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Light

            When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else.” C. S. Lewis (Is Theology Poetry?   Reflections: Christianity Makes Sense Of The World - C.S. Lewis Institute ) It seems that my Bible platform is going to go through Jesus’s “I Am” statements, and that’s fine with me. And again, maybe I’m the only one who hasn’t understood them in the past, but I don’t think so. The statement, “I’ve seen the light” or “I saw the light” tends to be understood either as my having come to Christ for salvation, or having otherwise repented because we’ve finally come to realize our error. It’s the candle in the window that leads us to safety. And I won’t say that aspect of it doesn’t exist. ...
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Bread

                  Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty . (John 6:35)           I have to admit that this is one of the verses in Scripture that unsettles me a little. It’s not a deal-breaker with God because my failure to be 100% with what the Bible says is not required any more than my being 100% with any person. It’s entirely possible that I’m the one missing the puzzle piece. A lot of people would say that this passage is easy. Jesus was referring to Himself as the bread of life, so the bread in question is spiritual or figurative. It doesn’t mean that if those who come to Him choose to fast for forty days that their stomachs won’t growl and they won’t lose weight. It also doesn’t mean that groceries will appear in the cupboard.           ...
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The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
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A....A....

                 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6) It has been a tough few days. Wednesday night, my “good” knee became my “bad” knee in a melodramatic incident. I handled the emergency fairly well, I think, but it’s taken several days to my knee to recover to the point that it has, which isn’t quite where I’d like it. I had downs and ups about an assigned article and my story, but I thought I was doing better. On Sunday morning, my pastor preached a great sermon about hope. Then I came home, and things slowly failed to be as productive as I wanted. It doesn’t help that I started into a process online that just can’t be simple. No great surprise, really. But by bedtime, I had spiraled down into anxiety. No great surprise, really. I prayed. I whined. I screamed in silence. And this morning I got up with my...
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Cancelling Debts

                 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. (Deuteronomy 15:1) This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.   Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. (Romans 13:6-8) How long has it been since you cancelled debts? I know we love the idea of having our debts cancelled. Buy a brand-new house and vehicle and pay on them for only 7 years. Or, better yet, buy them at 6.5 years through the cycle and only pay for 6 months! I don’t think it would work that way, but we like the idea. And, as for the forgiving debts others owe me, well, I don’t have the money to lend, so that is a non-issue. ...
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His Love Endures Forever

                 G ive thanks to the Lord, for he is good.   His love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1, 36) Words of Affirmation Acts of Service Receiving Gifts Quality Time Physical Touch             According to Gary Chapman in his 1992 book, The Five Love Languages , these are the five ways that people communicate the love to one another. You have a “native” love language. Do you know what it is? If not, here’s the official web page for the quiz (among others): Discover Your Love Language® - The 5 Love Languages® (Official Quiz)             I’m sharing that with you because if love languages exist (and I believe they do), God invented them. He speaks each of them fluently, but I doubt He speaks to you in only one of them. There’s one you are likely to recognize best.       ...
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Celebrate It

                 This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance. (Exodus 12:14) By the time you read this, it will be the day after Black Friday. You will have lived through three of the four major holidays of the fall: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the aforementioned Black Friday. There’s only one left. Are you already exhausted? The only parallel I can think of is that we have Memorial Day in May, Flag Day in June, and Independence Day in July, but we can decorate once for all three, and we don’t tend to give presents. I’ll grant, however, that there are still people who decorate graves for or by Memorial Day, and that can create some stress. Maybe it’s just the former corporate retail employee in me. Of course, today’s verse is not about Christmas, but Christmas has become one of the festivals we feel obligated to celebrate. And ...
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