What Is Your Will In Christ?

I may find that I'm singing off key here, but during my scripture reading I had an interesting thought... "When you cross the Jordan, set up these stones at Mount Ebal and coat them with plaster, as I am commanding you today.  Then build an altar there to the LORD your God, using natural, uncut stones. You must not shape the stones with an iron tool. Build the altar of uncut stones, and use it to offer burnt offerings to the LORD your God." Deuteronomy 27:4-6 (NLT) Have you ever read this passage and wondered why the Lord wanted the alter built with uncut stones? When there were obviously so many skilled craftsmen among the children of Israel who could have used their skill and creativity to create something more appealing from those raw and uncultured stones, why would the Lord forbid it? There are no doubt more in depth explanations that escape my thoughts at the moment, but I've wondered about this more than once and came up with one possibility in my own mi

"As a child of God, compromise with this world is not far from cowardice"... ...Those words suddenly popped into my head while participating in a morning journal group as we read Ephesians chapter 5. It gave me pause and made me do some pretty serious thinking. How much courage did it take for Jesus to save me?... To save you? And how much courage does it really take for me to stand apart from the world - set apart from the world and its ways as a true child of God as He's called us to be? The world has it's temptations and insistent demands and likes to try to shame us into following obediently, but we have a higher calling... "Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God."  Ephesians 5:1-2 (NLT) ...Just how much courage does it take for you and I to walk firmly in Christ'

There's a battle raging right now.  People are being hurt and lives destroyed.  There's anger, bitterness, pain and suffering, condemnation, and lives being lost.  It's not the battle between liberals and conservatives that I'm concerned with. It's not the one between people of color and those of light skin. It's not the one between the homeless - those doing without and those holding corporate power. It's not even all of the battle and confusion of an epidemic. It's much bigger than all of those put together. Let me ask a question and for your pardon for the asking at the same time. Please indulge me for a moment and think...                              ... What's on your mind? The Apostle Paul: "Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, an

If anything that I've done, thought, said, or allowed myself to be a part of is justified by anything other than the sieve of what God has said, ... then it's wrong - It's that simple. There are a number of things in my past that I can think of that I hope the Lord doesn't ever ask me about ... but what if He does? If my "reasons" for those things aren't in agreement with His judgment (they aren't, or I wouldn't have thought of them so easily) then that's going to be an uncomfortable conversation on my part. I'm forgiven but as I go forward in relationship with Him, I'm accountable for the choices I make... In a marriage relationship, husbands and wives need to be accountable to each other. If they're not, then I'd be left to wonder if they're really connected - united as one. To claim to hold someone that closely and not consider their feelings, judgment or thoughts would seem contrary. If I love my wife (which I do),

At times we're limited by the the boundaries of our senses and our mind's ability to truly contemplate and grasp the idea of a reality beyond those boundaries that we find more familiar. In a manner of speaking, it's a limitation that we don't commonly acknowledge in our daily lives, but one that exists none the less inside of a greater reality. That greater and true reality may cause our limited senses to struggle because it's a reality beyond the reach of their current physical experience.  The greater reality I'm referring to is the one...                                  ... where our God lives... "Spread out above them was a surface like the sky, glittering like crystal. Beneath this surface the wings of each living being stretched out to touch the others’ wings, and each had two wings covering its body. As they flew, their wings sounded to me like waves crashing against the shore or like the voice of the Almighty or like the shouting of a mighty

"My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech. Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil."    Proverbs 4:20-27 (NLT) In all of the turbulence of current events it could be easy to fall prey to anger and resentment. But I have to ask myself carefully at the revelation of each new event: If I allow myself to be angry or resentful, who or what is the target and what is my motivation? Our feet can't be allowed to walk the path of injustice - even in our thinking. So I have to stop and determine what or who is urging me to feel that way...

Every morning that the sun rises and the moon and the stars fade into the background, the Lord's mercy for us is renewed... "Great is his faithfulness;  his mercies begin afresh each morning.  I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance;  therefore, I will hope in him!” Lamentations 3:23-24 (NLT) But as His children created in His image,... do we have mercy in our heart for another? It's easy to get a little off course these days with so many things attempting to pull us in different directions. But "a little" off course... is off course. And being off even by a little can lead us to a destination we never intended over time. We're human, so it's no surprise to anyone that we're tempted to be intrigued by humanly interesting things. For our potentially consuming pleasure as humans, there are personal interests, group interests (which can include ideological, religious, ethnic, and a host of other "groups"), national interests and e