My Thoughts and Reflections

“ A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.” - Matthew 12:35 (NLT) One of the many issues that we face while living in this world full of sin and death, is that we are constantly bombarded by evil. Evil words and actions are constantly in our faces as a result of local, national, and world events. It is very difficult to shield our eyes, ears, and hearts from the constant state of evil that our world is in. This is a problem at home, school, work, or wherever you find yourself today. As followers of Jesus Christ, we desire to be good people, as this verse says, who produce good fruit, but that is difficult when we are being filled with so much evil from our world. How do we combat this? By filling our hearts with the treasure that we find in scripture. When we go through our day without opening our Bibles to receive that holy food from God, we are allowing the evil of...

"The mountains may shift, and the hills may be shaken, but my faithful love won't shift from you, and my covenant of peace won't be shaken, says the LORD, the one who pities you." Isaiah 54:10 (CEB) In the times of suffering in my own life, it has been easy to shake my fist at God and say, "Why have you let these bad things happen to me? Why have you abandoned me? Have you stopped loving me?" It is easy to be angry at God when a loved one dies, when we find out we're sick or a loved one is sick, when we've lost a job, or when we've suffered an injustice. It is easy to think that God's love hasn't been unwavering and his presence in our lives hasn't been constant. However, God's promise to us is that he will never leave us or abandon us. He promises, in this passage, that even if the mountains shift or the hills are shaken, his love won't shift from us. That is a comforting thing to hear. Even if it seems that our li...

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed." James 5:16a (NASB) As followers of Jesus Christ, we know that we need to confess our sins to God, which provides us with assurance of forgiveness since he has promised us that would do that (1 John 1:9). When I confess my sins to God, it often seems like it is too easy for me since I know that God already knows my offenses and he has promised to forgive me when I confess to him.  Confessing to God may seem easy, but it is taking confession to a whole new level when I involve a fellow brother or sister in Christ into the mix.  James encourages us to confess our sins to each other and to pray for each other so that we can be healed. When I confess my sins to my chosen brother in Christ, it makes the sin in my life that much more real. I am forced to share the burdens of my sin with someone else and allow someone else to see the dark parts of my life. When I confess ...

"Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before him." Job 13:15 (NASB) During times of great trial, especially when it doesn't seem like I am at fault for what has transpired, I seek to make myself free of all blame for whatever situation I may be finding myself in. It is natural for me, and I'm sure for pretty much everyone else out there, to want to be blameless when things are not going very well for me. I cannot claim what Job is claiming here in this passage. I cannot argue before God that my ways are blameless before him. However, what Job is doing in this passage is something we should all feel encouraged to do. In spite of his awful circumstances, Job makes the radical claim, "Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before him" (13:15). Why is this such a radical statement to make? It is a radical statement to make because Job has lost everything in the world that ...

"Sing for joy to God our strength! I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt." Psalm 81:1a, 10a (NIV1984) During Lent we look forward to the coming of Easter Sunday, the day that we are filled with overwhelming joy and celebration of Jesus' resurrection from the dead. This is our great reason to sing for joy to God. This is why we are called to sing for joy in so many different ways. However, Jesus' resurrection from the dead is not our only reason for singing praise to God! In our passage today (Psalm 81), the psalmist not only tells us that it is a decree for Israel and an ordinance of God that the people sing for joy to God, but he also lists out many reasons for the people of Israel to praise God. God moved the burdens of the people and set their hands free from the work of slavery in Egypt. He set them free from Egypt and provided for all of their needs. He heard their calls of distress and answered them when they were wandering in the ...

"It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith." Romans 4:13 (NIV1984) I know I am not alone in having times throughout my life when my faith in Jesus Christ and the truthfulness of his word has wavered. In those times of doubting and struggling to maintain my faith, I would ask myself questions like, "Am I really doing all that I can to be saved?" and "How can I really be sure that my faith in Jesus Christ alone is enough?" During those times, it's scriptures like today's passage (Rom. 4:6-13) that encourage me and bring my flickering flame of faith back to a roaring fire! One of Paul's favorite examples of faith and righteousness, that he uses multiple times in his letters, is Abraham. He tells us that God counted Abraham as righteous because of his faith in him, not because of anything that he accomplished on his ...

The L ORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.  I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."  So Abram left, as the L ORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Genesis 12:1-4a (NIV1984) If you haven't yet heard, or the over-the-top celebrations of Mardi Gras didn't tip you off, we are now in the season of Lent!  Lent, the season when we are encouraged to give up something in order to turn our focus towards God and the ultimate sacrifice that he made by sending his son Jesus Christ into the world as a human being in order to die for the forgiveness of our sins and for the hope of having eternal life with him. In this passage, Abram (a.k.a. Abraham) is called to sacrifice everyt...

"Pride brings a person low, but the lowly in spirit gain honor." Proverbs 29:23 (NIV) Pride is the root of all sins and when we allow pride to swell in our lives, it prevents us from following Christ! This is why pride brings a person low.  The apostle James tells us that when we humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, he will lift us up. Our verse from Proverbs today tells us that when we make ourselves lowly in spirit, we will gain honor. We gain that honor and are lifted up when we drop our pride and follow Jesus wholeheartedly. Jesus did not ask the disciples to temporarily drop their nets to follow him. He didn't require them to only follow him halfheartedly. He asked them to follow him completely, to follow him 100%, to follow him with everything they had! So, have you dropped your pride today in order to follow Jesus Christ wholeheartedly and completely, or have you held onto your pride? Have you submitted yourself to Jesus today so that nothi...