Mostrando resultados por autor "Rick Noyes" en Todas las categorías

I think there is a resistance within me when it comes to giving God my all, even when I know that is the right thing to do. Since the error of my way is comfortable and familiar, even when God’s blessing is withheld, I want to pretend it is for reasons other than me. In order to break this same type of resistance by the nation Israel, God uses two men to speak to the nation on His behalf. They were the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. I wonder if these two prophets can’t light our own path back to where God wants us to be in life, to understand what He wants us to do here and now. If you ...

The unsettling events of 2020 are mind boggling and can easily cause a person to wonder just what happened. As if the world was not already confusing and complicated enough, having the events of the past year crashing into our reality has left many people trying to make sense of a world that doesn’t make sense. Are you trying to figure out what is the point of it all? Finding meaning in life seems to be impossible, but there is nothing new under the sun and Solomon has some words of hope for us to consider. The book of Ecclesiastes is a must for anyone asking, why am I here? What is the ...

It is a simple principle, if you neglect things the end result is ruin. It does not matter whether we are speaking of the relationships in marriage, with children, or simply the things life that demand attention for proper function. However, when it comes to the God who calls us, neglect can lead to the steep cost of an eternal ruin. The book of 2 Chronicles was written in a time when the people of God need to be reminded of that principle and since little has changed with God’s people today, this book can be a saving grace for us too.

The gospel of Mark is written like a no-frills travel log of a mountain climbing expedition, pressing on toward the summit of faith in Messiah. This gospel is also written for the skeptic, because it focuses on just the facts to challenge our thinking concerning God’s Messiah. This is a reason I find this gospel intriguing. It is the analytical approach it uses to present the Messiah in a bare bones approach of cultivating faith for any skeptic.

When we need the big picture, Luke’s gospel is a good place to start, since he challenges our expectations, concepts, and world view. Even though Luke chronicles the ministry of Messiah to Israel, his focus is to draw out the teaching of the Messiah that has application for the church as the kingdom of God. Therefore, it has much to teach concerning life in the kingdom of the Son, to which the Father transferred us when we were called by God. I think what Luke wanted his gospel to do, was to direct the gentile believers in the Jewish Messiah, to understand the importance of His teaching ...

Everywhere you turn nowadays someone is trying to influence your thinking. Whether it is the products that we buy, the candidates we vote for, the places that we go, or the way perceive life, someone wants us to jump on their bandwagon of thought. With so many vying for the hearts and minds of people today, much of the persuasion comes cloaked in deceit. Wouldn’t it be nice to simply have the truth for once? Wouldn’t it be nice to know that there was in fact undeniable truth we could count on? If you have ever felt that way then the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians is for you. ...

When you saw the title for this book, what came to mind? Perhaps your thinking was drawn to the heroes of the Bible, who led extraordinary lives. Did you think about a religious duty or mission of biblical proportions? I would guess that one thing that was not in your thoughts was you. That is because we are given to thinking that God’s call is too immense, too demanding, and out of the reach of the average person. But what if I were to tell you that you are exactly, whom the Holy Spirit of God had in mind, when those words were penned. Would that spark your interest? I hope it goes ...

Every day, we all make dozens of choices that are generally directed by our own gratification and rarely do we think twice about them. However, not all the choices that we make are trivial or lost in the memory of the past. Some choices we make effect not only us but other people as well. It is those choices that really matter in life, because they are not forgotten. They shape our past, our present and our future. Those kinds of choices are what this study in God’s Word is about, when the choices in life really matter. If you decide to do this study, you will find it is one choice in ...

Have you ever found yourself in the wrong because you totally missed the point? It could have been a school assignment, a botched task given by your employer, feeling the cold shoulder of relationship because you missed the point of something said, or even the punchline of a joke that everyone else understood. Regrettably, when we face those kinds of situations, most people revert to a self-defense mechanism that questions our guilt or failure. Sometimes that is displayed by pushing off our failing to others. I didn’t have enough time. The instructions were unclear. I was not given ...

