Posts Tagged ‘obedience’
For Tumultuous Times
The days of the prophet Ezekiel were overwhelmingly frightening and full of despair. The northern kingdom had already been decimated by the Assyrians, and the Babylonians in Judah were escalating that level of destruction by pillaging God’s temple and burning all of Jerusalem. When it looked as if the entire remnant of Israel was going…
Read MoreThe Rock in the Hard Place
Taking a “step of faith” without knowing what comes next is one of the most challenging things we do as Christ-followers. I’ve known people who have sold their possessions to move with small children to foreign countries without having return tickets. I’ve seen others give away valuables when they needed the resource themselves. The Bible…
Read MoreLinked Arms
Some of the most dramatic rescue video I’ve watched featured strangers linking arms to form a human chain to rescue a person who had fallen over the edge of a cliff. The most inspiring thing was the way a diverse group united at great personal risk to accomplish what one individual alone could not. No…
Read MoreWANTED: Wisdom
In our country’s current climate, there is seemingly no end to opinions and recommendations, but where is wisdom? If the world pandemic is to be resolved through science and a vaccine, then why are cases increasing unabated? Added to that is the attempt to quiet racial tensions with a combination of reparations, new laws, and…
Read MoreStop Sinning
“Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.” (John 5:14) Jesus spoke these words to the invalid He had healed at the Bethesda pool on a later encounter at the Temple, when the man was totally functional. Because we think of Jesus as the Healer, operating in unconditional love, these particular words have always…
Read MoreHigh Stakes
The Ziggy comics featuring the “Complaint Department” are so funny because they are snapshots of real life. In our culture, complaining is so commonplace that were an alarm to sound every time we had a complaint or an attitude of complaining, the noise would be constant. Often it starts with having to get out of…
Read MoreThe Dog Ate It
“One day Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.’” Everyone piled into a boat, and while Jesus took a nap, such a violent storm hit them that the disciples were afraid they were going to drown. They woke Jesus up not so much because they expected Him…
Read MoreMary, Mary, Quite Contrary, How Does Your Garden Grow?
Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, How Does Your Garden Grow? The first line of this old familiar nursery rhyme is probably not something we’ve ever seriously thought about. How do we know Mary was contrary? Was it because she intentionally avoided answering the question how by merely describing what grew where? Could this be a metaphor…
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