Time seems to sprint while I try to catch up. Like running a race with my older brother as kids—I always fell a few paces behind. No matter how much I pumped my arms and stretched my stride, he’d beat me to the finish line.

How we walk (or run) in our timed life on earth impacts eternity—and the lives around us today. As Tish Harrison Warren talks about in Liturgy of the Ordinary, how we live our one day—after day—after day, is how we live our lives.

So, how should we use our time?

God’s amazing grace is the heart of the Gospel message. From Genesis to Revelation grace weaves its way through every book of the Bible. Every time we see God act, we are viewing a glimpse of His amazing grace. What greater gift can we give our children than to guide them to accept God’s grace, let it empower them to overcome sinful habits, and teach them how to live out of the grace they have received becoming generous givers of grace.

To the Director. A confession from the remnant.

Oh, God, we know your works of old: how you fashioned earth from nothing, framed a piece of it called Canaan, filled it with slaves-turned-refugees, and forged a nation to fulfill a promise.

All of this was done by your providence and power, not the mind or might of Israel. You gave her a place and purpose, for you delighted in her.

Your works continue, as we know firsthand. Our lives you reclaimed. Our souls you saved. Tongues you tamed. Minds you trained. In you we boast continually, keenly aware that our victories come by your providence and power, not our minds or might. You give us place and purpose, for you delight in us.

Why, then, do we face constant disgrace?

I got polio at six months old. Every step of my life, I have walked with a limp. It was a source of great shame to me growing up because of people’s stares. And my limp was probably the biggest reason I hated polio and hated how I saw myself, as the “ugly crippled girl.”

One day, as I studied the scriptures, God gave me a divine “lightbulb moment.” As I read in Genesis 32 about Jacob wrestling all night with God, the same Lord who touched his hip, asked me, “Do you see the souvenir I gave Jacob from his night with Me?” Jacob walked the rest of his life with a limp. He had been touched by God and it changed the way he walked.

It was a holy limp.

Relationship! Relationship! Relationship! From the Garden to the final judgment, God is all about relationship.Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are in perfect relationship. When God walked in the evenings with Adam and Eve in the Garden, He didn’t come to check up on His creation, He came with a desire to fellowship with the only aspect of His creation made in His image.

Genesis 11:1–9
Time: The dawn of human history
Place: The Fertile Crescent
 
Lesson Aim: To note that God will not permit the rebellious acts of the proud to succeed.
 
Introduction
 
Noah’s descendants at a plain (or valley) in Shinar were so filled with pride that they had the audacity to defy God’s will. We can only imagine the conflict that arose after God confused their language. There must have been huge misunderstandings, arguments, and estrangements.

Dr. Mark Bailey, former president of Dallas Theological Seminary, spoke of the need for accountability in the Christian life. "It's like making a stew..." he began to illustrate. “Each of us has our own recipe. We add a little here. We add a little there. We season the stew to our liking. We get ahead of ourselves and think our stew is good. The problem is we haven’t exposed it to the opinions of others.” He closed his illustration by claiming you have to have someone close enough to smell and taste your stew—even more so, someone who won’t lie about it!

One of the most amazing verses in the whole Bible is 2 Corinthians 8:2! Paul, writing to the Christians living in southern Greece, discusses the offering being collected by the Christians in northern Greece for those suffering terrible hardship in Jerusalem. “Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.”

Oh, my, that is so radical! Extreme poverty giving generously? Those early Christians are an amazing example to all believers, including you and me, of the dynamic difference that God’s grace can make in the mindset of His people when it comes to provision. Gratefully receiving and generously giving comes from the overflowing joy of knowing Jesus Christ and what He’s doing in our lives. Whether you are the receiver or the giver, how you do both should be different than what the world does. Genuine compassion is a reflection of that overflowing joy. And the key principle is this: God’s riches to us are supplied through us to meet another’s needs.

“Know yourself. Don’t accept your dog’s admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.”

Ann Landers

There are a number of skills that lead to success in life. Self awareness is one of them, although it is not often seen as a critical trait. However, understanding who we are, how we think, and how we operate is vital to knowing who we are and who God has called us to be.

Recently, when I went to look up the female prophets in the Bible, I reached for one of my reference books that claimed to list the OT mouthpieces for God. But it included only the male prophets. Yes, missing from that guide were all the females who should have been there, such as Miriam, Huldah, and Deborah.