“He will be.” These three words hold such strength for me today. They sound so promising—so sure. A friend e-mailed them to me this morning, knowing that I’m going through a tough time dealing with my brother’s cancer.
I planted tomatoes last month. Well at least I thought I planted tomatoes. I went to the nursery and found the “Tomato” sign and chose the colors of pots that corresponded with the varieties I wanted and brought...
“I wish I could just hear a voice from heaven telling me which choice to make,” a friend recently confided to me. “It’s so hard trying to figure out God’s will!”
When pediatricians examine babies and children, part of what they look for is their growth—to find out at what percentile they are on the growth chart. Are they growing normally, is the question?
One summer, while enjoying some down time in Santa Barbara, Calif., I came across a kind old gentleman selling poetry by the side of the road. He was wearing a ragged old jacket, thick with dirt. His hands were covered in grease and soot.
Let's admit it. It's easy to say “yes” to things that we enjoy doing. And it's especially easy to say “yes” to things that we know we are good at. Recently, though, I was asked to do something that I didn't want to do.
There is a passage of Scripture that conveys such hope and joy that it should be at the top of every parent, grandparent, teacher, pastor, and sibling’s precious promises list. I’m talking about 1John 5:16.
One summer when I was about 10 years old, the street in front of our home was torn up to put in new sewer lines. Large trucks, backhoes, and front loaders dug and pushed mountains of dirt all over the place. As a child, it looked like a giant...
My friend Nancy, who is one of the best children’s storytellers I’ve ever heard, recently told me a poignant story. She recalled her childhood when a teacher asked his students what they wanted to be when they grew up. Nancy knew what...
She was his first Valentine. He was hers. They married on Valentine’s Day, 1953. People said it wouldn’t last. She was too young; he was a bit restless. But their love set out to prove everyone wrong.
A little five-year-old girl named Megan was being led through an art gallery by the artist whose paintings were being showcased. At the end of the day, after seeing so many beautiful, exquisite paintings and being told by...
“I believe these belong to you,” a man extended his cupped hand toward me. I peered into his hand and noticed that he cradled five seeds. They were indistinct seeds that I had never seen before. I took them from the man and wondered what this was all about.
Are you a parent who works hard to raise your children to be good Christians but wonder why they don’t like each other? Perhaps you’ve prided yourself on teaching your kids to clean their rooms, brush their teeth, and talk politely in public but...
My husband’s job takes him out of town periodically, sometimes for several weeks in a row. As one might imagine, these single parenting stints where I am left to manage the house and our two preschoolers tend to wear...
A question recently posed to me sent me into a quandary. “How do you honor grandparents who are in error?” The question stumped me and I did not have an answer. After many days of soul searching and praying, a revelation came.
There’s something about second-hand shops, yard sales and consignment boutiques that draw me. I’m sure it’s because I grew up during America’s Great Depression. Shopping-on-the- cheap proved to be expedient.
Last week, I spent some time visiting three Jr. High classrooms. I asked them to write down candid answers to some questions, including this one: “What do you think God thinks of you?” I was happy to read positive answers like these:
For 17 years of my life, I had the companionship of a great little poodle named “Popeye.” He was the best dog for which a guy could ask. He loved to follow me around the house as I did my daily routines. He loved to sit outside in the green...
Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son" (Exodus 2:9, 10).
We had a wee bit of a thing brought in to our ER this past week. I’d been talking to my daughter on the phone and she told me the scanner said we had a little one coming in and it didn’t look good. It was a two-month-old in cardiac arrest.
She hadn’t meant it as a gift. She was just clearing out books and papers in preparation for selling the old house our parents had lived in. This adopted sister of mine had moved into the basement of my parents home along with her growing...
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What is your view of the holy Bible? I am one who really appreciates the Bible as the word of God to all humankind. In fact, when I wake up in the morning, I often realize that I am thanking God, again and again, for His word, which is truth. I understand that it is a miraculous book, in that, it was written over many eras in time, by many different men, who lived in vastly different locales, using human languages. It happens that the languages that these men and their scribes wrote in were ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek. The miracle is that these men, though fallen, never contradicted one another, even with the incredible differences in time, language, culture, perspective, life experience, etcetra. The Lord loves us so much that He communicated a message that, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we can understand our divine origins and what He expects from us as we live on earth. Through this blessed medium, we are able to experience the teachings of patriarchs and prophets. We are able to hear the voice of God speaking specifically to our hearts. When we trust and live for the same God who breathed the breath of spiritual life into the holy Bible writers who were set apart by Him, we too are able to know the will of God. Their words, with the power of God acting upon their lives, became the living word of God. Since humans and our languages are not free from flaws, I understand that the particular words we read, even in their original languages were not dictated to them, word-for-word. This is why we can use so many different translations of the Bible. Otherwise, we all would be forced to learn the ancient languages lest we completely miss what God was communicating. When faithfully translated, we are still able to grasp God's intent. He moved upon humankind to write, and through their imperfect speech, He was able to diffuse Himself that we might understand Him.
