“Love is patient and kind . . . . “  (I Corinthians 13:4, ESV) The holiday season can be stressful. We’ve got places to go, things to do, and not much time to fit it all in. When stores are crowded and lines are slow, patience may be in short supply—mine, yours and everyone else’s. Maybe it’s time to pause, take a deep breath, and look at those around us. We never know the pressure and worries others may be going through. Let me tell you about an evening I once shared with a group of friends. We were celebrating a birthday and were looking forward to a nice time together. when things go wrong When we arrived at the restaurant, the hostess seated us. Then we waited. Eventually a waitress came and asked about our beverages. We waited. Our food orders were eventually taken. We waited longer. The food finally came—but was lukewarm. It had waited somewhere too. What was to have been a fun birthday celebration became an evening of endurance. But we were in a relaxed mood and decided to catch up on news and forget the poor service. No one even mentioned the cold food. At…

And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying . . . But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem.” (Acts 9:11-13, ESV) Saul, the fierce persecutor of the early church, was on a mission. He was on his way to Damascus to hunt down more Christians, but his plans went awry as he traveled toward that city. Suddenly a bright light and a Voice stopped him there on the road. When Saul asked, “Lord, what do You want me to do,” he was instructed to go into the city and wait for a visit. Someone who would tell him what to do. It’s a familiar story to most of us. GOD’S MESSENGER The man God chose to reach out to Saul was Ananias, a disciple in the Damascus church. But who was this man? From the few details we find in Acts, Ananias was an ordinary man tapped by God to fulfill an unusual mission. Except for a brief description…

“For with God nothing will be impossible.” (Luke 1:37, NKJV) Have you ever prayed for the seemingly impossible? Or did the impossibility of your need keep you from praying? It doesn’t have to. When we ask in faith, nothing is impossible with God. James 1:6 tells us: “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.” (NKJV) Possibilities with God Let’s consider a few impossibilities that God turned into realities. God created everything out of nothing. (Genesis 1) Ninety-year-old infertile Sarah gave birth to a healthy baby boy. (Genesis 21) The sun and the moon stood still. (Joshua 10) The sun moved backward ten steps on the sundial. (Isaiah 38) Three men walked out of a fiery furnace with no burns on their body. (Daniel 3) Lazarus was raised from the dead (John 11). Many other instances are also recorded. If there are any limitations on what God can do, it is because of our lack of faith—not His inability. The Lord doesn’t mind when we seek Him for the difficult or the impossible. Impossible isn’t even in His vocabulary. He invites us…

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13, NKJV) The early church suffered strong persecution, but they faced their persecutors with boldness. They demonstrated reckless faith despite the opposition they faced. Their stories are a lesson for us all. The Boldness of Ordinary Men Somehow, I have always pictured the apostles and others I read about in the New Testament as super Christians—fearless, courageous, and determined. But then I realized they were just ordinary people like you and me. The boldness they displayed in standing up against opposition was through the power of the Spirit, not because they were some kind of super saint. Acts 4:13 says the religious leaders “perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men.” Yet these ordinary men were the ones God used to build His church and carry this gospel to the world. What does it really mean to be bold? Boldness is defined as a “lack of hesitation or fear in the face of risk or danger; refusal to be held back by the opinion or judgment of others” (Dictionary.com).…