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Asking God Questions
In the past, irreverence and disrespect tended to flood my mind when I thought about the rightness of asking God questions. Who am I to ask the sovereign, good, wise, loving God questions? However, I have been reflecting on the idea of asking God questions and now am growing to view it differently. The best place to go when you want God’s perspective on something is to prayerfully look at the Bible. So, I started there. In the New Testament, Zechariah (the father of John the Baptist) after hearing the message from Gabriel (God’s messenger) about bearing a son in his old age, asked “How shall I know this?” Gabriel…
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The Importance of Pronouns
Recently, I discovered an important lesson in the book of Lamentations from my Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) questions. Upon observing the pronouns used in the different chapters of Lamentations, some things became clear in chapter 3 that impacts my life and how I live. Most scholars consider Jeremiah to be the author of Lamentations. So, in Lamentations 3:1-20, the pronouns “I” and “me” refer to Jeremiah. These particular pronouns occur 30 times in the first 20 verses of chapter 3. Furthermore, “my” occurs 18 times in these verses. The references to God in verses 3:1-20 focus on retelling the devastation Jeremiah has experienced from God’s hand. In summary, in the…
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One of the Impacts of Easter in our Lives
Easter is a particular time we set as a celebration of our God of the gospel—Christ dying on the cross for the payment of our sins, God accepting Jesus’ payment by raising Him from the dead, and the Holy Spirit’s transformative work in our lives for righteousness. One of the beautiful impacts of Easter on my life took form as I reflected on a particular incident. One evening my eye began to hurt. My eye would go from feeling normal, to hurting, to back to feeling normal. After about 18 hours, I had someone look at my eye to see if anything was on it. An eyelash was slowly…
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This is My Father’s World
Maltbie Babcock, a nineteenth century pastor, often said, “I’m going out to see my Father’s world” as he left for his morning walks. Babcock was an admirer of nature and penned the poem, “This is My Father’s World”, which was later put to music.[1] I enjoy singing this hymn, especially when I am out in my Father’s world. Recently, I was reminded of this hymn as I was learning about flowers as companion plants to vegetables and fruits. Several parallels to my life unfolded. Historically, planting flowers in vegetable gardens has been a common practice. For various reasons (including food, beauty, and medicinal access) vegetable/flower gardens were placed near kitchens.…
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Prone to Wander
Jesus sought me when a stranger; Wandering from the fold of God: He, to rescue me from danger, Interposed his precious blood. Leland Ryken sheds light on the life of Robert Robinson, the hymnodist of this well-known hymn, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.[1] In Robinson’s late teen years, he identified with drifters and hoodlums on the streets of London. However, after hearing a George Whitefield sermon, he converted to Jesus Christ as his identity. You and I may not find our feet wandering on the streets of London as drifters or hoodlums, but our hearts are surely prone to wander from our relationship with God. Hosea 14:4 reveals the…
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Ask, Seek, and Knock
“Name it, claim it!”, “Just believe!”, “Ask for whatever you want!”, “I want these circumstances to change!”, “You don’t have because you didn’t ask or have enough faith!”. These phrases circulate through our culture. Some of these phrases can seem to be supported by Scripture. But if we look closer, we can see the fallacy these phrases propose. You may or may not have fallen into the trap of asking God for whatever you wanted to make your life easier. Or maybe you have asked for things but the answer was “no” which left you angry with God, disappointed in God, or confused about God. Maybe you have doubted…
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Come Let Us Worship and Bow Down
Do you remember the popularity of what became known as the Jabez Prayer? This prayer is recorded in 1 Chronicles 4:10 “Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, ‘Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!’” The teaching that spread rapidly included the idea that we did not have a blessed life because we did not ask for it. People were instructed to pray this prayer repeatedly and God would shower them with blessings and freedom from pain. I recently was studying the…
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Hospitality Reset
Recently, I had the opportunity to travel to Albania to participate in some medical training and hiking. During my visit, I received the precious gift of Albanian hospitality. Approximately 58% of Albanians are Muslim, 17% are Christian, and 25% are other[1]. Each group works well with the other groups and beautifully offers hospitality. I felt welcomed, accepted, and cared for. Their hospitality level left me eager to offer the same to those around me in the United States. Just as the perspective from the mountains we hiked allowed me to see and appreciate the Albanian terrain, the Albanians allowed me to see hospitality in a deeper and bigger way. The…
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Clique or Affinity Group?
Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a clique and an affinity group?[1] I have. Have you ever felt excluded from a group? I have. Have you ever wondered if there were groups in the Bible? I have. Have you ever wondered how to navigate the group issue? I have. Perhaps my ponderings will encourage you (as it did me) to have a healthier view of groups. I found the definition of clique and affinity to be helpful. Affinity is “sympathy marked by community of interest” and clique is a “narrow exclusive circle or group of persons” as defined by Merriam-Webster. So, a clique is a group where…
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Church Family?
This summer I had the privilege of helping two of my adult children and their families who were blessed with newborns. Each home made me feel loved and appreciated. I served them in any way that I thought would be helpful. I left feeling valued and fulfilled. Upon returning to my home, I noticed a different attitude that I had about my church family compared to my own family. I struggled before the Lord with why my attitude was different and was it sinful. I went to the Scriptures for insight. Here are some of my findings: The church of the living God is a pillar and buttress of the…
