Something About The Joy

When I pray about a problem or a struggle, too often I find myself expecting God to simply step in and fix things.   I expect the fixing to be immediate, and I expect it to be painless and effortless on my part.   I watch for a flash of lightning at the end of my prayer that either gives me the solution or whips me out of the situation I'm unhappy with. This flash of lightning rarely comes. I've been working in my garden this spring.   I don't know what I'm doing.   I've never had a green thumb.   But I figure since I have some space now and extra time on my hands I might as well see if I can do something constructive with it. But it's discouraging.   I planted nasturtium seeds, sweet peas, and marigolds, which I've heard keep out the garden pests, but none of them have sprouted.   I put in three tomato plants two weeks ago and they haven't grown an inch. Other people have zucchinis already and I only have wisps of green sho...

Here are more good thoughts on the mystery that is God, quoted from Open Doors , June 30, 2014. MYSTERY He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ…    Ephesians 1:9      Human beings always want to know “why?” and “why not now?” But it’s precisely because we are human we cannot know. That’s why mystery is so important to understand. The entire book of Job is all about the “why” of suffering and in the end God invites Job to see a bigger picture than even his suffering.      Creation is a mistake if all you see is your suffering. But if you lift your eyes wider and let your gaze roam over the whole universe with God, you can also see that creation has even more beauty and grace.      So we are to value mystery because it enables us to feel God’s love…love that was fully revealed in Christ.      Sometimes we get to see ...

Your Word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures.    Psalm 119: 89-90 I don't believe in "magic," but something a little like magic sometimes seems to happen to me when I meditate on passages in the Bible.   I say "sometimes" because it doesn't always happen.   Many times when I read the Bible I don't "feel" the "magic."   And I say "seems" to happen because what happens is so subtle, so internal, so apparently outside of the realm of reason that I'm never quite sure where it comes from or even what it's doing.   As I write those words, I'm reminded of what Jesus said to Nicodemus about the Holy Spirit: "The wind blows wherever it pleases.   You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.   So it is with everyone born of the Spirit....

The Bible is astounding.   It's a collection of 66 books, written over a period of 1500 years by 40 different authors in three different languages, yet it reveals one consistent God, communicating one central theme throughout: The Creator loves and redeems and wants to be known by the human beings He has made. So why is the Bible sometimes hard to understand?   Why do there seem to be contradictory messages?   If God wants us to know Him, why does He shroud himself in mystery? No one has definitive answers to these questions.   We can say it's impossible to understand an infinite God with our finite minds.   This is true, for sure.   We can also say that what look like contradictions to us may be compatible truths in the realm of the eternal.   And we must also recognize that the devastating separation that happened between us and our Creator in the Garden of Eden did more to keep us from understanding Him than anything He migh...

On a less serious note, I was going through my files this morning and found the following article in an old mimeographed publication called Evangel Trumpeter , published by Melvin Haug, the pastor of a small church in Hines Oregon some time in the early 1960's.   Reproduced here for your admonition and enjoyment: Consider the Rooster The Lord used a rooster to convict Peter (Luke 22:60, 61).   The Master will use any Christian who will follow the rules adhered to by the rooster: 1.   He rises early and immediately begins his God-given task of crowing. 2.   The rooster does not refuse to crow because he can't sing like a canary. 3.   He energetically does that which is never praised.   Who ever heard, "Did you hear that rooster crow? Hasn't he a charming voice?" 4.   He awakens sleepers--unpopular but often necessary. 5.   He is the proclaimer of good news: the arrival of a new day with God-given privilege and oppor...

John 1:47-49 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false." "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you." Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." Nathanael was obviously not in a good mood when his friend, Philip, came to tell him about Jesus.   He'd been sitting under a fig tree, probably talking with God, and there had probably been a lot of whining going on in the conversation.   I can just hear him saying, "Why is the world in such a mess?  What happened to all your promises about coming to rescue us? It's been over 300 years since we Israelites have even heard from you.  Are you still there?  I know I shouldn't be complaining to you, of all people, but you know me.  I love the truth, ...