The battle I reported in last week’s post still rages. (Not that I really expected it to be over…) The good news includes: I am remembering to set boundaries around my house morning and evening, to armor up when I sit down to the Word each morning. (Maybe I should Read more…
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…
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…
Ancient covenants were more like peace treaties, but between ruler and subjects. The sovereign promised protection from enemies and provision of shelter and sustenance. The burden for these two things rested on the one ruling. The subjects were responsible for loyalty and obedience. They were not to commit treason, or Read more…
Sitting on the back porch, enjoying the unseasonably cool weather . . . trying to find peace. There are more things on my “to do” list than I can possibly get done! Guests coming to sleep in a guest room with no flooring and missing woodwork . . . a Read more…
Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be yours as well. — Matthew 6:33 So…about those leaf-hoppers… My current theory (or insight) is that the tiny, sap-sucking things are very like the “secret” critic that often infests the places that Jesus means me to live Read more…
I have a leaf-hopper problem. They are not usually a big enough issue for the “insects of the garden” book to give more than a nod to dealing with them. But they ruined last year’s grape crop. Instead of the hundred pounds I expected, I got about twenty-five, if that. Read more…
Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these will be yours as well. -Matthew 6:33 Thanks to countless church services and Bible studies (and my personal study), I have a lot of really great ideas about God, but my own functional thoughts about Him, how I relate to Read more…
I do not write because I myself have something to offer, but because all I have is the One who is always Who we need. I have nothing but Jesus. Following Him today, in a time of pain and loss, means I hold on to the only thing that does Read more…
I just spilled coffee on the chair and rug in my office trying to intercept a moth. Moving things to deal with the spill, I discovered a new place on the rug where the moth larvae have been feasting. The only way I know to deal with them, aside from Read more…