Nehemiah’s job it is to see to it that no one poisons the king through his wine, tasting every goblet that is offered to the sovereign. (This is some high level security clearance, as well as a high risk job, and his boss is not even a Jewish king.) In Read more
The LORD bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26 I never thought about this blessing being for me. The thought of God smiling at Read more
One of today’s scripture passages reads: “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere.” —2 Corinthians 1:14. My first response was to ask wistfully if I smell enough like Jesus for this Read more
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. John 16:13 (ESV) Meditating my way through John’s Read more
So…her phone is on the fritz; her ride-share doesn’t show up; she forgot to put a birthday letter in the mail. Any of these is enough to make her frantic; to have all of them come down at once is enough to make any of us frantic! “Why?” is always Read more
God is in the middle of granting one of the desires of my heart, I am in the middle of a recovering from a shoulder replacement…a surgically induced five-weeks-in-a-sling sabbatical. One of the things that usually happens on a sabbatical is that normal income-producing work is suspended. I don’t have Read more
I have chickens. Hens, but no roosters. That means that they lay eggs that will never hatch into chicks. It got me thinking about fruitfulness. . . I wonder if they produce those beautiful, extra large, brown speckled eggs expecting them to hatch. I wonder if they are disappointed when Read more
I have been reading in Revelation the section that describes the assault by “the great red dragon” (also called “the accuser of the brothers and sisters”). Furious with the woman (who gave birth to the One who is to rule all the nations, a.k.a. Jesus the Messiah) and with her Read more
This morning I opened the door to the chicken tractor expecting the usual squawk and dash from my tiny flock. None of them moved a muscle. No one made any noise. It was later than normal, and they were abnormally quiet. I lifted up the roof to check on them Read more
Waiting for bugs to die (Yes, a few survived.), waiting for a new bed frame to arrive, waiting to have somewhere to put the things we are keeping, waiting for new routines to kick in… lots of “waiting for-s.” There are so many promises connected with waiting for God. Here Read more