My Thoughts and Reflections

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.  And what does the L ORD require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”  - Micah 6:8 (NIV) As Christians, we often tout the Bible as God’s handbook on life, but all too often find ourselves at a loss as to where the sections that show us how to live are.  All throughout the Old Testament, God’s people relied on the Law (the first five books of the Bible, also known as Torah) to know how God wanted them to live.  This was a great gift from God to show them how he intended them to be holy people and to show them that they did not measure up to God’s standards for holiness.   The problem, however, was that they often got caught up in the intricate details and ignored the true priorities that God had for their lives.  They thought that the most important thing to do was to make sure that their sacrifices at the temple were done properly and they also made sure that they s...

“Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him.”  – Psalm 62:1 (NIV) We live in the busiest era of human history.  It is an age where people get frustrated, stressed, and cranky when a website fails to load in under 15 seconds and when the email app on our mobile devices crashes right before our composed email is completed and sent!  We live in a time when text messages, instant messages, and video chats replace real face-to-face conversations and we think the drive through at the bank will save us time!  When is our time for rest?  Where do we find rest?  Sometimes, it seems hopeless for us to find rest in the business of our lives.  After all, who has the time to rest? In this psalm, David proclaims that it is in God where his rest is found.  When you sit down to think about it, where else does your rest come from?  Wasn't it God who created an entire day just for us to rest?  Rest is a God-given act...

“Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.  Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”  – Isaiah 56:1-2 (NIV 1984) Are we still advocates of justice and doing what is right today?  Are we modeling what honoring the Sabbath looks like?  Are we keeping our hands from doing evil?  We live in a world that makes doing justice and what is right difficult because it champions injustice and a “do whatever feels good” attitude.  We live in a world today where the Sabbath is not honored (Saturday, Sunday, another day; take your pick!), where people do not keep their hands from doing evil and where justice is an old fashioned notion that many people believe means equal and “fair” treatment for all! Isaiah’s call to do what is right came more than 2500 years ago and still rings tru...

“I, even I, am the   Lord ,   and apart from me there is no savior.  I have revealed and saved and proclaimed - I, and not some foreign god among you.  You are my witnesses," declares the   Lord , “that I am God.  Yes, and from ancient days   I am he.  No one can deliver out of my hand.  When I act, who can reverse it?"  - Isaiah 43:11-13 (NIV) In the world today, we find ourselves bombarded by religious claims from all sources.  Other religions claim to have the truth or a truth.  Atheists claim that there is no God.  We may be tempted to allow ourselves to ponder the validity of our own God during some darker days in our lives.  In these tough times and even in the best of times, we always can use a reminder of just how powerful of a God we serve!  Look at the emphasis that God places at the beginning of this passage, “I, even I, am the Lord.”  This is the same as a little child attempting to ...

“Happy are you when people insult you and harass you and speak all kinds of bad and false things about you, all because of me.  Be full of joy and be glad, because you have a great reward in heaven.  In the same way, people harassed the prophets who came before you.”  – Matthew 5:11-12 (CEB) When was the last time you were insulted or harassed because of your faith in Christ?  Was it yesterday?  Last week?  Or was it so long ago that you can’t remember when?  The prophets first, then Jesus, and then the apostles, demonstrated what living a Godly life in this world full of darkness will lead to.  It leads to insults, harassment, and persecution.  Ultimately, however, it leads to great rewards in heaven. Jesus ultimately was put to death because his message of the coming Kingdom was offensive to the Jewish leaders.  Likewise, the apostles faced beatings, jail time, torture, and death all for the “criminal offense” of preaching t...

"So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord.  Remember the great reward it brings you!  Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will.  Then you will receive all that he has promised.”  – Hebrews 10:35-36 (NLT) On what or in whom are we placing our trust?  As Christians, our trust can be confidently placed in the Lord.  Why can we have this hope?  We can have this hope because not only is scripture littered with promises about God’s faithfulness and reliability, but there are countless witnesses over the course of world history who could give testimony to this truth.  However, it isn’t always easy to trust in God and to rely on his provision for our lives physically, mentally, and spiritually.  When our confidence in God waivers, we open ourselves to placing our trust in things or people who do not have the ability to follow through for us!  What reward is the writer talking abou...

“Therefore, imitate God like dearly loved children.  Live your life with love, following the example of Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us.”  – Ephesians 5:1-2a (CEB) Who or what are you patterning your life after?  Are you living your life in a way that is mirroring God’s example for us, or are you living your life in a way that is not congruent with God’s example?  God’s example for how he desires us to live is Jesus Christ.  Jesus lived his life by following what he called the greatest commandment, “ You must love the Lord with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind ” (Matthew 22:37, CEB).  He also lived by the second most important commandment, “ You must love your neighbor as you love yourself ” (Matthew 22:39, CEB).  Our Father in heaven has set an example for us to follow.  Just as little children learn how to talk and behave by observing their parents, we are expected to learn how to live and act b...