Kimberly and I met when we were both about 23 years old. We both worked in corporate communication for a large bank.
The Love of God
God is love (1 John 4:8). God and love are synonymous, like God and good. God always loves because He is love. We can’t know true love apart from God since love comes from God (1 John 4:7). Whatever love we experience from others is a reflection of God’s love. We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19).
We Are Better Together
The writer of Hebrews admonishes Christians to continue to meet together because it is good. God has designed his followers to need each other.
But honestly, who among us hasn’t hesitated to drag ourselves out of bed some Sunday mornings?
Eternal Jesus
What pictures come to mind when you think about Jesus? Maybe a newborn baby lying in a manger in a stable in Bethlehem. Maybe a child in the temple confounding learned men with his knowledge. Maybe a man in his early thirties teaching and preaching. Maybe bruised and beaten, hanging on a cross.
God Comforts His People
Trouble and pain. We can’t escape it. Oh, but we try. We may lie or blame someone else to deflect trouble away from us. We may avoid dealing with conflict or stress by distracting ourselves. I can clean really well when I’m procrastinating. Sometimes shopping, social media or television are my diversions.
A Good Book
My daughter and I perused the books at a local resale shop. She showed me a book she was interested in buying. It was a volume containing the first two books in a series of four books. Excitedly, I brought her the second volume I had seen which contained the remaining two books in the series.
Girl! You Smell Good!
Think about the smell of a batch of chocolate chip cookies or a hot apple pie baking in the oven. The scent of a vase full of Stargazer Lilies is distinguishable among all other flowers and is one of my favorites. These aromas fill the air around us, are beautiful and pleasing, and they bring joy. Paul describes the knowledge of God as a pleasing aroma.
Take Hold of the Promise
Why is it sometimes scary to take hold of a promise? Especially if it is something God has told you about and prepared you for it? The Israelites faced this fear about a year after leaving Egypt.
Through the Wilderness
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to live our whole life on earth in our “land of milk and honey”? Unfortunately, that just isn’t the case. When God finally led the Israelites out of Egypt (after 400 years in captivity), He didn’t lead them directly to their promised land. They spent the first year in the wilderness..
Between a Rock and Hard Place
Have you ever found life has you between a rock and a hard place? When Pharaoh finally released the Israelites, they quickly found themselves in this predicament. God led them to make camp between the Red Sea and the wilderness. When Pharaoh soon changed his mind and pursued them, they were caught with no way to escape.
In the Midst of Your Egypt
The Egyptians held the Israelites captive for 400 years. When they cried out to God, He heard them and got Moses involved.
Through the burning bush, God spoke to Moses, I have observed the misery of my people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors. I know about their sufferings, so I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8).
Bean Soup: Day 5
That our culture—like Esau—is one of instant gratification, is hardly news. The soaring statistics in both credit card debt and divorce have been proof of this fact for many years. The following chart is a stunning summary of what has happened to American/Western culture in the last century and a half:
Modernism: the late 19th/early 20th century. Personal experience questions truth.
Post-modernism: mid-late 20th century. Personal experience defines/chooses truth.
Pseudo-modernism: 1990’s—today. Personal experience creates truth.
Bean Soup: Day 4
If you were looking for material for a daytime television drama, you could hardly do better than the story of Jacob and Esau, grandsons of Abraham, the father of faith. It has sibling rivalry, parental partiality and on-going intrigue, all set against a backdrop of wealth and power within the palace walls (if the walls were made of animal skins…).
Bean Soup: Day 3
Recently, a friend and I met for a catch-up lunch. As so often happens, the conversation drifted to events in the lives of our children and grand-children. Soon we were enveloped in the low-frequency melodrama that is modern family life, along with the seeming inability, in many areas, to do much about any of it. (And mothers hate not being able to fix things!). Then I looked at my friend and said, “We shouldn’t be surprised. Can you name one family in the Old Testament that wasn’t dysfunctional?” She thought about it for a moment, then agreed.
Bean Soup: Day 1
Several years ago now, our little neighborhood Bible study piled in our cars and drove an hour to a nearby city. Our destination was a day-long conference led by a woman who for over forty years had been a world-impacting teacher and author of Bible studies.
Kingdom Courage ~ Kairos Time
The Greek word, kairos, means the opportune time is now.
Dr. Tony Evans, founder and pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, Dallas, Texas, outlines his views of a Kingdom Disciples living in the present day culture.
Kingdom Scars
Do you have any scars on your body due to injury or illness? These constant reminders of past difficulties are sometimes good reminders of the faithfulness of God during times of healing.
Do you have any invisible scars or scars of the heart?
Kingdom Confidence
If you have given your heart to Jesus Christ, you are his disciple. The term disciple does not exclusively describe missionaries or clergy; it describes a Christ-Follower. If you are certain you have accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord of your life, you are not exempt from the highest calling to live as a disciple! This is exciting because it means Jesus has given you the authority in heaven and on earth to act as His Disciple.
Kingdom Living
In the understanding of many, we enter the Kingdom of God only when we enter Heaven.
However, the Bible teaches Christ followers that Jesus sent us out to proclaim the kingdom of God in the world now. We have the responsibility and privilege of inviting people to live under God’s authority in every part of life. But as we proclaim this message, we should live it by acknowledging God’s reign over all of our life.
Kingdom Flock
These are tender words from Jesus. We are his “little flock.” He is aware that some of us need to hear a childlike statement spoken over us now and then. Our hearts yearn for calm and reassurance during these uncertain times. Like being rocked or sung over as a child, this melodious verse could be a lovely nursery song.