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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

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.…

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…

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…