Posts

Showing posts from April, 2020
Words of Faith When my children were younger and wanted me to give them something to eat, they would say, “Dad, I’m hungry.” And I, as a Dad true to my good sense of humor would respond, “Hi hungry, I’m Dad.” That “dad joke” slays me still and I continue to use it whenever opportunity presents itself. I love the faith of children; call it child-like. If a child has a belly ache, they tell mom or dad, “I have a belly ache.” If a child is hungry, their request is spoken until it is heard. If a child has a question, they ask, usually with follow on questions. They are, in their complete honesty and unconcern for social propriety, living examples to us of what Jesus meant when He said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (Matthew 19:14 NIV) and And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18
Good for Evil Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good. May God punish David, and ever so severely, if I let one of Nabal’s men survive until morning.”  (1 Samuel 25:21,22) How many of us have seen our heart set out on a campaign to set right the wrong-doing of those who have mistreated us? We've served, we've given, we've acted with integrity and treated kindly. We've laid down our lives. And yet, in return for our acts of kindness, we've received hurt. Let justice reign! Let it reign through me! David may have felt the same way. After offering protection to a group of shepherds tending their flocks in an area where David and his army were temporarily staying, David sent for refreshments to the man (Nabal) who the shepherds worked for. "Please give whatever you can afford to your servants and to your son D
In The Yet To Come Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.   (Psalm 42:5 NIV)         Waiting is hard, contrary to our pleasure and to our comfort. I used to tell my daughters, it's good for young ladies to learn to wait. Not a popular message. There is an attitude that exists today catering to our desire for immediacy. It reveals itself in many aspects of our lives. I've always been amazed (maybe that's not the right word) as a software developer at the prevailing concern of users to minimize mouse clicks to get to the content that interests them more quickly. I've had to re-architect systems to eliminate a single mouse click from the user's path to information. Ok, enough complaining on my part.         To the contrary, God is not interested in us having a quick and efficient journey. He's not running a business, He's not placed us in a corporation. We are in H
Overlooked People and things get overlooked. Maybe you’ve felt the sting of being overlooked for a position or promotion. Or maybe you yourself have overlooked the facts and passed wrong judgement. A detective may fail in overlooking important clues. Details are overlooked. Things get overlooked. But there is one thing that is to our credit to overlook. A person's wisdom yields patience; it is to one's glory to overlook an offense. (Proverbs 19:11 NIV) Overlook means to “look past”, “to fail to notice”. All of us have failed at things, some of us more than others, but failing to notice an offense is a respectable and virtuous failure. People need mercy during times of difficulty; you included. Mercy is a drink of fresh water to one who is suffering under the burden of stress, trial, or anxiety. Jesus forgave us as believers of many an offense against Him. In fact, He forgave us of every offense against Him. Should we not do the same? When we overlook an offense we release not