Life in Words

Luke 22:43 “An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.” Jesus was about to die. Not just any death, but an excruciatingly painful and humiliating death. Bonus, since He is God, He knew exactly what was before Him. You know the tension you feel as a dreaded event draws ever nearer? I can only imagine the dread looming near His heart that night... Then verse 43 appears. An angel comes to strengthen. The thought dawns on me... how many times has God sent an angel to help me in times of heartbreak, anxiety, trial and trouble? Maybe I’ve not even known it was an angel. Yet other times I can clearly remember the comfort and peace a sweet friend provided out of the blue. God still sends us angels, I’m sure of it. Sometimes something as small as a smile and kind word from a complete stranger is enough to take off the edge of the anxiety of a situation I’m facing. Who knows if it was an angel! How many times has He given ME the opportunity to be someone else’s angel? You know th...

Psalm 78:22 "for they did not believe in God or trust in his deliverance." The Israelites had just seen God open the Red Sea in front of them so they could walk across dry land. Now they are in the desert and fear has created unbelief yet again. It's easy to be aghast at the Israelites. Yet we are so much like them sometimes--panicking when an unexpected bill arrives, quickly forgetting the many times God has provided. How easily we fear and how suddenly we forget yesterday's miracles. Look at me, fear yells, and forget the joy God gave you yesterday. Graciously, in the very next verse, God miraculously provides for the Israelites again--highlighting His infinite mercy. I'm so grateful for that infinite mercy. I can't even count the number of times His mercy has saved me once again. So today I'm saying no, fear, I will not let you distract me from the promises I have already been given. I don't like your game and I am not playing anymore.

Ps. 75:6-7 "No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man. But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another." How often do we work for a promotion, position, popularity or favor? Sometimes people's opinions are our identity. We strive so much to be liked--to be the most this or the best that. Trying so hard to be on top, that we miss it: our real purpose, destiny or calling. How much more satisfied would we be if we stopped trying so hard to be ____ and just allowed God to exalt us in His own time?

"... but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong..." It's like a broken doorbell that keeps ringing in the most annoying fashion; or the car's beeping alert drawing your attention to an open door--a resounding gong would be irritating. That description is what it is like when we, as Christians, react to the world without love. There is little to no positive impact--just an irritation. Yet, a mentality of "overlove" or being passive can be just as ineffective, as we simply blend into the background of "normal." So how do I "please God and not people" without erring on either side? This is the question I have been pondering based on the following two verses. Galatians 1:10 "Am I  now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ." 1 Corinthians 13:1 "If I speak in the tongues of men or of ...