Inspirations

One of my favorite things is chocolate.  Any kind of chocolate, as long as it's good. One kind of chocolate is called bittersweet.  It is definitely the best for cookies if they last long enough to get them made.  Today is a bittersweet day. It is Good Friday, the day that my Lord was crucified.  He willingly suffered a death that most of us can’t even imagine. The truly amazing part is that he knew ahead of time that this would happen and yet made the choice to pay that price. He chose death. He suffered this death for people that that did not love him.  He said there was no greater love than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.  Do you know what that means?  He called us friends, when we were still separated from him by sin for surely there was no greater love that the love Jesus demonstrated by his death on the cross.  That is amazing. As I think of the price that Jesus paid to build a bridge so we could get to him,...

I love that as I read the account of the Triumphal entry into Jerusalem, two different accounts tell about Jesus cursing a fig tree so that it withers. I have often wondered what the significance of this event was. Why did Jesus even take the time to curse the fig tree? Since I believe that nothing is in the scriptures by accident, and Jesus was intentional. Jesus had a reason for everything he did. Then, what did Jesus want his disciples to learn?  Well, I believe that Jesus, knowing that he was going to leave them, wanted them to know how powerful just a little faith could be. Maybe he wanted them to see firsthand what faith could do.  He knew that they would need to rely on faith once he was gone and he wanted to give them a picture of what faith could do.  He knew that they would face many obstacles and he wanted them to be strong and set their sights high on the impossible.  Maybe, looking down though the ages he knew that we would need a picture of what...

Yesterday was Palm Sunday, the time of year where all of our focus is on the triumphal entry of Jesus.  We love to hear how the crowd waved palm branches, spread their cloaks on the road, and shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”; “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”; “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” We get all excited and we can just imagine being in the crowd that was praising Jesus that day.  It was exciting and emotional maybe it was like being at a football or baseball game when “your team” scored a touchdown from 80 yards or hit a grand slam to put them ahead of their opponent.  Yet, I am reminded that the very same crowd that was shouting and singing his praises on Monday were shouting and screaming, “Crucify him” just a few days later.  What happened that changed their mind about the man they called Jesus? Did Jesus change? Well, my guess is that just like in a ball game, they were swayed by what he was doing.  They were happy with h...

Do you ever have times when you feel like God is working on a particular area in your life?  Occasionally, I have those days or weeks when you see God repeating the same lesson. I just had one of those times recently. I was asked to take hours in another department.  As we were in the process of putting it in the computer, I discovered that I already had a full day in my own department that day.  The manager asked, “Are you sure you want to do the extra shift?” “It will be fine," I said all the while I was thinking to myself I really do not want to do that.  I made all sorts of excuses for why I was not honest enough to say what I thought. I do not want to let them down; I have already promised them I would work; I need the extra money.  However, the ugly truth was that I was proud. I wanted to “save face."  As I was getting ready for work, I was reminded of how much harder my day was going to be because of my own stubbornness and pride.  Pride always ...

I don’t usually gravitate to the paraphrased versions of the Bible.  I feel that the original meaning may be distorted in the translation and I may be getting man’s ideas and not God’s word.  However, in church a short time ago the worship leader read a verse from “The Message."  It was John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.”  As I heard it, I thought WOW! I love the imagery.  The God of the universe became human with all its limitations. As I was thinking about this, I was imagining God living next door to me; working where I work; shopping where I shop.  Going to church where I go to church.  Then God reminded me that he still lives in our neighborhood if he lives in us.  That is an amazing idea.  We are God’s voice, his hands, and his feet to those around us.  I wonder if others see God in us, or do they see just another person who lives and acts and does the same things that they do? ...

Yesterday, I posted something on social media about a new movie called “Noah”.  Since then, it has come to my attention that the post offended some people.  I want everyone to know that my intention was not to be divisive or argumentative.  My goal was to answer the question of the biblical accuracy of the movie.  When I saw the post from Ken Ham, I felt comfortable reposting what he said since he has always strived for biblical accuracy in his work and he was discussing the movie from the standpoint of biblical correctness.  I felt and still do that the movie is not biblically accurate if that is offensive, I am genuinely sorry but I cannot change that, facts are facts. It is also interesting that the director of the movie said himself that it was the least biblically correct movie.  I said nothing that those who made the film did not say. I do agree that we can use the movie to produce creative debates with those who have questions.  All we ha...

As I checked my phone on Saturday, I noticed a message from my daughter.  “Mom, can you pray for me”?  It went on to say, “I've been sick and throwing up all night."  Of course, I stopped right there and said a prayer for her.  Later, as I thought about the exchange, it made me smile that when my daughter had a problem, she came to me and asked for prayer.  Over the years, I have had others who have stopped and asked me to pray with them.  Sometimes they were people that I knew well and at other times, it was someone I barely knew.  Yet as I thought about it, I was humbled and honored that people understood that I would stand in the gap for them.  I would lift them up before God.  Yes, I believe in the power of prayer and I do not always wait for others to ask me to pray for them.  However, until now, I never thought about what a privilege it is to know that others see you as a person of prayer.  It is truly amazing when I realize t...