THE STORY OF JESUS: Psalm 45 “My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king.” (Psalm 45:1) When a king in ancient Israel celebrated a special event, a song was often written. This psalm was for a royal wedding (with polygamy, there were many weddings). This ‘song for the king’…
My heart, Christ’s home
Have you ever read this: My Heart, Christ’s Home? If you are a follower of Jesus, it’s worth reading. If you are not, it will still be good to read, you just may not like it as much. I thought of it when I was reflecting on Solomon’s building the temple for God. It asks…
Jesus is my interior decorator!
THE STORY OF JESUS: 1 Kings 4-6 “I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.” (1 Kings 6:13) Imagine that someone very important asked to stay at YOUR house. Which room would you give them, how would you prepare that room? Would you be excited to have them come, or embarrassed to let them…
Grace meets us where we are!
THE STORY OF JESUS: 1 Kings 1-3 “At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream.” (1 Kings 3:5) Gibeon was an important ‘high place’, where God did NOT want His people to go. High places were unregulated sacred spaces where unholy worship occurred. These high places were one of the ways Solomon did not…
A faith that produces a harvest!
THE STORY OF JESUS: Mark 4:1-9 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.” (Mark 4:3) God has a dream for this world, and He is planting the seeds to make it grow. God’s kingdom dream involves transforming this world through love and mercy. Jesus starts this revolution Himself, and He gathers others to join with…
Jesus’ missionary family!
THE STORY OF JESUS: Mark 3:31-35 “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:35) Jesus loves all people, but he loves in a special way those who obey God’s will. But who actually does this… we all fail to fulfill God’s will for our lives. But Jesus is announcing good news, that…
Open or closed to the Spirit?
THE STORY OF JESUS: Mark 3:20-30 “He is out of His mind!”… “He is controlled by Beelzebub!” (Mark 3:21-22) Jesus is warning those who reject what the Spirit is saying through Him. Their critical, closed-minded response to Jesus is closing them to God’s Spirit. What they see as crazy and wrong, what they reject as demonic… is…
Jesus picks me too!!!
THE STORY OF JESUS: Mark 3:13-19 “Jesus called to him those He wanted.” (Mark 3:13) Do you remember picking teams as a kid? I never got to be the one picking, and was usually one of the last picked. As captain, Jesus makes some odd picks, at least from a human viewpoint. Peter the big mouth, James…
‘Mud-in-the-eye-refuse-to-die’ realistic faith
THE STORY OF JESUS: Psalm 44 “Rise up and help us. Save us because of Your faithful love!” (Psalm 44:26) At one time faith was simple: God was great, God was good, everything made sense. But things got more complicated: good people suffered, bad people prospered!?!? Then came perplexity – what? why? how? when? – nothing fit…
God stoops to our weakness!
THE STORY OF JESUS: 2 Samuel 21-24 “The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness.” (2 Samuel 22:25) Is this true… is this God’s inspired truth or just David’s perspective? All scripture is God-breathed, but what exactly does that mean? Does it mean that every word is true and accurate… including inaccurate words? My goal is not to…