God Is Love
By Will Powell, Guest Author God is love. We say it so easily. God is love. But what does that mean, and why is that so important—particularly right now? First, God defines what love is. It is not the other way around: “Love is God.” Our concept of what love might be is not supposed to define who we think God is. Instead, if we want to find out what love is, we first need to discover and explore who God is.
Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 77 – Death Is Dead
by TJ Bates I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. –John 11:25-26 Death and the fear of it have reigned from the very beginning of human history to the present day. But as believers, death no longer reigns over us because Jesus defeated the final enemy on the cross and in his resurrection. "If the very worst thing that can happen
Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 76 – Nowhere Else to Go
by TJ Bates Before Day 76 in Dr. Snyder's book, he addresses "When God Says No." Here's an excerpt from that section: "We discover that often God gets more accomplished with a no than a yes. If we had everything we asked for the minute we asked, then we probably wouldn't learn very much from the crisis of the moment. God teachers us to depend on him by means of trouble and difficulty. Otherwise, if things were always an easy skate across
Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 75 – Ask With Confidence
by TJ Bates For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. –Hebrews 4:15-16 Ever wanted to ask your boss for a raise but you weren't sure you deserved one? Or
Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 74 – Real Love
The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." -Jeremiah 31:3 How blessed we are to have God's everlasting love, a love that Dr. Snyder defines as follows: "It's hard for us to imagine this kind of love. Parents can gain a little glimpse of it when love for their children remains strong in spite of their children's rebellion. But God goes even beyond that. He sustains his
Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 73 – The Higher Order
by TJ Bates "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." -Isaiah 55:8-9 Aren't you grateful that God doesn't think the way we do? I sure am. Can you imagine how scary that would be? "This conviction of a higher order grows with each new advance of faith. With the passing of
Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 72 – History Therapy
by TJ Bates Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare. -Psalm 40:5 This is another day when I feel it is important to include everything Dr. Snyder wrote on this day in his book, Your 100 Day Prayer: The Transforming Power of Actively Waiting on God. I also highly recommend
Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 71- All Kinds of Problems
by TJ Bates via Theology Mix In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. -1 Peter 1:6-7 Dr. Snyder asks us if we like to suffer grief in all kinds of trials and
Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 70 – He Stills the Storm
by TJ Bates He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. -Psalm 107:29-30 How many times has God "stilled the storms" in your life? Have you shared those times with your family or with your congregation? Dr. Snyder says it is important that we do so just as the Hebrews used to do. They constantly remembered their history and were forever
Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 69 – The Perfect Plan
If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. –1 John 5:14-15 How many times have you heard someone say that this verse must mean they can have anything they ask for, but they forget to add "according to his will"? Dr. Snyder talks about this very thing when he says, "So much strange Bible teaching has come from the idea
