HOPEתִּקְוָה tiqvâh,ἐλπίς elpís, For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,for my HOPE is from him.He only is my rock and my salvation,my fortress; I shall not be shaken.Psalm 62:5-6 I’m pretty sure that HOPE is a commodity I have not seen for the true RICH (and possibly rare) thing that it is. If it is hewn as the Apostle Paul suggests in his letter to the saints in Rome, it comes by rugged means. But the thing is, I can’t live without it… and neither can you. And it’s not just HOPE we’re talking about. It’s mainly about the object of that HOPE. Christians (Christ Ones) HOPE in God. The pursuit of HOPE…

How AWARE would you say you are, right in this moment, of your NEED of GOD? In general, would you say you have a pervasive awareness of your needfulness, or not so much? This has been on my mind for many years, especially as I live in the aftermath of some of my “not so great moments” in life. The thing is, I’m certain as I read the Bible, that my need of God is comprehensive, whatever my awareness. If I slip into the template Jesus established when He walked the earth, I would do NOTHING of my own will or in my own power. The idea is that God…

What words would you, as a Christ Follower, use to describe how you relate WITH God? Distant – Intimate – Contentious – Familial – Fractured – Friendly – Cool – Seasoned… I ask because too many of us seem to be starving from a lack of meaningful relationship with God. I would wonder how on earth that’s possible for children of God except I’ve lived my share of years unable to bridge the invisible chasm I FELT between myself and my Maker. The thing is, without doubt the LORD is offering His sons and daughters a highly personal connection with Himself, even friendship. That’s where the lifeblood flows from, so…

I had never noticed the details in the exchange between God and Moses when God sent him off the mountain to deal with the rebellion of the people, (Exodus Thirty-two, The Golden Calf). God was incensed, ready to consume His “stiff-necked people” and start all over through Moses offspring. The Lord’s desire in that moment was to allow His wrath to “burn hot” against Israel. Moses made a bold plea on the people’s behalf, and God “relented of the disaster He has spoken of bringing.” So there you go. Moses’ intercession worked and the people were spared. Moses then headed down the mountain to face what God has just informed…

There are scads of tragic stories in the Bible that illicit an uncomfortable familiarity when I read them. Does that happen to you too? Air-drop pretty much anywhere in The Book and you’ll see evidence of a narrative that repeats over and over again; a narrative that humankind has continued to repeat right up to the present. I have done my part as a “faithful” contributor… Inevitably then, as I sit in the Word with God, I do a lot of apologizing on behalf of my own sorry self, and my fellow humans that have gone before. The upside of that is the opportunity that is always there to be…

Hello My Precious, Faithful Readers – I am writing to say “hello“, and acknowledge that I have been essentially off the grid for more than eighteen months. I have been using my “writing time” to complete a large project that I hope to share with you shortly. If I were more of a grownup, I would not have needed to pause my blogging so that I could apply myself to a new endeavor. Alas, I hope to be more versatile in the future! In the meantime, I hope you will receive my future posts in the same gracious manner you always have, and engage in the potential dialogue! I’m VERY…

Through this man (Jesus) forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by Him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. Acts 13:38-39 I’m struck this morning by what must have been an inconceivable proclamation to the Jews in those initial years following Jesus’ death and resurrection. How much of the life of a Jew was constructed around making certain one kept the laws of Moses? How much time and energy was expended to keep oneself “clean” or to make amends for transgressions of the law? Wasn’t the bulk of life about maintaining a right standing with God?…

And Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD on his shoulders for remembrance. Exodus 28:12 Two onyx stones, enclosed in settings of gold filigree, each having 6 names of the sons of Israel engraved on them, in order of their birth. Aaron was to bear these before the LORD on his shoulders… for remembrance. I was asking the LORD who this was for. He wanted their names facing upward, toward Him. And why? Who needed to remember? He doesn’t forget His sons and daughters. As I’ve been happily plodding through these chapters in Exodus, transcribing for myself all the detail of the constructing of the tabernacle and now the…

Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words. Proverbs 23:9 I was thinking about how often I’ve been frustrated with God for not giving me a direct answer to a question, not being keen on waiting. I would process those times by thinking He was being silent about it. As I read this proverb and reflect back over the years, a couple of thoughts percolate. The first is: I’m not sure God remained silent as much as He was tending to “first things first.” The picture that comes to mind is of a toddler having asked for a cookie…

He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. Matthew 4:22 “He who hesitates is lost.” Oxford Dictionary categorizes this as a proverb and defines it this way: Delay or vacillation may have unfortunate or disastrous consequences. A good Biblical equivalent might be these words from Proverbs 1: For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them. For many weeks I’ve been pondering what it is I do when I hear a voice behind me saying this is the way, walk in it. Specifically, I’m thinking about my initial response to that Voice. Jesus says, in John chapter 10,…

Today I’m contemplating cycles of behavior and what it is each person within that cycle holds to in order to keep the cycle… cycling :/ – and because my mind explodes with tangent thoughts, I jettisoned back to this post from the Day One Archive. While God is most certainly a God of order, the “cycles” He creates always and only serves His purposes to advance wholeness, life, and purposefulness. Human cycles usually serve a far lesser cause. In any case, it helped me get out of a negative stream of thought, to re-read and remember how magnificent my God of structures and systems is. And when I’m tempted to…

Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him ENDURED the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. ~ Hebrews 12:2 When you are certain about why you’re doing what you’re doing, the ability to ENDURE becomes a little more attainable. Jesus knew what was at stake as He moved toward the cross and beyond. He knew what would be accomplished through His death and resurrection. I believe He understood the implications of everything He did and everything the rest of humanity was doing (or not doing) in response to His revolutionary message. But did Jesus…

We use New Year’s Day as an opportunity to take stock. We give ourselves permission to think and feel, and to contemplate the bits of our lives. That’s fairly remarkable in a society driven to live at light-speed. It seems most of us resolve, not to necessarily embark on new endeavors as much as to apply a fresh application of ourselves to what already is. Where I have lost view of pieces of my life, I seek to RE-view. Where I have lost a sense of my calling to a thing, I seek to RE-call. Where I recognize I’m lacking clarity I seek to RE-focus. Where I feel lethargic or…