In The Presence of My Enemies

“Thou dost prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies”. Psalm 23: 5 I have wondered what good food would do for me in the presence of my enemies. Am I going to pelt my enemies with spaghetti and meatballs?  Do I poke their eyes out with bread sticks? This part of Psalm 23 didn’t really make sense to me and I would ordinarily skim right past. But recently, I saw this verse differently. The table He has prepared is laden with everything I have inherited through Christ – every spiritual blessing, every physical blessing, every weapon I … Continue reading In The Presence of My Enemies

God’s Best Gift

If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? Romans 8:32 Jesus – what do you think of when you hear that name? A good teacher? – a revolutionary? – a prophet? –  a great leader? Maybe what comes to mind is stories from Sunday School – the miracles He performed like feeding 5000 people with a few loaves of bread, or causing the lame to walk or the blind to … Continue reading God’s Best Gift

A New Address

For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son. Colossians 1: 13 When we begin our new life with God through Christ Jesus, we are not only relationally changed, we are positionally changed.  Our old address is the domain of darkness and our new address is the kingdom of His beloved Son.  Things operate differently in this kingdom than they do at our old address.  In this kingdom we are told that the way to life is to die to ourselves, that giving is better than receiving, that miracles are the … Continue reading A New Address

Do What You Can Captain

Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. Ephesians 6:13  Message Bible Years ago, we had a family reunion at a beach house on Galveston Island.  My nephew and niece were about 6 years old and they were standing looking out over the Gulf of Mexico … Continue reading Do What You Can Captain

How’s Your Appetite?

 O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. Psalm 119:97 I planned what I thought would be a wonderful summer project for the kids I work with – composting with worms.  My great idea was that they could recycle leftovers from their lunches by feeding it to the worms and by summer’s end they would see the beautiful compost the worms made of it. I made two assumptions that proved to be wrong. 1.     Not all kids like to handle worms.  In fact, out of 25 kids, I could only get two or three to … Continue reading How’s Your Appetite?

The Me Jesus Loves

One disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, was near him at the table. John 13:23 Five times in the gospel of John, written by John, John is referred to as the disciple that Jesus loved or the beloved disciple. John is not described this way in the other three gospel accounts. I find this endearing. John grasped something that the others seemed to have missed, something that perhaps, we miss also. While other disciples were professing their undying love and loyalty, John was basking in the love that Jesus had for him. Maybe John described himself this way because he … Continue reading The Me Jesus Loves

Fall Season

There is a time for everything,    and a season for every activity under the heavens: Ecclesiastes 31:1 Fall has arrived here in the PNW. Oh, it’s not quite as colorful right now as that picture, but the leaves are changing colors and some have started to fall from the trees. In due time, the beauty of fall will be evidenced all around us. Fall is a time of shedding off the old, not just leaves from the trees but those things in our personal life: thoughts, feelings, behaviours that may have served us well in a previous season but may hinder our … Continue reading Fall Season

Battle Strategy for Victory!!

And at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city. Joshua 6:16 It’s a rather familiar story, the Israelites were beginning the process of taking over the Promised Land. They weren’t trained for battle but God devised a plan that required three things of them – walk around the city, keep your mouth shut and at the appointed time let out a shout! The appointed time for the shout was before the walls came down, not after! They were used to walking having spent years in the … Continue reading Battle Strategy for Victory!!

God Will Not Forsake You

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them. Isaiah 42:16 Today I drove around trying to find garage sales. Turns out that some of the signs were for sales that had happened previously and had not been taken down. Some of the signs had arrows pointing a certain direction but no address and no further signs to discover. I got so turned around … Continue reading God Will Not Forsake You

Cheerfulness is Good Medicine

A cheerful heart is good medicine, Proverbs 17:22 Years ago, when my son was 4 years old, he told me out of the blue me that Jesus just wanted us to play with Him.  At the time, I thought it was cute, it wasn’t until later that I realized how truly profound it is. Watch a child play and you will know they aren’t thinking about tomorrow, they aren’t dwelling on the past, they are focused on right now. My son asks me to play with him quite regularly.  And I do play with him a lot but sometimes I … Continue reading Cheerfulness is Good Medicine