The Culture of Hope Founded on Faith
God of All Comfort
There are a few items I have been batting around in my brain regarding God’s comfort. In John 14:26-27, Jesus promised the presence of the Holy Spirit as our Comforter in His place: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I…..
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Jesus Never Changes
Fifteen years ago, Dan was diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma. Seven months of treatments involving chemotherapy and radiation followed. The year before I had developed a digital “Change Management” file, in the face of my own three surgeries in seven months, that was very helpful in dealing with the 180° turn-around that cancer brought into our lives. In those documents are ideas about change, like…..
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Every Home Has a Hush
There’s an old Spanish saying that “Every home has a hush” – everyone carries a burden in some form or fashion. But it was the poet Robert Browning Hamilton who suggested that difficulty can be a strong teacher:
“I walked a mile with Pleasure; She chatted all the way; But left me none the wiser, For all she had to say. I walked…..
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Those Who Seek Him
“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled and all…..
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Last week we explored the idea that God’s Grace teaches us to love God by bringing salvation to all mankind, teaches us to live in obedience to God, and teaches us to long for our eternal hope in God’s presence. In Scripture we are metaphorically referred to as the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, and the Bond-Servant of Christ. God’s Grace also teaches us the expression…..
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What God’s Grace Teaches Us, Part 1
Throughout the Epistles, biblical writers greeted their readers with the desire that they receive grace and peace. Since Scripture is clear that salvation is an outcome of God’s grace, how would the believers who were addressed in the New Testament letters not already have grace? Like most aspects of our salvation, there are multiple meanings for the biblical term “grace” and…..
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Faith in God Who is My Rock and Strength
Metaphors of God’s strength appear throughout the Psalms: my Salvation, my Strength, my Rock of Refuge, my strong Refuge and Guide, my Strong Habitation, Shelter, and Tower, my Shield, Help, Maker, and Deliverer. During weeks such as this one, in which my husband was in the hospital from Monday through Thursday during Covid when there are no visitors (even…..
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A Template For Praise
Psalm 8:1-9 …
“O LORD our Lord, how excellent is our name in all the earth, who has set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings you have ordained strength because of your enemies, that you might still the enemy and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars,…..
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Planted! (originally published Dec. 29, 2017)
One of my favorite verses is Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain you: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” The New Testament version of this is found in 1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you.”
Websters dictionary lists at least ten synonyms for the word “move”……
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Whether We Like It or Not
When Paul stood before the High Priest, Ananias, he did not know who it was in front of him. There were no electronics back then and no visual news platform for him to have seen Ananias or to know who he was unless someone had pointed him out on the street or in the temple prior to this incident. At the command…..