Walk With Darrell

As Christians we look forward to the Lord’s return. Perhaps today will be the day. The question we all need to answer, “Are we ready?” If the Lord returned today, could I say Lord, I lived today in such a way that the Lord would be proud of. If I knew the Lord was returning at 5:00 PM today, how would that affect what I did with my day. Would I just take it easy, or would I have a sense of urgency to make sure the people I knew, knew about Christ’s Good News of Salvation. In

1 Kings 19;12(KJV) And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. The Lord speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. He is the third person of the Trinity, co-equal with God the Father and God the Son. God’s Spirit dwells within each Christian, just as Jesus promised. Do we listen to the Holy Spirit? John14:15-17 15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to

There is a need and ache in each one of us to be loved. God created that desire in each one of us to feel real love. Man has tried many ways to fill that void in our hearts with things of the world. They have tried filling that void with created things. The ancients tried to fill that hole with golden idols. Today man have tried cars, wealth, success, and drugs to try and fill a void that God intended for Him to fill. Jesus speaks of this void in John 7:37. What Jesus gives i

Every relationship has its risks and rewards. In a relationship we make ourselves vulnerable, but the rewards offer great fulfillment in our lives. To have a relationship with Christ we also have a risk and reward. For example, to be a witness and testimony for God, you put yourself out for possible criticism. But like everything, when you compare the risk up against the reward of being a testimony for God it is worth it. Rick Warren says that criticism is the cost of influen

John 3:16 (NKJV) 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Do you realize that eternal life doesn’t start when you die? Eternal life starts the moment you invite Jesus Christ into your heart right here on earth. So, we have already started our eternal journey. In my human mind, my thoughts of eternal life are limited by my mere mortal thinking. However, God vision is not limited by our

Light versus Darkness When I was a young man, I was in the US Navy. Part of my Navy career I was assigned to an aircraft carrier that patrolled in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. There were times when we would perform operations at night without the ship’s running lights. The purpose we practiced these drills were to familiarize the crew so they could perform their duties in low light conditions. The reason the Navy operated in low light conditions is that they are trying to

Psalm 139:23 - (NIV) Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. We all have things that we treasure and hold close to our heart. We need to keep watch over our hearts. In Jeremiah, it tells us that the heart is full of deceitfulness. Jeremiah 17:9 (NIV) 9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? So, with the heart so deceitful how do we remove the impurities that plague the secret areas of our heart? The ans

Acts 16:30-31 (NIV) 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” This was the question asked by the Philippian jailor when he realized that Paul and Silas had not escaped from their prison cell after a earthquake broke them loose from their bonds. The jailor was ready to take his own life, thinking the prisoners had fled. Law demanded that a jailor who los

I grew up in Amo, Indiana until I went into the seventh grade and my family moved. Amo is a small town in central Indiana where both sets of grandparents lived along with aunts and uncles. Being a small town, I had cousins all over the place. I grew up going to Sunday School where I would have a relative usually be one of my Sunday School teachers. I had my grandmother, aunts, and mom take turn teaching my Sunday School classes. Each summer our little church would have vacati

I have prayed to God over the years on a daily basis and the bible tells us that God hears our prayers. 1 John 5:14 “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. OK, so it says that God hears my prayer, but it doesn’t say how God will answer our prayers. I have had some prayers that God’s answer was “NO”. It happens. So, when God answers our prayer with a “NO” how should we handle it. Do we get mad that our pr

I had a great dad growing up. He was one of those dads who would listen to me and then give me his thoughts. As I think back about my dad it is easy to see that he made time for me. In my early years we lived on a farm. I can remember dad always had farm work to do, but he made time to hit flyballs to me or he would spend time shooting hoops with me. The most important things were not how good I threw or caught the ball, but the time I spent with my dad. Time is something

As believers we have a treasure that can change lives. That treasure is the good news of what Jesus did for mankind by dying on the cross. That makes us “Stewards of Hope”. We steward the only message that can give people what their hearts need most, which is hope. Hope that our sins can be forgiven. Hope that our prayers can be answered. Hope that the doors of opportunity will be unlocked. Hope that broken relationships will be reconciled. Hope that our bodies will be healed

Have you ever considered how fear affects our life? There are all kind of events that can cause fear in our lives. It can negatively affect our thoughts, conduct, and even physical health. Our fears can even hinder us from experiencing all that God wants to accomplish in our life. Fear can prevent us from acting. Have we ever had to make decisions while facing fear of making the wrong choice? The risk of failure can prevent us from making decisions. Lost opportunities cause e

David was described as a man after God’s own heart. David wasn’t perfect by any means, but he did strive to walk close to God. Even with David’s ups and down he wanted to always restore his relationship with God. Sometimes we can fool ourselves into thinking I am doing OK; everything is right with God when actually it might not be. David courageously asked God to conduct an internal evaluation This was a brave request considering God knows all things, even that which we hide

Hebrews 10:23 (NLT) 23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Despite God’s promises, despite Christ’s love, and despite our countless blessings we sometimes can still lose hope from time to time. If we are all honest, we have all been there. When we do we need the encouragement of Christian friends, the life-changing power of prayer, and the truth that comes from God’s Word. When you find yourself falling into

Ephesians 4:26-27(NIV) 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. Anger is something that is within all of us. There are times when anger is appropriate, even Jesus was angry with the moneychangers in the temple. On occasion we might have to confront evil and it is appropriate to have anger. But most of the time we have to deal with our anger on everyday things that we face. If you have ever pl

Have you ever had one of those days when you have all these plans and it seemed like everything from the start goes wrong? You realize you are out of coffee; the check engine light comes on; someone cuts you off in traffic; you walk into work, and it is a train wreck. These are flash points for the battle that is brewing on the inside of us. How are we going to react? Will the frustration start to rise, or will you just shrug it off and continue on with our daily plans? We ha

Yesterday, we were sitting with family and the topic of heaven came up. We were all Christians and expect to go to heaven when we die, and yet we did not have a thorough knowledge of what heaven is going to be like. We have lost family members that are already in heaven. Sure, we had bits and pieces from sermons, songs, and parts of scripture, but there is a lot we didn’t know about our future home. We did, however, realize that eternity is a long time. When Jesus left our ea

Do we see problems from God’s perspective? When things happen in our life do we ever question God, “what does this mean, God?’ and “How does it affect me?” Most of time when problems come into life, we have a tendency to say, “woe is me” and wonder how this problem is going to affect us. Will it cause me pain? Will it cost me money? We tend to look at it from an earthly perspective. Have we ever looked at the problem from the perspective, what is God trying to teach me? How

Proverbs 3:13 (NIV) “13 Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding” Today we are flooded with information everything from television, internet, radio, books, and expert commentaries. Many of these sources give us an array of instructions on how to live our lives in today’s hectic lifestyle. One of the problems of the world’s wisdom is that it is always changing as public opinion changes. Instead, look to God for Wisdom. Psalm 111:10 (NIV) 10 The fear of t