Walking The Walk

"Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end our lives."  ~Psalm 90:14 We've all had something go bad in the refrigerator when we've left it in there too long.  When we leave crackers out on the counter, it doesn't take very long for them to go stale.  I buy bananas every week, and it certainly doesn't take them very long to start turning brown.  Meat goes bad.  Milk sours.  Cheese will mold.  Fresh fruit doesn't stay fresh for very long.  And it's not just food!  See how far you get without refilling the gas tank on your car.  We constantly have to refill our provisions.   It's the same with our faith!  We need to constantly renew ourselves with fresh words from the Bible each day.  Fresh sources of joy.  Fresh expressions of gratitude and hope.  David Jeremiah once wrote that we can't live today on yesterday's joy.  We need to renew our faith each day by refilli...

"Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust." ~Psalm 40:4 I remember reading a story one time about a little boy.  Somebody had given this little boy a dollar and he was worried that he would lose it, so he went to his dad and said, "Dad, would you hold onto this for me?"  And so his dad tucked that dollar safely into his pocket.  A little while later, the little boy came back.  He'd had second thoughts, and said, "I think maybe I'd like to hang onto my own dollar."  So his dad gave it back to him.  Not long after that, the boy came back again, tears in his eyes, and said, "I've lost my dollar!  Will you help me find it!"   Very often we do the same thing.  We say we trust God enough to commit all of our concerns and our worries and our burdens to Him, only to have second thoughts and take those matters back into our own hands.  Inevitably, we mess it all up, and go back to the Lord with regrets and pray, "Lord, help me!  ...

 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. ~Psalm 32:8 NKJV There are times in our life when we may feel like we're out of sync.  Where we're out of step.  We feel like maybe we missed something.  We get this nagging feeling that maybe we missed a turn somewhere behind us.  We just know that something isn't quite right in our life.  Things aren't exactly as they should be.  Somewhere, we've gotten out of step with God. I heard a pastor called this "spiritual discontent" once.  I thought that was a pretty good term.  I've felt that a few times myself.  And usually it's because I AM out of step with God.  I'm either doing something I know isn't quite right.  Or I've made a decision about something that's got more to do with what I want to do, than what God's plan is for me. We let all kinds of things get between us, and the good things that God has planned for us.  Too often we...

"When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. " ~Psalm 56:3 For a good part of my life I believed that I was in charge of my own destiny. It was my decisions that would ultimately decide my fate. I believed the harder I worked the more I'd get ahead.  As Americans we're raised to be very independent. We believe in the American dream. That anything is possible for any individual with enough imagination, enough bravery, and enough elbow grease. That we're only limited by ourselves. And we work hard. And we fight hard. And we find ourselves always paddling against the current. Trying to get where it is we want to go. And by the time we get to where we want to go, if we get to where we want to go . . . we're too tired to enjoy it.  It's not an easy thing to admit you've been doing it wrong for decades. But I realized at some point that I was doing it wrong. The reason I was always paddling against a current was because I'd set the course. I'd set the ...

1  Lord , who may dwell in your sacred tent?      Who may live on your holy mountain? 2  The one whose walk is blameless,      who does what is righteous,      who speaks the truth from their heart; 3  whose tongue utters no slander,      who does no wrong to a neighbor,      and casts no slur on others; 4  who despises a vile person      but honors those who fear the Lord ; who keeps an oath even when it hurts,      and does not change their mind; 5  who lends money to the poor without interest;      who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things      will never be shaken. Warren Wiersbe, the great bible teacher and scholar said what we need to focus on when it comes to Christian character is contained in verse 2 of Psalm 15.   2  The one whose...

    "You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word." Psalm 119:114      Hope is powerful.  Hope is knowing the best is yet to come.  Hope is knowing that at the end of our days, God will fulfill his promises to us.       Do you ever have something on your calendar that you’re looking forward to?   Something you just can’t wait for.   Every day you glance at that calendar and you’re grinning as you count the days until you get there.   Maybe you’re going on a trip to visit some family.   Or maybe you’re going on a vacation to get away from some family.        But the closer it gets, the more you anticipate the event.   And it changes your attitude.   Problems at work that would usually ruin your whole day just bounce right off, because you know next week I’m outta here!   People can’t get your goat.   You’re in a good mood even when the going is no easier than...

"The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble." ~Psalm 9:9 I had a very difficult time writing a piece this week.  I haven't been in a good place this week.  I'm a people person, and as I approach day 100 for this shelter in place, work from home, quarantine world I've found myself in it has started to take an emotional toll on me.  Then more bad news. I found out late in the week, that this working from home could extend well into the fall or even winter where I work--that would mean I may not even be half way through it yet.  The news hit me hard.  I miss people. I read a piece earlier in the week about the mental health costs of this crisis, and I'm beginning to understand that. People are meant to be together.  People were created to share their lives with others, to be social, and to be part of a community.  When that vanishes, it's a difficult adjustment for many of us to make.  But I have to look at this a...