Last week I wrote about taking hold of our thoughts so that we are in calm, joyful agreement with what God tells us in James 1: that difficulties are what is needed to shape us to be like Jesus. But why does it take hard things to make that happen? Read more…
Counting the hours that I lay in a hospital bed…waiting… Counting the days till a birthday gift massage… Counting the minutes until the absent loved one comes home… Counting the seconds the microwave has to warm up my coffee… There is lots of counting in our lives. Some of it Read more…
After last week’s blog, I had a number of inquiries regarding my welfare. So much so that I had to re-read the post to make sure of what I had said. Let me say again that in all our difficulties, God is masterfully at work! He does not ever, anywhere Read more…
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 1 John 3:16 …Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. – Psalm 79:2b Following Jesus every day in the everyday means He Read more…
If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Read more…
Good morning, Papa-God. Thank You for cool air, A table and chair, Smoke to ward off mosquitoes, Bird-call to welcome the sun, Kingdom work to be done. Thank You for a place to welcome others: Teenage son and weary mother. Thanks for seeds to grow and feed, Abundant meeting of Read more…
Amidst the ‘occupant’ mail and the grocery sale ads sometimes there will be a handwritten envelope, formally addressed, sometimes with a fancy seal…I know what it is. An invitation! Even if I am expecting it, the embossed folder within is still welcome! I love to be remembered, and am honored Read more…
John reports (John 13) “the time had come” for Jesus to go to the Father. In this case it was a period of about 50 days. For the last three years Jesus had loved His own…His own disciples, the Twelve; His own people, Israel; His own sheep, any who heard Read more…
I woke this morning with unanticipated pain. In a fallen world like ours, pain is to be expected: It came with the first act of disobedience. It is a gift: It warns us that something is amiss. It is an opportunity: It invites us to explore our hearts. My first Read more…
We have been blessed with a house on a good-sized lot, and since the first year we lived here, I have had a vegetable garden and some fruit-bearing plants. Fruitful? Indeed! Beautiful? Hmmm…maybe not so much. For a while. I have been asking God to give me what I needed Read more…