A Life Worthy

  • One-a-Day Thursday 10/10/13

    number 1And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ… (Ephesians 3:17b-18).

    If you only knew.

    We can’t understand God’s love.  It is totally beyond our brains.  We can use metaphors—parent and child, husband and wife—but ultimately, they fall short.  Can you imagine a trillion of something?  I’ll give you a hand.  One trillion seconds equates to about 31,000 years.  Which you also can’t imagine, since you’ve been around less than a hundred years.

    Most of you.

    The problem is, we’re so stinking finite.  How do we grasp the idea of an infinite God, and his infinite love?

    It’s a good problem.

    I think that, the more we can understand of the sheer magnitude of God’s love for us, the more our problems will shrink in comparison.

    Is God’s love big enough to cover…?

    Does God love me even though I…?

    Can God’s love handle all the…?

    If you only knew.

  • One-a-Day Wednesday 10/9/13

    number 1For he (God) chose us in him (Jesus) before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight (Ephesians 1:4).

    You are the chosen one.

    Well, maybe not the chosen one, but certainly a chosen one.

    Before he made the world, God had you in mind.  He knew who you would be, how you would be, your many sins, your epic, endless failures.

    And he loved you.

    And he chose you.

    Wow.

    Consider this: God is not bound by time, right?  Past, present, future—it’s all kind of now to him.  So, when he looks at you he sees you not only as you are, but as you will be.

    Holy.

    Blameless.

    Now, if only you could learn to see yourself as he sees you.

  • One-a-Day Tuesday 10/8/13

    number 1Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).

    Think you aren’t strong enough?

    Think you aren’t smart enough?

    Think you aren’t rich enough?

    Think you aren’t…enough?

    You have been blessed with every spiritual blessing.  Not some…not even most.

    Every.

    All.

    I can’t even imagine what all that means, but I’ll bet it means this much: everything you need to live the life God has called you to, He has already given you.

    So what are you waiting for?

  • One-a-Day Monday 10/7/13

    number 1note: This is the first in a series of daily posts designed to encourage you to live the life to which you have been called.  For more information on this new direction, click here.

    Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:2).

    Have you ever considered the relationship between the words grace and peace? The second truly depends upon the first.  It is only through God’s grace that we can have peace.

    Think about it—apart from God’s grace, why should you have peace?  You are a hopeless, pathetic lump, destined for destruction—me too, for that matter. (Feeling encouraged yet?)

    Ahh, but you are not apart from God’s grace.  If you belong to Him, you have his grace, sufficient to all your needs.  Your pathetic lumpiness has been forgiven, atoned for.  You, my friend, are complete, you are whole, you are loved.  You are His.

    Embrace his grace, beloved of the Father.  Know his peace today.

  • Change of Direction

    road signAs you may have noticed, my posting is a bit…sporadic.  My intent is to post twice per week, but it never seems to work out that way.  Call it crazy life, or ineptitudalosity on my part; it is what it is.  So, I’m going in a new direction, and I hope you will come along for the ride.  I am going to post six days per week.

    Counterintuitive, huh?

    Here’s the plan:  Monday through Friday I am going to post a daily Scripture verse, with a short commentary.  I’m talking short—just enough to give you something to chew on as you move through your day.  It’s called One-a-Day, and I hope you find it worthwhile.  On Saturday, I will post a normal—if you can call it that—post.

    We’ll see how this works.

    By the way, if you look to the left side of your screen you may see a truly hideous orange tab labeled “Newsletter Signup.” I don’t have a newsletter, and the button does not seem to be connected to anything, so do your best to ignore it. I’m trying to get a “Subscribe” list up and running, so that readers can get an email notification when there are new posts.  But, since I’m going to be posting six times per week, you can just save time and set this as your home page!

    So, come back tomorrow morning for your first One-a-Day!

  • Plans

    blueprints“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord,

    “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

    Plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jer. 29:11)

    Cathy once saw a church play in which little notes would come wafting down from the rafters into the hands of the main characters.  The little notes were from God and contained explicit instructions for immediate situations.

    I want that.

    Please. (more…)

  • Babylon

    crownI had dinner with some interesting people the other day.  There were, let’s see, three kings, an angel, and a prophet of God, all munching on Fresh Mex.

    OK, so they weren’t actually real-life Bible characters brought from the past to be my mealtime companions.  They were only actors in the show Daniel—the one I’ve milked three posts out of so far.  Still, they outranked me; I play four minor characters in the show, and each dies gruesomely.

    Anyway, I started thinking about these characters, especially the kings (I don’t think I could get inside the head of a prophet, and I’m not even going to try to understand an angel).  For some reason, Nebuchadnezzar in particular fascinates me.  After all, this was a living, breathing man, not a cartoon character.  Even if he never ate a sweet pork burrito, I’m thinking that he could not have been so very different from me. (more…)

  • Country of the Blind

    blindfold

    This vision/blindness theme really has a hold on me.

    My last post got me thinking about one of my all-time favorite stories, The Country of the Blind.  H.G. Wells wrote this tale of a man who finds himself trapped in a village that has been physically cut off from the outside world for centuries.  Over the years, the villagers have evolved a brutal congenital defect.

    They’re blind.

    All of them.

    Completely.

    Blind like—they’re born without eyes—that kind of blind.

    (more…)

  • Vision

    blindnessIn Iowa, it is legal for a blind person to carry a gun.

    Just…let that soak in for a moment.

    Now, I’m a big supporter of the Second Amendment, and I’m certainly against discrimination based on physical disabilities, but…seriously?  A blind person with a gun?  Immense power in the hands of one who has no means of directing it accurately or effectively could have significant and terrifying ramifications.

    I’m sure there’s a political aspect to this, but we won’t go there today. (more…)

  • Optidultery

    Is it possible to commit optical adultery?Ugly glasses

    I have been faithful to the same optometrist for 35 years.  At age 10 I was, I believe, one of his very first patients. Through college, and moves, and marriage, and kids, I have been a steadfast customer and sustainer of his lavish lifestyle.

    You see, my eyes do this weird thing.  It’s called not working.  (more…)