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Watch and Pray
And Jesus said, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:38) In that hour, when He was facing His imminent arrest, brutal beating and murder by crucifixion, Jesus was still teaching His beloved disciples and friends the crucial importance of staying close to the Father. He was reminding them that as long as they were in the flesh in this world they would need to continually and perpetually press into a relationship with Him. It is the same for us. Until He comes again, we are in a fallen and broken world, and we are tempted by all…
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Watching and Waiting
Today begins Advent. The season in which we celebrate the first coming of Christ, and in which we focus on the waiting with expectant hope of His second coming. I am always deeply grateful for the sacred rhythms. On the one hand, there is feasting and fellowship with friends and family, and on the other hand a profound sense of pregnant watchfulness. Waiting with anticipation and sure expectation is one of the exquisite luxuries of life in Christ. Why? Because He makes promises. And all His promises are yes and amen. (2 Corinthians 1:20) In John 14:3, He tells His disciples, “…I will come again and receive you to Myself….”…
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Give Thanks
Today my dear husband helped me decorate the ledge in our living room. I wanted to put a couple of lighted trees up there and a velvet clothed Santa. The ledge is twelve feet up, and this was no small feat. He held the ladder so I could climb up and then coached and encouraged me in those first few terrifying minutes when I was sure the whole endeavor was a very bad idea. He lifted all the items up to me, including additional things that I thought of in the process. After I had positioned everything I realized I needed to see what it looked like from the ground.…
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From Glory to Glory
Leaves are falling now, and branches are becoming bare. The air is cooler and the wind more penetrating. It is a welcome change, even though tinged with the promise of even more barrenness and bitter cold. I am always glad when the season changes, because every season has its own glory. I am charmed and strangely comforted by the rhythms and cycle of life on this God’s especially created world. I say, “strangely” comforted, because in a way I am surprised that with each new season I lean forward in anticipation of what it will bring, all the while knowing that it will surely pass and another will come. Why…
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The Solid Rock
“He then is all my hope and stay.” This line is from an old hymn; one of my father’s favorites and one of mine. In these days between the first and second coming of Christ, the circumstances in the world are fraught with uncertainty and troubles of all kinds. Kings and leaders, good ones and bad ones, have risen and fallen. Nations have been at war, and there are yet rumors of war. The world is in constant motion and situations are always changing. “When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.” (On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand, by Edward Mote 1834)…
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Let us Join Hands
I heard a story this week that captured my heart. Strangely, it was in a corporate leadership meeting, and my co-workers and I were listening to a guest speaker who was encouraging us to be open to compassion and friendliness as character traits of a good leader. The story goes like this: An anthropologist had gone to Africa to be with a remote group of indians for a period of time for research. During his stay, he became warmly attracted to the children in the village and wanted to do something special for them. He decided to give them a basket of chocolates (a rare treat). Wanting to make it…
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Alone in the Fog
I had a vision. Well, more like a waking dream. I’m not prone to this type of fancy, actually. (If you know me personally, don’t smirk.) This happened many years ago, but I never forgot it and it has resurfaced in my memory at different times, usually with poignant relevance. Maybe it has come up again now because of the strange world events we find ourselves in at this time on God’s Kingdom calendar. In my dream, I am walking along a footpath. There are deep woods on the right of me and a towering bank of fog on the left. I am a little concerned because I cannot seem…
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Obsession
I’ve been digging into the Word for the last four weeks along with some of the ladies in my church family as we’ve been participating in a Bible study together and meeting online to discuss the homework. The time has been blessed, the fellowship has been rich, and I am profoundly grateful for the depth of relationship we share in Christ. Particularly, I have been intrigued by the hunger for intimacy with Him that we are all experiencing. Hunger for His presence and thirst for His life are longings He alone can produce in us, and I appreciate His kindness in drawing us to Himself. His desire is toward His…
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Rain
Sitting here in my living room, watching the rain come down in sheets, I’m grateful for this unhurried moment of contemplation. I’ve always enjoyed the rain with its dim light and soothing sound. I like being curled up with a good book and a cup of tea and relishing the coziness of it all. Even a strong thunderstorm with flashes of lightning is somehow reassuring to me. I guess because it reminds me that God is God, and I am not. He is big and powerful, and He’s my Father in heaven who loves me. I never get over this great mystery: God Almighty, Creator of world and worlds, is…
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Open Heart – part two
Last week I shared with you about the hospitality that is in the heart of God, about having an open heart to embrace opportunities to bless others. Today I want to flip us around to the other side of that equation and talk about God’s desire to enter into our hearts and have His way there. “Behold I stand at the door and knock,” He says. “If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20) Imagine having Jesus as a guest in your home. What might that be like? Would you be so…