Waiting years
Do you ever get impatient with God? Have you ever thought He was taking too long to do something you believed He promised to do in your life?
I’ve been reading about Joseph during my daily Bible reading. This morning I read Genesis 41:46, “Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” I thought, “Not too shabby. Joseph was still a young whipper-snapper when he obtained the second highest position in all of Egypt.”
Then I remembered that when Joseph was a teenager God had revealed to him through dreams that his family would bow down to him. Then his brothers sold him into slavery at seventeen. Joseph spent thirteen years as a slave and a prisoner. Yet, Scripture doesn’t tell us that Joseph sulked or got mad at God or stomped around asking God when He planned on doing something about his circumstances. Read More
I love them, I love them not
My husband and I have been sitting in the hospital all week. Wayne’s dad had a triple bypass and a heart valve replacement on Tuesday. Pappaw is still in ICU today but progressing.
We’ve seen a lot of nurses over the last four days. You can tell by watching which ones like their jobs and which ones don’t. And you can tell which ones care about the patients and which ones see them more as a nuisance.
One visitation time on Wednesday as I neared Pappaw’s room I heard him weakly calling for help. I passed through the door just as a nurse in the corner said with snippy irritation, “There is no need to yell, I can hear you.” Read More
Spiritual heart surgery
We got up at 3:45 this morning. Right now we’re sitting in the surgery waiting room at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas. My father-in-law is having heart-valve replacement and by-pass right now. In other words, his heart is getting a major overhaul.
We’ve been telling him that he is going to feel like a new man when this is over. He has struggled for a long time enduring angina, shortness of breath, and heart failure. His quality of life was severely limited by his worn-out heart. Something drastic needed to be done.
God uses the heart to illustrate a wonderful spiritual truth. The word “heart” in Scripture refers to our intellect, emotions, and passions. The core of who we are. Before we’re saved – before we enter into a relationship with Jesus – we have a “heart of stone.” Our spiritual hearts are cold, hard, and rebellious, unable to respond to God. Read More
Fling it!
My son Mark is building a giant trebuchet for his physics class. I had no idea what this was until he started this project. Let me correct that. I had seen these things in movies but I didn’t know what it was called. Now I know: A trebuchet is a medieval war machine with a sling for hurling large stones.
Mark’s done an amazing job. He’s been working on it for weeks. It’s about 8 feet high, built out of lumber. He’s been cutting angels, adding counter weight, making the sling. The thing is on heavy-duty wheels so it can be moved around. It looks scary.
Yesterday was his first test run. (We’ve been collecting plastic jugs so he can fill them with water and use them as “ammo.”) So, Mark loaded the trebuchet into the back of his pick-up and headed out to an empty field to fling some Minute Maid orange juice jugs.
Well, the jugs didn’t make it very far. He’s got some “tweaking” to do. But I have no doubt he will soon be shooting 2% milk to the next county.
Mark’s trebuchet reminds me of a certain Scripture. Psalm 103:12 says God has removed our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. That’s what happens when we trust in Christ’s death on the cross to pay the penalty our sins deserve. Like a giant spiritual trebuchet God takes our sins and flings them to the far reaches, never to return.
Do you have some sins you need to let God fling away? Has He already done it but you keep remembering them? God’s forgiveness does not need “tweaking.” Trust in His forgiveness!
The Bible and a Magic 8-Ball
I had a Magic 8 Ball when I was a girl. I often asked it for direction on vitally important matters.
Me: Should I tell Bobby I like him?
8-Ball: My sources say no
Me: Should I wear my purple, denim hip huggers to school today?
8-Ball: It is decidedly so
Me: Should I have a burger for lunch?
8-Ball: Concentrate and ask again
Me: But my lunch period is right now!
According to that reliable source Wikipedia, the Magic 8-Ball was invented in 1946. The little answer cube floating in liquid inside the plastic ball is covered with twenty different responses appropriate for “yes” and “no” questions. We thought it was really cool back in the 70’s. Today I came across a website where you can ask questions of a virtual 8-Ball and get the same goofy answers. Read More
Are you thirsty?
What do we drink when we’re really thirsty? Soda, milk, ice tea? We might reach for these 
things when our throats are a little scratchy, our mouths are dry, or when we just want something to drink. But when our bodies are dehydrated, when we need fluids, most of us instinctively reach for water. We seem to know that water is the only liquid that can satisfy a real, true thirst.
Last week I told you about the new book I started reading – “Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health,” by Donald S. Whitney. The first question Whitney says we should ask to determine if someone is growing spiritually is “Do you thirst for God?” Read More
Are you growing spiritually?
Have you ever wondered how to tell if you were making any progress in your spiritual journey? The Bible is clear that God wants to be increasingly more like Jesus. He wants us to grow up and mature in our faith. But how do we know if this is happening?
I just started a great book yesterday by Donald S. Whitney called “Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health.” It’s only 130 pages and so far a very easy read. What I’ve read so far is chocked-full of useful and practical information.
The titles of the ten chapters are questions we can ask ourselves to help evaluate the state of our spiritual health. Here they are: Read More
Distractions
I have a confession to make. Recently my morning “computer routine” has been cutting into my daily time with God. A few minutes to check email and Facebook before sitting down with my Bible and prayer journal turned into more than a few minutes.
Checking email led to responding to email. Checking Facebook messages led to taking my turn at Scrabble. You get the idea. And because I only have so much time at home before I have to head out from my day, my time with God got shorted.
I made a new commitment just two weeks ago. Read More
“Well Done”
I attended a funeral yesterday for a member of my church. This sad, but touching gathering celebrated the life of a man who lived his faith out loud. Don, a high school teacher and coach, impacted the lives of thousands of students, co-workers, and parents. Testimonies from many of these revealed that he was not merely an example of courage, determination and character but that he also encouraged and fostered these virtues in others. Don’s love for Jesus and others shaped every word and every action. Don wasn’t just a football coach. He was a life coach.
The entire coaching staff and more than a hundred high school football players filled one entire side of the church sanctuary yesterday. They were the first to be ushered outside when the service was over. Read More
Praying for Haitiai
Like many of you, I’ve been praying for Haiti and and its people. The devastating results of the earthquake that rocked the small island nation on Tuesday continue to pile up. Thousands dead. Still thousands more trapped and dying. Tens of thousands homeless and wounded.
How do we even begin to pray? I started with some of the obvious physical needs: Read More
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Interview with Jennifer Kennedy Dean
