Remember when your parents said, just do what I say? Did you ever tell yourself, I’ll never say to my kids, because I said so? Did you keep that vow? I said it as well, and I broke that vow as well. I think God says the same thing to us!
All in Faith/Trust
Grateful for Mercy
On a calm day as I sailed across the Sea of Galilee on a boat tour in Israel, I could not help but think of this story…
Listen and Live Freely
Recently on a trip from the country into the city, I drove by a dense forest. It looked beautiful from a distance. But as I looked closely, I could see most of the trees were covered in thick vines that had climbed to the tree-tops, blocking the light from reaching them. This was not a healthy forest.
Seek Heaven
When I was young, I thought the Colorado mountains were so beautiful that as a child I asked my mom, “Are we in heaven?”
What if… we really could just drive into heaven?
What if… it could be that easy to get there?
Interludes
In the big picture it seems to me we are in the greatest interlude of all, from Eden to Eternity. God’s intent was not that we’d so quickly be tossed out of paradise to spend our days in disarray. But we chose to sin, so we are in limbo as have been God’s people from Adam down through Abraham to Moses to Daniel till Jesus. Ah, but this one will end in the perfect peace of eternity future.
Mat-Carrying, Roof-Raising Friends
It didn’t take long for Jesus’ ministry to take off following His forty days of temptation in the desert (4:1-13). Luke is peppered with brief snapshots of Him teaching, healing, connecting with the people: the news about (Jesus) spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of all their sicknesses (5:15).
An Aroma that Impacts
We believers are to be the fragrance of Christ in this world. As you and I are filled with the Spirit, His fragrance flows through our words and actions. Is the fragrance of Christ permeating the world through you? Are you so filled with the Spirit of Christ, that His fragrance can’t help but flow from you?
God-given Knowledge
Mankind is unique among all of God’s creation. Within us, the Lord has placed an innate knowledge that more than this physical world exists. There is more to life than what we see and experience. God has set the knowledge of eternity in our hearts.
Thanksgiving is More Than a Holiday: Remember God
There are times when we feel alone as if God has sent us into exile, like the Israelites felt when exiled to Babylon for seventy years. The pain can be excruciating. Questions may arise that may lead to denial of the reality of our situation. We often cry when we recall our familiar, comfortable, and safe place where we felt God’s presence.
Jesus is With You – Through Life Challenges
We have all had those days of facing more complications than smooth sailing. We long for the postcard picture of the quiet beach, beautiful waters, and golden sand. Our little paradise far from problems.
The Greater Wealth
Think of your favorite scene that brings you contentment. It brings peace, no more want. It is the thought that if I could just live here… life would be good! Is it a home with a beautiful view of a landscape of lush rolling green fields? Or a beachside view? Or maybe a home with a view of a mountain range?
Reverence and Awe
Wow, Hebrews is intense! I am becoming more and more aware of that since I’ve been sauntering through its pages. I see that even God’s man Moses, at the base of Mount Sinai (12:21) said, “I am trembling with fear”.
Owl Eyes
What a lovely May day it was. As I gazed out my back window, mesmerized by the deep blues of the hydrangeas and the emerging pinks and reds of the roses, a couple of horn-rimmed eyeballs caught my attention. What in the world was an owl doing in my pecan?
Sauntering
As I longed to be out on the mountain trails this summer, the following quote by John Muir, writer and naturalist, caught my eye:
“People ought to saunter in the mountains, not hike! …people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked where they were going, they would reply, ‘A la sainte terre, to the Holy Land.’ And so they became known as sainte-terre-ers or saunterers.”
God's Enabling Call
God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, a voice of truth to a nation who desperately needed to listen to God. God’s call to Jeremiah was clear. Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations (Jeremiah 1:5).
Created with Purpose
The hot pan holders I made serve the purpose of keeping hands from burning when picking up something hot. Ephesians 2:10 tells us God made us for a purpose. Every human being has a God-given purpose. He made us with meaning and a reason to be here.
So, what are we to do with this information?
Laughter
Sarah laughed but it was laughter of doubt, as if to say… “Ha, that is not happening!”
Has God ever told you something that seemed laughable?
Searching for Joy
Are you searching for joy?
Me too.
The Gift of Memory
The scent of Pine stirred childhood memories of visiting my father’s “office,” a portable building beside the railroad tracks. Mondays through Fridays he loaded freshly cut Pine timber for shipping to a paper mill miles away. The scents and sounds of that busy spot returned as I watched a storm-damaged Pine tree transform into piles of sawdust and debris.