What’s over the hill or around the bend? Does it scare you when you cannot see ahead? My two great-grandsons in the photo were excited to get over the bridge to get to the ocean. A trip to the beach is a big adventure!
All in God's Promises
He Throws My Sin Behind
In a world constantly shifting beneath our feet, where even the most steadfast people, institutions, and laws can prove fallible, what can we truly depend on? While few things are 100% reliable, the Word of God offers an unwavering anchor.
He Forgets My Sin
My best friend betrayed me and later apologized, but I could not forget what she did. Even though it’s been years, I still remember the hurt of that betrayal. It threatened to destroy our relaitonship.
I Can Appliqué, or Can I?
When my daughter decided to decorate her new baby’s room in Hyland cows, my sister-in-law sent me a pattern to do an appliqué of one on the sewing machine. She thought using the leftover scraps from the baby quilt I had done made a great idea. She even supplied me with a YouTube video about how to do it.
God’s Dwelling Place
Our young family moved twelve times. Each move felt more chaotic and unceremonious than the last. In comparison, move-in day for Solomon’s Temple must have transpired very differently! Enormous crowds, prayers, and a fourteen-day celebration marked the occasion. On the first day, Solomon asked an interesting question during his prayer of dedication: “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens even the highest heaven cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built” (1 Kings 8:27).
God’s Created World
The compassion for God’s creation lingers as part of the legacy of St. Francis* of Assisi. In fact, a crumbling statue of St. Francis embracing a small bird graces my garden and reminds me of my own increasing sensitivities to God’s creation.
A Little Like Heaven
A perfect day for a drive through the country, my friend and I set out to find bluebonnets. We had heard about some good places to look, so with the GPS set for success, we headed out.
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.
Salvation Lasts Forever
When my daughter was about two years old, she loved to play games with her daddy. During one of these games, she would run to her daddy, he would catch her and throw her up in the air. She would giggle and as he put her down, she would run away and say, “Do it again!” and run back toward him giggling.
God’s Strange Work
God’s work of judgment is “strange” to Him. It’s a task alien to His nature. Scripture is clear that God’s act of judgment is always righteous and just, but as Lamentations states, God’s act of afflicting His people is not an act from His heart.
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?
My Soul
I have learned why my soul blesses the Lord.
David understood this too and says…
Seeking God
The last time I recall seeking help with everything-within-me was in a dream -- actually a nightmare. A vicious snake coiled up at my feet and held me frozen with his gaze. I called for help, but no one heard me. With all my physical strength, I filled my lungs with air, then screamed H-E-L-P! with everything within me. I awoke to a pounding heart and a sweaty night shirt. I still vividly recall the emotion of that dream—that moment of desperation.
Minding our Tenses Well: Day 5
In theory, the future begins with the next mili-second and stretches out to the limits of our imagination, and every moment in between. That is a good definition if you are a clock or a calendar; however the God who set His created order within the flow of past, present and future, intended time to be the backdrop not the centerpiece.
Minding our Tenses Well: Day 1
Where I live, it is an almost season. The days are almost summery, the flowers in the garden are almost blooming, it is almost time for neighborly visits on the porch and almost time to take a walk without grabbing a jacket on the way out.
Which Way Do We Go?
Moses grew up in the lap of luxury, raised by the daughter of Pharaoh. Think of the irony, Pharaoh, who tried to kill all the boy Israelite babies ended up with one growing up in his own household.
On That Day
The book of Haggai winds down dramatically with promise after promise from God, first of supernatural intervention: “I will shake…I will overturn…(I will) shatter…I will overthrow” (2:21-22). But when, wonders Zerubbabel—when?
Be Strong. Press On.
So the people climbed the hill and got the wood (1:8), and the work on the house of the LORD began in earnest. A month into the rebuild, Haggai spoke again: “‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem like nothing?’” (2:3).
Promises-Promises
God’s heart is for His people. We saw that yesterday when He told us the kind of fast in which He approves. One that involves setting people free from heavy burdens, and sharing with the hungry and homeless. Today, let’s look at His beautiful promises when we love others in these ways.