“…So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God.” Romans 14:1-12 (NASB) This Romans passage is an encouragement to me as I navigate the various positions, which people in my life hold. There are those who have told me of friendships ended because of who they voted for, over whether or not they got the vaccine, whether or not their church continued to meet in person during the shutdown, etc. The stories have saddened me. As…..
“The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it.” Psalm 24:1 (NASB) If God was sovereign yesterday, then He is sovereign today and will be tomorrow. A quality of God’s we do not discuss much is His immutability, which means He does not change. Who He is is always who He will be. Therefore, if He is sovereign then He is always sovereign. He was sovereign yesterday, is today and will…..
“I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Thy works, And my soul knows it very well.” Psalm 139:14 (NASB) I sometimes struggle with the need for validation. I want to know that what I do matters. As I have been talking with friends, a common theme expressed has been the need to feel valued. While feelings of validation is different from feelings of having value, the impact is quite similar. As I…..
This is my fourth and final blog of the series on my gleanings from the book, “Intimacy with God, Ourselves and Others.” In the first blog, I shared three nuggets of truth I gained from writing the book. In each of the next two blogs, I wrote about two of the truths: how we hide from God and each other and the importance of humility in the giving and receiving of grace. In this blog, I will write about the…..
In an earlier blog, I shared three nuggets of truth that God used in my life as I wrote the book, “Intimacy with God, Ourselves and Others.” In my last blog, I touched on the first truth, which had to do with us hiding from one another. In this blog, I want to elaborate further on the need for humility in developing intimacy with people. The best definition for humility is Philippians 2:5-8, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was…..
In my last blog, I shared three nuggets of truth from my book, Intimacy with God, Ourselves and Others, into which God took me deeper. The first related to Adam and Eve hiding after they sinned. In the New American Standard Bible, we read, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. And they heard the sound of the Lord God…..
In my latest book, “Intimacy with God, Ourselves and Others,” there are many nuggets of truth that God taught me in a deeper way as I attempted to articulate His plan for intimacy in our relationships with Him, others and ourselves. As a result, I am already experiencing a deeper intimacy in my relationship with Him and myself. I, also, believe it will help me go deeper with others. In this blog, I will briefly share a few of those…..
I am fairly silent. However, I again listened to a media person shutting down someone they disagreed with. It was not done kindly. So, I wrote the following. My hope is not to point fingers at anyone but to ask if we can allow our differences without making it personal. Living in Greece gave me some lasting impressions. One of them is related to the idea that if a Greek did not vote they could lose their passport. Seemed a…..
I have two inherited outdoor cats. I also have a dog that does not like cats. Why am I telling you this? Because of the third feral cat that showed up on my doorstep. See, this third cat knows that I feed my cats in my front patio area where my dog cannot get to them. He or she learned to finish off the food my cats were not eating. Eventually, this cat started making my cats uncomfortable whenever they ate. You…..
I was having a particularly bad dream bordering on a nightmare. Everyone was pointing their fingers at me and screaming how bad of a person I was. They named off a litany of wrongs I had committed. I do not remember the wrongs they listed. I do remember the utter hopelessness I felt. Then, I gained my voice and screamed, “I am redeemed.” The voices stopped and His peace filled me. I remember waking up still feeling that peace and…..