Following the broad sweep of history and answering the questions: What is true? What is important? What, now, shall we do?
The Timeless Fourth Commandment
What God says: "Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. You have six days in which to do your work, but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to Me. On that day no one is to work - neither you, your children, your servants, your animals, nor the sojourner who is...
A Prayer of Surrender And Supplication
Father, we stop at this moment and look to You, the source of all life, the source of all grace, all meaning, and all purpose. We love You and we offer our lives as a living sacrifice to You. Use Your grace now through us, to heal us in our relationship with You....
Majesty, Partially Defined
He wraps himself in light as if it were a robe, spreading out the sky like a canopy, laying the beams of his palace on the waters above, making the clouds his chariot, walking on the wings of the wind…. He established the earth on its foundations; it will never be...
Is God Your Buddy?
Let's first consider this question. Who Is God? God is our Sovereign King; the Rock of Israel. He is the Creator of the Universe. God is loving. He is good. He has a plan for us to be with Him for eternity. God is also wrathful. He sets standards for living, judges us...
Surprise!
Just when you think you may have a more or less quiet day in terms of God, He shows up powerfully. Like a good friend sharing wonderful, heartfelt experiences. Awesome, powerful, tear-filled experiences. Experiences earnestly poured out. Surely we will never be the...
The Order Of Things: Joy
Joy is the serious business of Heaven. The joy of the Lord is a gladness of heart, sometimes inexplicable, that comes from knowing God, abiding in Christ, and being filled with the Holy Spirit. "I will be filled with joy because of You. I will sing praises to Your...
The Order Of Things: Happiness
Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found. Psalm 119:35 NLT In the order of things (gratitude, goodness, happiness, joy), happiness is the third leg. The world tells us happiness comes from pursuing whatever will make us...
The Order Of Things: Goodness
The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all His creation. Psalm 145:9 NLT On the continuum of joy (gratitude, goodness, happiness, joy) we come today to goodness. (See here for thoughts on gratitude). Goodness is one of many attributes of God. Having...
The Order Of Things: Gratitude
It is not joy that makes us grateful. It is gratitude that makes us joyful. Brother David Steindl-Rast Joy is impossible without gratitude. In the order of things, gratitude comes first. Followed sequentially by goodness, happiness, and finally, joy.
Disciplined Worship: Our Utmost For His Highest
The importance of disciplined worship is demonstrated by each of the great patriarchs of Genesis. In Genesis 12:8, Abraham "pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord." Likewise...
The Connection Between The Word of God and The Spirit of God
There are some things that always go together. A person and her shadow, two sides of a coin, the blades of scissors, and the Spirit of God with the Word of God. It is the Word of God that establishes God’s will for His creation, and it is the Holy Spirit who enables,...
Jordan River Faith
But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” Luke 8:54. NIV Sometimes, when our circumstances just don’t seem to line up, God may be requiring a step of faith. Think of it this way: when the children of Israel crossed the Jordan River, they had to get...
Coincidence?
There are no coincidences in the Providence of God. Remember this the next time you hear a song and think of an estranged family member. Or you run into a childhood friend at the supermarket. Or you hear the same Bible verse featured on a radio program that you had...
Jesus on Joy
Jesus has gathered with His disciples in the upper room. He delivers some hard news, real gut-punches. He is leaving them. In fact, He declares to them that He must go. But Jesus doesn't end there. Some of Jesus's last words are not just about the inevitable and...
We Shall Never Forget
"If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate." Sandy Dahl, wife of Flight 93 pilot Jason Dahl (at a memorial in Shanksville, PA in 2002). "The attacks of September 11th were intended to break our spirit....
A Great Life
A great life is a balance of thinking big thoughts and simultaneously appreciating small pleasures.
Prayer And The Wandering Mind
“A man prayed, and at first he thought that prayer was talking. But he became more and more quiet until, in the end, he realized prayer is listening.” (Soren Kierkegaard 1813-1855) Sometimes we think we have to talk at God, and we forget that prayer is a conversation...
Well Lived
A life that is well lived is lived with purpose and at full speed to the last moment.
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