My verse for 2019 is familiar “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” (Matthew 6:33 ) Easy to quote. Hard to practice. As I explore this verse, I discover places in my life that are still my territory, rather than the Read more…
When the inevitable round of new-year-new-you articles and advertisements come out, my inbox fills with guilt-inducing, wishful-thinking, low-monthly-payment plans for transformation. Jesus has His own plan for change. He started His earthly ministry with the message: “change your thinking.” This is much more slippery to grasp than a five-step plan Read more…
On the twelfth day of Christmas my True Love gave to me… twelve gates of heaven! This twelfth gift is one that bears more consideration that we tend to give it, unless someone dear to us is at the brink of death. Heaven! The place where no one cries or Read more…
Following Jesus in the everyday means living a life characterized by faith. Guys like Abraham demonstrated their confidence in what God says by packing up and leaving their homeland. I haven’t been asked to do that…at least not yet, but I have been invited to declare my citizenship in a Read more…
On the tenth day of Christmas my True Love gave to me… ten filled commandments. The Ten Commandments, the foundation of every just system of law, represents how God wants to be treated and how that treatment works itself out in our flesh-and-blood relationships. Jesus taught that God’s intent for Read more…
On the ninth day of Christmas my True Love gave to me…nine fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control: the nine-flavored fruit is fragrant evidence of the presence and work of the God’s own Spirit in our lives. It describes a living still-life Read more…
On the eighth day of Christmas my True Love gave to me…eight days of His Name. Jewish babies are traditionally given their names on the eighth day after their birth. This one had His declared before His birth, but on the eighth day, it was official! What’s in this name? Read more…
On the fifth day of Christmas my True Love gave to me…five healing wounds! The wounds in His hands are to cure all the wounds we receive at the hands of others, and all those our own hands cause. The wounds in His feet are medicine for the wounds we Read more…
On the third day of Christmas my True Love gave to me… three witnesses. As a follower of Jesus, I am ever in process…sometimes I look more like Jesus and sometimes much less. It is in those “less” times that I have doubts and questions about whether I am truly Read more…
It all started with some bad housekeeping… I had bought some sweet potatoes that somehow never made it to the table. Instead they languished in the cupboard, waiting to be used, enjoyed for the purpose for which they were grown. The days grew longer, and the sweet orange roots began Read more…