For me, this story of 2 Samuel is like discovering that my favorite hero of days gone by was more of a scoundrel than a hero. David had been called by God and he is remembered here more for things he did that were questionable and out of character for one called by God, than for the good things that has many people giving him the title of a man after God’s own heart. Much of the good of his relationship with God is recorded in this book as well as the failure that proved him to be human, like you and me. When God called David, He was not expecting perfection, but faithfulness. The same is...

Do you think the American church today is flourishing or is something else happening? Before you answer that question, I suggest that you do as I did and ask the people you know in and out of the church their assessment of the church today. If you do, I think you might find your view of reality challenged as did I. This little book is meant to challenge your thinking and awaken you to the problems that go unseen or unaddressed today in Christian circles. I think you will find it thought provoking at the least.

Have you ever had life turn out differently than you expected? You may have imagined something entirely different only to find reality little reflects what you had hoped. When that happens, then the questions that need answers are, what now, where do I go from here? What can help me make sense of it all? If that has ever been your lot in life, than know that you are not alone. History is full of similar failed expectations and one such instance is found in the last books of the Old Testament after the people of God returned to the land of promise, only to find life did not measure up to ...

In many ways, the story of Job is the story of every person, because no matter who we are, at some time in life, we all suffer. The only thing that separates us is the degree of our suffering. In discussing the subject of suffering with a friend of mine, he said that for most people life’s flow is a constant series of struggles, punctuated by times of peace. I believe everyone, everywhere, at differing times of life, comes face-to-face with their own suffering. If you are not suffering now, you certainly will at some point in life, wouldn’t you like to be prepared? If your answer is yes...

How would you answer that question? Whether you disagree or not is of no consequence. What is consequential is how God answers that question, because He will stop at nothing to bring His people back to a proper devotion. Should you find that thought unsettling, then may I suggest this is a book you need to read.

Have you ever had an epiphany? I don’t mean a moment of clarity or a good idea, but have you ever had a God-given insight into something you did not know before? That is what this book is about, when God opened my eyes to see and mind to understand. We never know, what we do not know, when we do not know it. But what if we could? Would you be interested? Then this book is for you.

Do you ever wonder what you will be remembered for when you are gone? Will you leave any mark on the future that says, I was here, and that I mattered? I guess because I have rounded third base and am heading for home plate at age 71, those questions have more relevance for me than maybe they do for you. However, one day they will for you as well. Therefore, I want you to know, leaving a lasting legacy should begin today while you are still here, because none of us has a guarantee on tomorrow.

Are you like me in finding it difficult to love people the way God does? Why do you think that is more of chore than a delight? Could it be that today we have missed what it means to love like God? Would you like to how to do just that? If so, then this book might be just the thing for you to discover just why if is so important that we learn to love like God.

Now I want you to know that like a baby born into God’s family, I was not born knowing much and I made some mistakes. In my early years of being called by God, like a baby, most of what I was learning about God and His word came from experiencing it as the Spirit of God taught me. This idea of experiencing God and His Word makes me wonder if that isn’t why people are drawn to reading the Psalms, because they reveal what it was for someone else to experience God. Phrases like taste and see the Lord is good and His Word is sweeter than the honeycomb are conveying the experiencing of God ...

Do you know why we see so little change in our world today? Do you know why the best of solutions are doomed to fail? Do you wonder why everything seems to be coming apart at the seams at every level of society? In the orchestration of God’s sovereignty, He is tearing it all down, because most people even those who profess Jesus as Lord, are chasing after their own plans and purpose, not that of God who calls us. That is why our personal lives are disasters, our nation is a train wreck, and the world has gone to hell in a handbasket. It is all orchestrated by God hoping to awaken us to ...

If like me, you think our world and where we are going is the wrong direction, as we gullibly follow others only to find nothing makes sense, then maybe this book is for you. If you are not sure ask yourself this: Are you tired of all the promised changes, of all the band-aids solutions for the brokenness within you and in the world, of all the rhetoric that is just the same old lies packaged in a new way. Do you long for hope and real change? Do you ever wonder how just one person could possibly make a difference when you cannot even make a difference in your own life?