Panting

“Clearly the devil tried to turn believers against each other. In the opening verse of Acts 6, the enemy used a practical oversight to provoke ungodly thoughts, attitudes, and words. Even the appearance of bias or favoritism is a potently-effective tactic he used then…and uses now in my congregation. Praise God, His people were able to thwart the attack of the evil one! And not only to defeat it, but to increase in strength and in effectiveness.”

Source: Panting, Choosing Men to Serve the Church, “Applying God’s Word to Me”

“Could such happen also to me? Do I entertain any cravings and nourish any fascinations that could likewise bewitch me and lead me astray? After all, I am no less human than Simon. Besides, we live in times of great peril and mounting deception. But we can survive! We can prosper and thrive! We can be more than conquerors!”

Source: Panting, Simon Wants to Buy Power, “Applying God’s Word to Me”

“We need to know the truth. We need to stand on the truth. We need to live the truth. We need to declare the truth. Sometimes, though, that is inconvenient.”

Source: Panting , Suffering for Christ’s Sake, “Applying God’s Word to Me”

“I want my faith here to last as long as my life here. I want to continue faithfully in the faith as did Stephen. Eventually Jesus chose to finish Stephen’s faith. I want the finishing of my faith to likewise be of Jesus’ choosing and timing. I don’t want my faith to end prematurely!”

Source: Panting, Stephen’s Martyrdom, “Applying God’s Word to Me”

“Whatever got into the hearts of Ananias and Sapphira to think God would wink at their self-aggrandizing scheme?! Somehow they must have persuaded themselves that the odds of incurring God’s wrath were so low that taking the risk made sense against the ‘benefits’ they expected to enjoy. Or maybe they simply didn’t even factor in the God-sees-us angle.”

Source: Panting, The Sin of Ananias and Sapphira, “Applying God’s Word to Me”