Category Archives: Glorifying God

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The Encounter

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Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.”  Hebrews 11:1-2

Over the course of my life, I’ve encountered a wide variety of individuals.  Most of these events are buried in the recesses of my mind as they had little noticeable impact.  The encounters that I do remember are the ones that were: repetitive, damaging, unexpected, uplifting, or loving as they left a significant mark on my life.  At the top of the list of memorable encounters are my encounters with God.  Encounters with the Lord come in a wide variety and are perfectly tailored to the people involved as well as the need.  They may be direct encounters as Noah, Abraham or Moses experienced; through His messengers as was the case with Mary and Joseph; through a grand event as Paul’s conversion or the more subtle work of the Holy Spirit.  No matter what form our encounter takes, we can be certain of one thing: we will never be the same afterward for we will either trust the character of God and draw closer to Him or we will reject Him in disbelief and pull away.

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Images of Hope

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Without Christ there is no hope

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.  Hebrews 10:23

For several years after I became seriously ill, I didn’t plan any events in my life.  I had no confidence that I would be around for the long haul, therefore, planning was out of the question.  The problem was a lack of hope.  While I still had the hope of eternity, I had no hope that God would sustain my body or that I could endure.  Eventually, that lack of hope made my soul sick.  Thankfully, God sustained me and slowly began to educate me on the finer points of living well before Him.  One of those lessons was that there seem to be two kinds of hope: jubilant hope and steadfast hope.  While I had witnessed plenty of examples of jubilant hope e.g. the hope that comes with: salvation, marriage, or a healthy newborn child, and the like, I had no living images of steadfast hope to lean on.  The culture in which I was raised didn’t deal kindly with people who openly discussed their problems and therefore, was devoid of discussions regarding God’s use of trials to mold, shape and equip them.  In that light, let’s consider a few images of steadfast hope, specifically hope that is: teachable, observant, patient, resilient, faithful trusting that God is enough.

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Pleasant Words and Abominations

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Picture of a farm home

“Evil plans are an abomination to the Lord, but pleasant words are pure.”  Proverbs 15:26

I recently spent a couple of weeks with my mother-in-law.  As she likes to listen to the news a lot, I heard just about every broadcast regarding the Judge Kavanaugh hearings.  Our culture seems to have lost the concept that people are innocent until proven guilty.  As I listened, to the newscasts, I was struck by the fact that I was listening to them in Danvers, Massachusetts.  For those who are unaware or need a refresher, Danvers was originally Salem Village.  In the late 1600’s the town held witch trials that resulted in the death of 25 people…19 were hung and another six died in custody.  (One of the victims was Rebecca Nurse whose house is shown above.  See also Britannica.com)  The trials started due to the behaviors of some girls that could not be explained medically and were, therefore, assumed to be satanic.  Lack of information, bad assumptions, and false accusations led to a tragic end.  The words of the girls and others involved led to the abominable deaths of innocent parties.  Contrary to the poem many of us learned in grade school, words have the power to harm and destroy; they also have the power to heal and encourage.   That’s why our use of words is so important.

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Fair

In Praise of our Savior

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Woodland Stream

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:9-11

Recently my wife and I attended church with my aunt and uncle. The service that they normally attend is more traditional and utilizes many hymns.  On this particular Sunday, we sang “Fairest Lord Jesus”.  It’s a beautiful hymn that both inspired praise and sent my mind racing in several directions about what it meant; whether those singing were engaged with message of the words; what does fair mean in this context; is the glory of Christ was still held above the glory of nature; and whether or not the nations, our nation, or even the body of Christ recognizes Christ as Lord.

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Pride and Humility Part 2

Humility Extolled

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"Only the poor in spirit can be humble. How often the experience, growth, and progress of a Christian become such precious matters to him that he loses his lowliness." Watchman Nee

O Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear to vindicate the orphan and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.  Psalm 10:17-18

As I stated in the last post (Pride and Humility Part 1 –  Pride Renounced), we live in a culture that promotes autonomy, independence and self-assuredness.  When controlled, these characteristics are useful tools in life.  However, left unchecked, they will likely lead to pride.  Prideful arrogance impedes a relationship with God, inhibits relationships with others, multiplies guilt, brings dishonor and insures judgement.   Alternatively, humility is often despised by our culture because it appears to be the weaker trait.  However, it is desired by God because it yields rewards in both this life and the one to come.  Following are a few of the benefits.

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Pride and Humility Part 1

Pride Renounced

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"Sin came through the pride of Lucifer and salvation came through the humility of Jesus." - Zac Poonen

“A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.” Proverbs 29:23

In a world that promotes autonomy, independence and self-assuredness, humility is not considered to be an asset.  In the secular realm, it may be a matter of poor self-esteem.  However, in the Christian domain, it is recognition of who we are before God and a willingness to sacrifice what we have been given to serve our Lord as well as our fellow man. People who are truly humble are usually readily identifiable and we are drawn to them.  They are warm and care about others.  It is a contrast to those who are proud and often self-absorbed.

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