In this season of Thanksgiving, God’s people are invited to give thanks to God for the blessings they have received and to generously give back to God of portion of what they had been given. The Bible is clear that we are to give not out of compulsion, but generously with a cheerful heart. For who can possibly out give our God who has generously and graciously given us all things, even his own Son, Jesus Christ.
During this election season, I’ve been shocked by some Christians who have turned a blind eye to their candidate’s lack of kindness. Kindness is one the fruits of the Holy Spirit that should be evident in a person’s life who claims to be a follower of Jesus. It is usually something that comes with a choice. We either yield to the Holy Spirit or give in to the flesh. My friends, we can’t expect our countrymen to be kind to one a
Patience
I remember once when two of my children were 5 and 3, hearing little Maddy shout out from the back of our minivan, "Rhyan is not giving me patience, he is giving me frustration!" Patience is not an easy fruit of the Spirit to cultivate because it is often borne from frustration caused to us by ourselves, others, life circumstances, and even God. But our God is patient with us. Jesus was patient with everyone he encountered. And we too,
This political season, I have been particular discouraged by the actions of some Christians who have chosen to play dirty politics. Regardless of what side we find ourselves on politically, God cares very deeply about how we treat one another as we do politics. The Bible has a lot to say about the character we should display as Christ followers. They are called the Fruit of the Spirit or love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfuln
Recently while watching the latest reality TV show The Bachelorette with my daughter, I was struck by the difference between Hollywood’s concept of love and Biblical love. Hollywood's love is fleeting, here today and gone tomorrow, more based on how one feels than what one commits to. Biblical love on the other hand is chock full of promises that are really hard to keep which are based on how God loves us.
I heard it said recently that movement is life. Indeed, if we stop moving, eventually we will die. That is certainly true in life's journey as well. I recently walked 160 miles of the Camino de Santiago in Spain and though it got really rough at times, this certainly proved true. Even on our most challenging of days, we needed to just keep moving.
Intermittent Fasting is all the diet craze today. This requires people to restrict their eating to an 8 or 10 hour period of the day. If you just do that allegedly, the pounds are supposed to just melt off your body. While it may work for some, it didn’t work for me, so I stopped.
In today’s scripture from Isaiah, God confronts his people who were fasting for all the wrong reasons. They made it an outward show, expecting
The story in the Book of Ruth is about how God comes through to miraculously care for two widows in their distress. But it is truly about so much more. It’s also about waiting, having faith, and the importance of showing kindness to one another and most especially the most vulnerable in our midst. And it shows how God birth’s Jesus the Messiah from their desperate situation.
“Hokmah" is the Hebrew word for wisdom. It describes the God given collective knowledge passed down through the generations planted in one’s gut. The Books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and Job comprise what is known as the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. In them they ask, how should we live in the world, what is the good life, and what will God do if we try to live this way?
Instant coffee. Instant messaging. Instant photography. We love things we can get right away without having to wait for them. But have you ever noticed that God never seems to be in a hurry for anything? In fact, God’s ways and particularly God’s creative works in us, take time. This is something that requires us to wait though our emotions and the world around us want God to hurry up! Indeed, the way forward is often slow and uncertain.