Here is perhaps the best example to illustrate the point. Jesus assumed human form, and though He was always fully God, we were able to get a glimpse of the entire Godhead by a means that we can comprehend with God's help. Had He chosen to come in the fullness of His eternal essence, we would not have been able to receive Him at all. His presence is a consuming fire. Our humanity would not be able to stand in His holy presence. When Jesus lived among humanity 2000 years ago, He was God, diffused. Likewise, His word is a miraculous blending of the holy essence of God and the limits of humanity. These two together are able to lay hold upon the throne of God in heaven and rest upon the earth, embracing humankind. It is--He is--truly the ladder between heaven and earth upon which angels ascend and descend, conferring the bounties of heaven upon those God loves.
If I were forced to give a synopsis of the God's word (though God's truth cannot be summarized), I would say that The Bible is the true and consistent guide for life. It is the way God chose to give us a foundational view of His love, essential historical elements, His invitation and method to life in Christ, and the reality of Jesus' soon return. There is no better place to find out about the Man, Jesus Christ. As we are inspired in the study of this blessed book, we soon realize that Jesus Christ is the chief Character in all 66 books. As such, we must treat the Bible as a holy book, whose wisdom is unparalleled--by which every philosophy, doctrine, or life view must be measured for authenticity. It is God's word and those living in civilizations that have access to its pages are blessed beyond measure.
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What do you think of God? God. What can a mere mortal say about the most powerful Being in the universe? Even as I begin writing this segment, I am careful to ask Him to make this explanation an act of worship, rather than a mere expression of dry facts concerning a God I have only heard about.
I understand the God of heaven, as revealed in three divine Persons--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to be the Creator of all. God is self-existent, eternal, not subject to human criticism or interpretation, worthy of worship, all-powerful, and loving toward us. Before there was a "beginning," God was there. His mind is inconceivable to our meager comprehension. He always understood everything that would ever exist, in time, as well as eternity. This means that as He manifests Himself as Love, we must also be highly favored in His estimation. He has always had a distinct plan for our lives--a mission for us to accomplish in His strength. He is a personal God who did not simply explode planets into existence and fling them into orbit, only to remove His hand of providence, watching His creation as it evolves without His care. Everything that exists does so with His direct management and control.
The Father is revealed in the Bible as the first-Person of the Godhead who was in Christ Jesus reconciling those who live on planet earth unto Himself. He demonstrated His love toward us in such an extreme manner as to share His beloved Son with us when all of humanity sinned and was destined for eternal death.
The Son, Jesus Christ is equally God and one with the Father. It was their express purpose to reveal the Father through Jesus that the world would have but a glimpse of the glory of God. When the appointed time came, Jesus assumed the form of humanity, that through it He could conquer sin, its effects, and its originator. He is called the mystery of God, in that somehow, God became man in an inseparable, eternal blending to provide peace for all who would believe in Him.
The Holy Spirit, the equally eternal and powerful manifestation of God has the express duty of moving upon the hearts of humankind in order to woo us into right relationship with God. Updating... Back to Top
How important is a right understanding of His character? It has been revealed in the scriptures that the Lord's character has been on trial for time unknown. Isaiah and Ezekiel reveal that Lucifer, while living in the heavenly courts, became a pride-filled renagade angel who was no longer satisfied with worshipping God, rather, he wanted to be worshipped. He was lifted up, because of his beauty and brightness, which were only borrowed from God.
The foundation of God's government was questioned by the fallen dissenter when he violated His law. There were to be no gods but God. This was an obvious violation of what God would etch in stone later. The first law, as represented by the first four commandments, is love God with all that we are. Satan no longer had a relish to love God. The second great commandment represented by the last six commandments is that we should love our neighbors as God intended us to love ourselves. Had Satan loved God's other created beings, he would never have cherished sin in his heart, which would cause about 1/3rd of the heavenly angels to fall with him. If he had watered the precious tree of love, he would not have later decieved Eve in the garden of Eden and Adam's sin would never have been committed, which brought death upon all men.
Love for God and love for our neighbors is the summary of the Ten Commandments, which are a glimpse of God's character. Can you imagine what it would be like if God's portrait of character were effaced? What if it were done away with? Would we get closer to God in that case or would we grow farther from Him. The answer is apparent, just looking at Lucifer's fall and transformation into Satan, the accuser who was a liar and murderer from the beginning. His fall clearly shows the depth to which we sink when we lose sight of God's character of love and righteousness, even to the point of crucifying Jesus Christ. Only someone who is not made perfect in love would inspire people to kill Christ.
One of the things I like about the way God has chosen to reveal His love and Character is that in the person of Christ, we see that God's commandments become ten promises. When we are connected to the Vine, He promises us that we will only worship Him. When we are connected to the tru Vine, He promises that we will not steal, kill, covet, fornicate, or dishonor our parents. His power is perfectly revealed in Christ and transferred to us as we accept Him as our Lord and Savior. In Him, we are able to live victoriously. We can become His trophies and a demonstration of His ability to save and sanctify His people. Updating... Back to Top