Mission Faithwalk

                 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32) Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ( James 1:2) Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn . (Romans 12:15) All things ? There are some things that I would like, but thank God, God doesn’t give them to me because they wouldn’t be good for me or for someone(s) else. There are things that probably wouldn’t be as dangerous for me to have, but God doesn’t give me those, either. Some things He could give me would be useless to me. There are lots of things God doesn’t give us, because all things doesn’t mean all things, and we wouldn’t want it to. If all things meant all things , after all, it would include nasty, contagious diseases, poverty, broken relationships, and several other tragedies. One is bad enough...

                  The king rejoices in your strength, Lord. How great is his joy in the victories you give! (Psalm 21:1)                 The first thing that comes to mind as I read Psalm 21 is that God doesn’t give me victories. He doesn’t display His strength to me or on my behalf. Oh, of course, there was Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Yes, that counts, but you know what I mean. Ultimate victory doesn’t change the lack of present victory. It doesn’t make me feel victorious, at least not yet. I suspect there are at least times when you feel the same way.                 But, I’ll admit that I tend to have dramatic expectations of victory. I want the explosion of the shark or the Death Star . I want my enemies destroyed or humiliated. I want walk...

                   I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. (Psalm 16:8)                 You get into your car. Someone gets in the passenger seat next to you, or you put a destination into your GPS/phone. Tell me something. Relative to you, where is your passenger or GPS? They’re at your right hand, and if you aren’t sure where you’re going, that’s the direction you turn to for advice and direction.                 Considering yesterday’s post about discipline, there’s another tip in today’s verse. If we keep our eyes always on the Lord, and keep Him at our right hand, we will develop a discipline of looking to Him and for Him, and (we can hope) of doing what He does and/or what He advises or commands. After all, a GPS doesn’t do much go...

                    Discipline your children, for in that there is hope, do not be a willing party to their death. (Proverbs 19:18)                 According to the authors of Generations , each generation seeks to correct the errors it believes the preceding generation or two made. One result is that the rearing of children swings like a pendulum between too domineering and too smothering, or between too attentive and virtually negligent.  The Millennials were seen, it seems to me, as golden children. They were our future, our hope, and could do nothing wrong, but we expected a great deal of them. The I-Geners or Z-Geners seem to have been, in some ways, the heir of the Millennials, reigning supreme but with no real expectations of them except “self-realization” in whatever form they decide to take it. Others may, of course, have very different ...

                   Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (I John 5:12)                 What is life? How do we know when someone is alive? Dead? Medically, someone is generally considered alive if they are breathing, have a heart rate or pulse, are moving, have blood pressure and vital signs (yep), and, though it wasn’t listed, brain activity.  The list is somewhat redundant, and there are always stories of people who appeared to be dead but somehow are revived, often dramatically as the result of medical intervention. As a general rule, however, dead is dead.                 When we shift our perspective from the physical to the spiritual, we sometimes start thinking in magical terms. We assume that spiritual aliveness is eter...

                       Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. (Proverbs 18:2)                   This morning, I found a post on Facebook calling for us to pass laws that prevent communists from holding office in America and asking who agreed. Then I found this verse in Proverbs 18. At the risk of being one of those fools who delight in airing their (my) own opinion, it seems to me that this verse is a warning that we desperately need to heed.                 One of the warnings we hear about communists is that they are authoritarian. They take away people’s rights, etc. And I have read enough history, philosophy, and psychology to believe that. When you are in control of things and expected to make everything “wonderful...