2008-09-06T13:04:07-05:00 GCI info@gospel.com http://www.gospel.com/feeds/topics/faith http://intothyword.org/apps/articles/default.asp?articleid=44528&columnid=3895 2008-09-06T13:04:07-05:00 Into Thy Word EBooks on PDF format. Discovering and Applying Biblical Precepts... http://hutchcraft.com/A-Word-With-You/Your-Relationships/Singular-Love-4431 2008-08-28T15:51:50-05:00 It really makes a difference when you focus the warmth of the sun on one spot. It really makes a difference when you focus the warmth of your love on one person. Especially if that person is the life partner you have or one of the children God has entrusted to you. The question for today isn't whether you love your family - I'm sure you do. The question is this: does each member of your family feel loved by you? Now, that may depend on how much focused love they get from you. http://hutchcraft.com/A-Word-With-You/Your-Personal-Power/Crashing-to-an-Upgrade-4432 2008-08-28T15:51:19-05:00 It is one of God's strange and wonderful ways. He allows something to be taken away so He can ultimately replace it with something so much better! The time you really need to focus on that is the time in between, when you're without what you've lost and not yet experiencing God's upgrade. Our missionary pilot friend didn't get his better plane the day after his first plane crashed. There were months of faith-stretching, heavy duty praying, and soul-searching. But in His always perfect time, God did what our friend believed He would do - replace the loss with something better. http://hutchcraft.com/A-Word-With-You/Your-Relationships/Defying-the-Vultures-4435 2008-08-28T15:49:14-05:00 You may be in a situation where you're pretty battered right now - physically, emotionally, spiritually, maybe financially, romantically. You're tired, depleted, maybe it looks like you're without hope, sort of like you're dead. Maybe you've even got some vultures circling you, telling you it's over. It's time to defy the vultures! http://hutchcraft.com/A-Word-With-You/Your-Most-Important-Relationship/The-One-Step-We-Miss-4439 2008-08-28T15:46:12-05:00 I asked this young woman, who really wanted to know Jesus but could never seem to get the relationship off the ground, this question: "Have you ever told the Lord you are really sorry for your sin and you're ready to change?" She had said yes to Jesus - but she'd missed an important ingredient in turning to God - saying no to sin http://hutchcraft.com/A-Word-With-You/Your-Most-Important-Relationship/Trading-Empty-For-Full-4303 2008-08-27T16:59:31-05:00 Not a bad deal. I gave my friend what was empty and he replaced it with what was full. Just like Jesus. I handed him a life that was pretty empty, and He gave me back a life that is amazingly full. He's done that for countless people, and He would love to do that for you. http://hutchcraft.com/A-Word-With-You/Your-Personal-Power/Power-to-Meet-The-Demands-4323 2008-08-27T16:45:06-05:00 It's amazing how we try to meet the demands of our life with what amounts to a little hand crank generator. We're browning out, blacking out, wearing out because we're not plugging into a much bigger power source. That power is dramatically on display in our word for today from the Word of God in Exodus 17 beginning in verse 8. The Bible says, "The Amalekites attacked the Israelites ... Moses said to Joshua, 'Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.'" http://hutchcraft.com/A-Word-With-You/Your-Most-Important-Relationship/When-The-Goal-Is-Beyond-Your-Reach-4348 2008-08-27T16:17:49-05:00 Sometimes you have to do things you've never done to reach what you've never had before. If you're a baby ... or if you're a child of God. If you always do what you've always done, you'll always have what you've always had. And that's all. And much of what you need in your life, and much of what you're restless for, and much of what God wants to give you is beyond your reach. As long as you stay in your comfort zone, it always will be. http://hutchcraft.com/A-Word-With-You/Your-Relationships/Courage-for-the-Unknown-4351 2008-08-27T16:16:13-05:00 It's amazing the difference your Father's hand can make when you're walking into the unknown - which is exactly where God may be leading you now. You've sensed His leading, and He's leading you out of the "tent" of your comfort zone, out of the light of the familiar and the safe, and He's leading you into some new territory for your family, your security, maybe for your career, your location, maybe your ministry. And the trail ahead is full of questions - maybe even bears. http://hutchcraft.com/A-Word-With-You/Your-Most-Important-Relationship/Hijackers-in-the-Church-4380 2008-08-27T15:41:45-05:00 Now that's one place you wouldn't expect to find hijackers - in the church. Oh, but they're there. If a hijacker is someone who tries to take over what belongs to someone else, to use it for their own ends, well then we've got quite a few hijackers in the church.