Relationship With God | Wayne Stiles

Archives For Relationship with God

Posts by Wayne Stiles related to a relationship with God.

Your Motivation for Living for God

Before I had a family, I had a different car—a black Firebird with T-tops.

Sitting behind those eight cylinders, I could go from zero to too-fast in about five seconds (but, of course, I never did).

Your Motivation for Living for God Your Motivation for Living for God

(Photo by Photodune)

After Cathy and I had our first daughter, I decided I needed a family vehicle. Car seats don’t fit in Firebirds.

So I sold the car.

A few months later, I found a spare set of keys to the Firebird, and I thought: I need to get these to the new owner. Even though I could have kept the keys (as insignificant as it seemed), they really weren’t mine to keep. I had sold them, in a sense, when I sold the car.

Living for God is like finding a spare set of keys to a car you no longer own.

In fact, you have a whole lot of keys that aren’t yours.

Trying to Understand God’s Plan for You

Tough circumstances of life always change our minds about God.

They either tempt us to doubt what He’s promised, or they draw us closer to Him in faith. But we never stay the same.

Trying to Understand Gods Plan for You Trying to Understand Gods Plan for You

(Photo by Photodune)

God’s plan for your life is revealed and tested in times of struggle.

If you’re struggling today, don’t miss the opportunity to gain a greater understanding of God’s plan for you.

Joseph shows you how.

Did the Old Testament Offer Only One Way to God?

We can only approach God’s presence God’s way. But are there multiple ways?

The New Testament clearly reveals that only through Jesus can anyone come to God the Father (John 14:6; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 John 2:23).

But what about in the Old Testament?

Ten Commandments sign on Mount Zion tb010312633 Did the Old Testament Offer Only One Way to God?

(Photo courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

After King David conquered Jerusalem and secured it as his capital, he desired to bring the Ark of the Covenant up from Kiriath-Jearim into his new City of David. But in his passion to have God’s presence, David neglected to follow God’s principles. That negligence of improperly transporting the Ark cost a man his life (2 Samuel 6).

Three months later, David correctly transported the Ark into Jerusalem and placed it in a tent he pitched for its keeping.

In this experience, David gained a profound respect for God’s holiness.

This principle directly relates to the question: did the Old Testament offer only one way to God?

Traditions, Truth, and Praying with Your Eyes Open

Most Americans find it difficult to identify with the Jews who rock before the Western Wall in Jerusalem. I know I did at first.

It seemed, well, just . . . odd.

Then I thought about my traditions. Are they any less bizarre?

Traditions Truth and Praying with Your Eyes Open Traditions, Truth, and Praying with Your Eyes Open

(Photo: men praying at Jerusalem’s Western Wall, courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

Oddness just comes in different flavors. They’re called “traditions.”

Jews pray with their heads covered; we take our hats off.
Their prayers are public and loud and showy; ours are private and quiet and restrained.
They rock back and forth and mumble from a book; we bow our heads, close our eyes and utter unrehearsed words.

It’s easy in the familiarity of our own traditions to shake our fingers at the oddities of others. Jews pray while rocking, Muslims kneel with their bottoms in the air, and Christians bow our heads and close our eyes.

Blend any tradition—bowing, standing, prostrating, rocking, kneeling or jumping—with no personal relationship with the true God, and it’s totally pointless.

Maybe we Christians should open our eyes during prayer for a change.

How to Prepare for a Holy Land Tour

You’ve finally decided to take a spiritual journey to the Holy Land—to the land of the Bible.

I can promise you, you won’t come home from Israel the same!

But there’s something else you need to know.

How to Prepare for a Holy Land Tour How to Prepare for a Holy Land Tour

(Photo: the aqueduct at Caesarea)

You already realize you are investing a lot of money this trip, and you want to make the most of your time. But you will get twice as much out of your Holy Land tour if you’ll also invest some time preparing for it.

Here are some ways that will help you maximize your trip—by preparing mentally, practically, physically, and spiritually.

God’s Commandments—His Rules Have Reasons

The names may not sound like much to us.

Names like Beth Shean, Taanach, Ibleam, Megiddo and Gezer. These were cities whose residents the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim failed to drive away.

So what? Why not let the inhabitants live in this region since they wanted it so badly?

The Lord knew why.

Megiddo aerial from northeast tbs120210011 God’s Commandments—His Rules Have Reasons

(Photo: Megiddo sat in a strategic spot. Courtesy of Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

The failure of the tribes to drive out the inhabitants defied God’s commandments to resist the culture. Instead, God’s people tolerated the culture . . . and then embraced it.

Their example urges us to evaluate God’s commandments in our own lives.

His rules have reasons. (And they are good ones.)

Dealing with Lonely Holidays

For many people, the holidays draw up painful memories.

Sore spots from childhood or the loss of loved ones hit hard during this sentimental season. While many people celebrate the joys of Christmastime, others suffer lonely holidays.

Dealing with Holiday Loneliness Dealing with Lonely Holidays

(Photo courtesy of stock.xchng)

During one of the most desperate times of King David’s life, the anointed future king of Israel found himself running from two separate enemies—hardly a time to celebrate. With the Philistines to the west and King Saul to the east, a distressed David sought refuge in the cave of Adullam (1 Samuel 22:1–2).

David felt very alone.

His situation offers encouragement to us during lonely holidays.

Jesus’ Birth in a Barn Had You in Mind

It must have seemed really strange. Honestly, it still does.

Two thousand years of waiting for the Messiah, and He is born in a barn and laid in a feed trough.

Shepherd with lamb in Negev riverbed tb010303618 Jesus Birth in a Barn Had You in Mind

(Shepherd in modern Israel, courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

If it had been up to us, we would have given God’s Son a room in the finest five-star hotel in Bethlehem. But Jesus got only a one-star motel—and God had to provide the star!

When the shepherds hurried into Bethlehem to find the baby of whom the angels spoke, the wonder of God’s power must have seemed a strange contradiction to the conditions they found.

No halos hovered over Joseph, Mary, and Jesus.
Instead, they saw a poor couple surrounded by animals and the smell of manure.

Actually, the crudity of Jesus’ birth story offers really good news.

Because it had you in mind.

Offerings in Leviticus—What They Were and Why They Mattered

For most Christians, the book of Leviticus is as untraveled as the wilderness in which Moses wrote it.

It’s not hard to understand why. I mean, who cares about sacrifices no longer needed or diet codes no longer in effect? Can they teach us anything today?

In a word: plenty.

Tabernacle model from above bwb032300501 Offerings in Leviticus—What They Were and Why They Mattered

(Photo: Offerings were made in the Tabernacle. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable.” —2 Timothy 3:16

Here’s a brief summary of the five offerings in Leviticus—what they were and why they mattered. I’ve also included a free chart you can download and a short list of resources to help you make sense of Leviticus.

Pools of Bethesda—God’s Kindness and Our Repentance

Very few people are drawn to God by intimidation.

Instead, the Lord urges us to come to Him by revealing the kindness of His mercy.

Pools of Bethesda and Crusader chapel tb011612845 Pools of Bethesda—God’s Kindness and Our Repentance

(Photo: Pools of Bethesda and Crusader chapel, courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

Once we comprehend the depth of our imperfections, and the futility of our own efforts to remove them, we are in a position to respond to God’s kindness.

Jesus revealed this simple truth one day in Jerusalem with an act of mercy at the Pools of Bethesda.