Tagged: faith

...after you have done everything…stand. Stand firm then… Ephesians 6:13-14 Standing is a kind of waiting, and waiting doesn’t feel very victorious in the middle of a fierce battle. It certainly doesn’t feel like a weapon.  Armor does. Belts and breastplates and shields do. Helmets and swords sure do. Recently I visited castles and towers famous for battle, filled with armor and weapons. The imagery is strong in my mind. But waiting? What kind of weapon is that? I don’t recall any sticky notes reading wait in the glass museum cases beside the old chain mail. Sounds kind of anti-battle. Actually, it sounds a bit like a death wish. When I face a battle, I want to do something. Battles are busy affairs, after all.… Read More

By your patience possess your souls. Luke 21:19   But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:4   Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. Psalm 37:7 Impatience is an indicator. It reflects my soul like a mirror reflects a face. What does my indicator show me today? I have been given my answer in prayer. I can’t see it yet, but I know it. Now I am waiting on God, but it sure looks with my eyes like I am waiting on people. I oscillate between irritation and calm composure. Holding on to His sure answer, I remind my soul that faith is the substance of what I hope for, the evidence… Read More

“Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight. And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. Mark 10:46-51 (ESVUK) Blind Bartimaeus was sitting by the way. He knew it was the way and that’s why he chose it as a supreme begging spot. But he wasn’t begging for food or money. Some judged him to be merely a poor man in need of a few denarii or crusts… Read More

But during the night, the Lord sent an angel who appeared before them. He supernaturally opened their prison doors and brought the apostles outside. “Go,” the angel told them. “Stand in the temple courts and preach the words that bring life! So early that morning they entered the temple courts and taught the people.  Acts 5:19-20 Go. Stand. Preach the words that bring life. So many words in the world. Words that bring death, and words that bring life. (See Proverbs 18:21). What power we have, we followers of the Word (see John 1). We can preach words that bring life. Have you ever seen anything brought to life? Have you witnessed the birth of a child? The delight of a blossom appearing overnight from snow-bound… Read More

You must not say, ‘No, we will not stay. Instead we will go and live in the land of Egypt where we will not face war, or hear the enemy’s trumpet calls, or starve for lack of food.’ Jeremiah 42:14 John Mark Comer reminds us that the Bible does not tell an ideal story of humans. It tells the real story. Humans as they are, broken, sinful, wanting to escape the consequences of their actions. How refreshing. Real people with real problems, real humanity in need of a real Savior. The Israelites were living under siege. The king of Babylon was bearing down and capture was imminent. Day and night, the sounds of war struck terror in their hearts, punctuated by the alarming sound of… Read More

For C and her Savior, who sent her a duck. …He gave them words of hope. He said, “Be strong. Be brave. Don’t be afraid. Don’t lose hope. The king of Assyria has a huge army with him. But there’s a greater power with us than there is with him. The only thing he has is human strength. But the Lord our God is with us. He will help us. He’ll fight our battles.” 2 Chronicles 32:6-8, NIRV Be brave! Jesus will go with you. He scrunched up his little face and cried harder, shaking his head. But Jesus doesn’t have skin! I can’t see him! My little one was having separation anxiety, and I was desperate for adult conversation. I coaxed and persuaded, encouraged… Read More

Then Abram continued traveling south by stages toward the Negev. Genesis 12:9 The film Out of Africa is based on the autobiography of Karen Blixen, a tenacious Danish woman who lived at the turn of the twentieth century in Kenya. While her husband commanded troops on the front during the First World War, local British authorities urged Blixen to abandon her coffee farm and flee to safety with all other women and children in the area. When she learned her husband and his unit needed provisions, Blixen decided to deliver them herself, defying all odds and traveling a long distance through desert and danger, leading a caravan of cattle and provisions. Day after grueling day, Karen traveled on by stages. Along the way, she encountered… Read More

-for my son …keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of our faith.  Hebrews 12:2 I realized something was different by the time he was eighteen months old. Look in my eyes, sweetie. My little one would look anywhere but into my eyes. Day after day, I implored him, gently taking his sweet face in my hands and turning it to mine. Look at Mommy. Listen to my words. Something was interfering in my child’s brain, and he could not keep his eyes fixed on mine or anyone else’s. My therapist instincts sounded the alarm. I’d seen this behavior before in patients with autism, and I didn’t want to admit I was seeing it in my child. I can do this. I… Read More

Look as far as you can see in every direction—north and south, east and west. I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession. And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted! Go and walk through the land in every direction, for I am giving it to you.  Genesis 13:14-17 Visionaries are impossible thinkers. They see and imagine things outside the bounds of circumstances, resources, and time. Visionaries get a God-glimpse of what’s possible beyond limits. Visionaries have the gift of seeing. Blessing, generation-changing, history-making visions originate with God. Abram was the first visionary. His vision began with God’s invitation. Look. Look… Read More

This is what the Lord says: I will fill this valley with pools of water. 2 Kings 3:16 God could have created the world’s surface flat and smooth; He could have made it impenetrable, transparent, polished, sleek, silky, solid. Yet He allowed the surface of the earth to be pliable, malleable, whippy, springy, bendy, impressionable. Some say ice age glaciers created the chasmic valleys of the earth today. Once-level land lies ruptured, wildflowers spilling over its ridges, rivers filling its winding paths. The broken surface of the earth has become a tapestry woven with threads of beauty and life. The Hudson River Valley is one magnificent example of beauty after breaking. Flowing from the highest point of the Adirondack Mountains, the river reaches a depth… Read More