John 1 : 17 " For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ". Have you ever experienced a "Grace Period" in your life? A grace period is "a period of time after a deadline for an obligation, during which a late fee or other action that would have been taken as a result of failing to meet the deadline is waived. Grace periods can range from a number of minutes to a number of days and even longer". In the world's system...
Read MoreWhere There's Smoke, There's Fire
Genesis 39: 2-3 "But the Lord was with Joseph, and He {though a slave} was a successful and prosperous man: and he was in the house of His master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all that he did to flourish and succeed in his hand" When my kids were younger, we had a fire pit in our back yard. It was such a great place to gather with friends and family, and roast marshmallows and relax around the fire. The best part...
Read MoreExhale
Genesis 12:2 (Amplified Bible) - “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you {with an abundant increase of favors} and make your name famous and distinguished, and you will be a blessing {dispensing good to others}”. There's a really great song that says it all for me about grace, it's called Exhale by Plumb. Listen to these powerful lyrics...
Read MoreNo Sweat
Matthew 11:28-30 (Message Bible) “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.” I love that, the unforced rhythms of grace. When it comes to exercise, I know that I’ve done an exceptional workout when...
Read MoreWatch the Tram Car Please
Psalm 35:27 "Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant." The five most frequently repeated words at the Jersey Shore every summer are not "license and registration please", or "we are all booked up". Instead, it's...
Read MoreAll in the Family
Genesis 12:3 (Amplified Bible) - "And I will bless those who bless you [who confer prosperity or happiness upon you] and curse him who curses {or} uses insolent language toward you; in you will all the families {and} kindred of the earth be blessed [and by you they will bless themselves]." If you are over 50 years old, you may remember the 1970's hit TV comedy, All in the Family, depicting a so-called typical blue collar family from New York City. Who can forget the head of the house, Archie Bunker, extremely...
Read MoreGood to Great
Genesis 12:2 - "And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you [with abundant increase of favors] and make your name famous {and} distinguished, and you will be a blessing [dispensing good to others]." If you haven't already, you have got to hear this story about Nate Boyer. He describes himself in his earlier years as very average, non-descript, "rudderless", without direction. Then, as a young man just out of high school, while sitting on his couch in his living room, he saw a program on TV about...
Read MoreJust Bring Yourself
Hebrews 8:10 - "I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people". When I was single, I got a lot of dinner invitations to people's homes, and I would always ask them, "What can I bring?". Being that I wasn't the most domesticated bachelor, I couldn't bake, and I couldn't cook very well, they would always answer...
Read MoreNo If's, And's or But's
Romans 8:4 – “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” You’ve probably heard the phrase “No if’s, and’s or but’s”, most likely from your…parents! It means “No excuses! If you don’t mow the lawn, you can’t go to the movies, no if’s, and’s or but’s!” Sound familiar? Maybe so, however, the way I’m thinking about this phrase is entirely different.
Read MoreAdding Fuel to the Fire
1 Corinthians 15:56 – “The strength of sin is the law”. Recently in the news was a story of a man that accidentally set fire to three cars while trying to get rid of bed bugs! The New Yorker was hospitalized after dousing the interior of his rental car with...
Read MoreWho's Your Daddy?
John 17:25-26 – “O righteous Father, indeed the world has not known You; but I have known You, and these have known that You have sent me. And I made known to them Your name, and will make it known, so that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” In the movie Taken, Liam Neeson plays a character named Bryan, the father of a young adult girl abducted in Paris by a human trafficking ring. The outlook is not good as the daughter...
Read MoreTake What's Yours
Matthew 6:11 – “Give us this day our daily bread”. Some of my favorite memories are of dinner time as a young boy in the Fortunato household. Imagine five kids, mom, dad, around the kitchen table…a lot could, and often would happen. People talked over one another, lots of hijinks, questions were asked that you were supposed to answer, it was really interesting. But there’s one thing that none of us ever did...
Read MoreStickability
Ephesians 6:18 - “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” Stickability. Stick with it. Persevere. Press through until the end. Keep praying until you pray through. So many times, if something doesn’t happen as quickly as we think...
Read More"Thanks-given"
2 Peter 1:3 "According as his divine power has "given" unto us all things..." My favorite holiday to celebrate has always been Thanksgiving. As a child, I have great memories of our family going to the big rivalry football game on Thanksgiving morning and then...
Read MoreHave Your Logged Onto "Faith-Book" Today?
Romans 10:17 – “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God”. Did you know there are currently 1.32 billion monthly active users on Facebook? That’s astounding to me. Americans spend an average of...
Read MoreLess Than $1 Grace...Free
Ephesians 2:8 (Amplified Bible) – “For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment {and} made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;” Did you hear the story of the people who put some antiques out on their front lawn with a sign that read “free” on them? People could have taken whatever they wanted, but...
Read MoreFrom Beggar to Businessman
1 Samuel 10:6 – “And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophecy with them, and shall be turned into another man”. American author, salesman and motivational speaker, “Zig” Ziglar tells this story…A number of years ago, he was walking down a major street in a large American city, and he saw a beggar with a container of pencils for sale for $1.00...
Read MoreLife A La Mode
John 10:10 (Amplified Bible) – “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have {and} enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).”
Whoever put ice cream on a pie first is a topic of discussion without a definitive answer. What is known is that it was served at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, where some restaurant venue served slices of pie with a scoop of ice cream on top. The French saw it as audacious...
Read MoreThere's A Blessing With Your Name On It
Numbers 13:30 - "And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it."
How you see yourself is how you will experience life! Winners win long before they get in the competition. In my first year of college...
Read More10-4, Over and Out
Romans 10:4 – “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes”.
My friend and me were texting back and forth, and were about to wrap it up when he texted, “10-4”. Remember that phrase? Haven’t heard it in a while. For those of you who are not familiar with the “ten-codes”, they are...
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