't it cruel to not choose everyone? How could God create people who he never intended to choose? These are heavy questions and difficult to answer and understand. They have generated endless speculation through the ages. How we understand, as much as we can, the answers to these questions will determine how we live life. I once was approached by a coworker who told me God wasn't fair. When I asked him why he thought that God wasn't fair, he told me that it wasn't fair that God would condemn some to hell. I told him, then why don't you just accept Jesus as your Savior? Bob gave me an incredulous look and walked away shaking his head. Was Bob's reaction God...