“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalms 42:1-2, ESV) This Psalm was my grandmother’s favorite. I’ve always loved it as well; but for a long while I never really... Continue Reading →
A Fresh Look At A New Thing
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19, ESV) I have heard this verse used a many times since the beginning of my faith walk with Jesus. It was, in my observation,... Continue Reading →
Empty
They were the emptiest eyes I had ever seen. I had been living in Germany for a while, and I had gotten used to the trains. The public transportation offered freedom to explore, and some of the independence my 17-year-old spirit longed for. I had seen people of every kind: Hare Krishnas, people with 2-foot-tall,... Continue Reading →
When Your World Is Crashing Down Around You
“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God... Continue Reading →
Chaos
“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day” (Genesis 1:31 ESV). There’s a theory called Entropy which states that everything is in the process of moving from order to disorder. It certainly doesn’t take much of an imagination... Continue Reading →
Upheld By The Lord
“If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. When I thought, "My foot slips," your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul”(Psalms 94:17-19 ESV emphasis mine). As disciples, Jesus followers, we... Continue Reading →
Suffering and Sovereignty
“As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:1-3 ESV).... Continue Reading →
Suffering Mindfully
"For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For... Continue Reading →
Desperation
"Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, 'My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.' And he went with him"... Continue Reading →
My Hiding Place
“You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.... Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope! Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually!” (Psalms 119:114 , 116-117 ESV) Last Thursday... Continue Reading →
Skipping Stones 