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From Garden to Garden
In finishing up my current D-group with a special celebration, we discussed the end of the Bible as we read through Revelation. I’m not surprised anymore by new things God reveals through reading His Word over and over. Sometimes it’s something completely new to me, or understood at a deeper level. Other times, it’s a timely reminder of something I already knew. That’s what happened as I read Revelation 21-22 this time. My thoughts turned to the idea of “garden to garden.” What was revealed through John’s revelation was an indescribable new heaven and earth. Similar to the newness the original garden was to Adam and Eve, the new garden…
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What I Fear
What are your greatest fears? It’s not often I’ve feared for my life but several memories remind me I’ve had a few. Traveling home from Belize with one of my 10 year old twins as we flew through a terrible storm was terrifying. I was not sure we would make it safely back to Houston. Once in a hotel while traveling for work, someone tried to enter my room. Coming out of a dead sleep I instinctively screamed at the top of my lungs, “Get out!” Last December, there was this ride…and I love big, fast rides. Not this one! For the first time I got off vowing “Never, ever,…
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I’m Not That Bad! Part 2
The best part of experiencing conviction from the Lord, is the result when we repent…restoration. So let’s conclude this line of thought from last week with that beautiful gift He gives us. If you missed last week’s post, please read back to Part 1 . In Isaiah 38, we see what happens when Hezekiah, who was stricken with a deadly illness, prayed for God’s healing. As God extended his life, he wrote a poem. “Indeed, it was for my own welfare that I had such great bitterness; but Your love has delivered me from the Pit of destruction, for You have thrown all my sins behind Your back (Isaiah 38:27).…
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I’m Not That Bad! Part 1
I’ve noticed as I have aged and grown spiritually, the Lord is quicker to get my attention to sin in my life. My toes stay sore most of the time as He steps on them in conviction. Repentance is a daily ongoing activity! The more I learn about Christ and understand the depth of His holiness, the more I am aware of how far I am from it. I desire it but continue to miss the mark. What triggers awareness of sin in your life? What do you do to stop at the trigger before allowing the temptation to become sin? If we do not know the Word, our awareness…
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Grieving God’s Heart
Don’t you love it when you hear God speak the same message through different avenues? Perhaps it is in the course of a day, or several days or weeks. But the message recurs in various ways, all leading you to the same principle. Some days, because I study and read several things at the same time, they all seem to point in a particular direction. This happened the day before I wrote this post. I was reading Genesis 6-7 as a part of my Foundations F-260 chronological reading plan. The verse that stood out was Genesis 6:6. After creation, sin entered the world. Adam and Eve were banished from the…
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Peter’s 3’s
Numbers are important in Scripture. The numbers 3, 7, 10 and 12 indicate completeness. Most of us who have read the Gospels, remember the 3 times Peter denied Christ after His arrest, even as Jesus was defending his own identity to the authorities. And this was after Peter swore he would follow Jesus anywhere. Peter told him, “Even if everyone falls away because of you, I will never fall away.” (Matthew 26:33) And many of us also remember when Jesus restored Peter on the shore in (John 21:15-19). He asked Peter if he loved him, not once but 3 times. And each time Peter was told to “feed My sheep”.…
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Infant…Still?
Who doesn’t love a cute little baby? Ok, maybe somebody, but most of us love seeing a sweet, innocent little creation of God wiggling its toes. But, I bet 5 years after that baby’s birth, most of us wouldn’t want that baby to still be in the infancy stage. Surely, by now, this child is potty trained and about to be in kindergarten. Surely, this 5 year old can eat with a utensil rather than just sucking on a bottle filled with formula. Not so cute, now! This is what the author seems to saying in Hebrews 5:11-14 about Christians who stay in infancy: “We have a great deal to…
