Healing in Communion

For anyone who eats and drinks (the Lord’s supper) without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.  That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.  I Corinthians 11:29-30 Most of the time when I have taken communion, the message preceding it has been about the forgiveness of my sins.  I only recently came to see this in a different light.  Jesus said we are to take the bread and the wine in remembrance of Him.  We are to remember what His sacrifice was all about … Continue reading Healing in Communion

Turning Pain into Praise

Not all of my days go the way I planned them.  Some fall short of my expectations.  Sometimes pain interrupts my plans.  Sometimes it is because of something I did or did not do; sometimes it is because of something someone else did or did not do.  Sometimes my long term projects fall short of completion.  Sometimes my goals, my hopes, my desires get lost in the shuffle of today and all that it offers.  This verse speaks to me for those days: Though the cherry trees don’t blossom and the strawberries don’t ripen, Though the apples are worm-eaten  and the wheat … Continue reading Turning Pain into Praise

A Molten Calf – Really?

Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe in His word, but grumbled in their tents; they did not listen to the voice of the Lord.  Psalm 106: 24-25 These verses come shortly behind the verses listing how God delivered the Israelites at the Red Sea, and then they quickly forgot His works and began murmuring about eating manna everyday.  In response, God provided quail for literally millions of people.  They feasted on quail and soon enough forgot God their savior and made a molten image of a calf to worship.  A calf who did not make the … Continue reading A Molten Calf – Really?

It Will Be Well

And he (her husband) said, “Why will you go to him (the prophet) today?  It is neither new moon nor sabbath?”  And she said, “It will be well.”  II Kings 4:23 We aren’t told her name.  Only that she was a Shunnamite and had no child.  Elisha the prophet told her she would have a child and sure enough, she did.  The story tells us that when the child was grown, he developed a headache and died in his mother’s lap.  She laid the boy on Elisha’s bed and set out to find the prophet.  She told her husband she … Continue reading It Will Be Well

Anxious Thoughts

  When my anxious thoughts multiply within me; Your consolations delight my soul.  Psalm 94:19 I’d like to say that I am breezing through this COVID-19 with joy and grace and peace, but alas, that’s not true.  Oh, sometimes, it is.  Maybe even most of the time.  But often, in the wee hours of the morning when sleep has once again evaded me because of this pandemic, my thoughts become anxious and they multiply within me. Thoughts like when God when, why God why and please God tell me how to get through this.  When my brain is filled with … Continue reading Anxious Thoughts