by Joe Bradley | Jul 18, 2022 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Life is a journey! It’s often a series of walks through valleys, climbing peaks, descending back into the valley and then repeating. It’s been said that life is a marathon, not a race. There are several significant life events (this list not exhaustive) that illustrate the challenge of the marathon…here are four: Death of a loved one Major illness or injury Job loss Relocation Have you experienced one of these “life events” recently? Perhaps a series of them within a short period of time? Are you at a point in your life where it seems to be one “hit” after another? Well, don’t feel like you own the exclusive rights. None are exempt! Are you on the top of the mountain? Remember that it takes less time (usually) to descend back down into the valley than it did to ascend up. God has a plan for each and every one of us. But know that He is Sovereign — and He is Good — ALWAYS! We can look at these “life events” from either a temporal or an eternal perspective. The temporal perspective: Life is a bowl of lemons – even when I make lemonade, it is still at best, bittersweet. I fight and fight and fight and still don’t seem to be making much progress. My efforts aren’t enough. I manage sometimes to get to the top of the hill but unsure...
by Trevor McDowell | Jul 11, 2022 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Lately, I have been spending time in Daniel chapter 9. This chapter has Daniel offering one of the great prayers in the Bible. And as an example to us, here we see how a man of God prayed to the Lord. We are told in this chapter that Daniel realizes that the 70 years of Babylonian captivity are about up, and the Jews would be returning to Jerusalem soon. Daniel decides to pray to God about this. It is interesting that instead of praying for God to send them back to Jerusalem, out from under their pain of their circumstances and into freedom, this is a prayer of repentance! As I reflect on the life of Daniel, he seems to be one of the few Old Testament characters that lives a consistently righteous life with no major screw ups. Many great men of the Bible had great flaws, which can be comforting for us that have flaws, but Daniel operated with wisdom and an unwavering desire to follow God throughout his life. Under great pressure and persecution, he never seemed to waver in his commitment to God no matter what the circumstance. However, in the opening of his prayer he confesses his sins and the sins of Israel. In verse 5 he says, “we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from your commandments and ordinances.” I would have thought it would be appropriate for Daniel to observe that Israel had served its due sentence and it was now time for God to return them to Jerusalem. But instead, Daniel repents for the Nation, including...
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