Joy in the Journey

In my Father’s house there are many rooms; if it were not so, I would not have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. John 14:2 What do you think of when you hear the word homeless? Do you picture a person with his/her life strapped to their back? Are you sympathetic? Or are you of the camp that says they put themselves there, so what? What about a group of people who have a place to lay their head every single night of the year? People who have plenty of food, clothing, and amenities, and in some cases far too many accoutrements. Can those people be homeless? The obvious answer seems to be no, doesn’t it? Wrong. A few years ago I noticed that one of our students never talked about home. She lived with her father, “my dad’s house” and visited her mother, “my mom’s house.” She was a rather needy child and it bothered me, no it broke my heart that she didn’t seem to have a home. At least she wasn’t sure enough to call either place home. In the last few years I’ve he...

The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. The sorrows for the appointed feasts I will remove from you; they are a burden and a reproach to you. Zephaniah 3:17-18 I find myself in a time of questioning. There is a lot in my life at the moment that I do not understand. There are Scriptures that I love, that I know to be absolute truth, that seem to not actually be meant for me. While I wouldn’t say that I’m having a crisis of faith I would say that I’m feeling a little shaky. These verses from Zephaniah are not verses with which I was terribly familiar until I came upon them one day while just thumbing through the Bible. I’d finished my daily readings and was just sort of looking around when these popped out. They seemed important and I noted them for future reference. You never know when you’re going to need a little encouragement, right? I did not find them very ap...

He replied, “Whatever he is sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know, I was blind but now I see!” John 9:25 A friend of mine shared some distressing news with me the other day. He and I listen to a lot of the same music, mostly what is called “Christian” music. He tends to know a lot more about the personalities involved than I do. The other day while he was visiting I had music playing. When he noticed that I had a couple of songs from the same group he asked me how I felt about the fact that “Christian” radio stations had pulled the group’s music. I didn’t know that they had. He then explained to me that the leader of the group had confessed to living in sin, big, ugly, blatant sin, for quite awhile. Having grown tired of the sinful lifestyle, wanting help I suppose, to get out of the hole he’d dug for himself he came clean with his brothers and sisters in Christ. He has stepped down from his band for the time being. To that I say, good for him! He could have continu...

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 107:1 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble of hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? Romans 8:35 The love of God is a tricky thing. It shouldn’t be. It is the only thing that is pure and endless. Perhaps I misspoke. It isn’t the love of God that is tricky. It is our understanding of the love of God. God never changes. Therefore if I know and believe that He loves me on Tuesday, I should know and believe it on Saturday as well. No, God’s love is not fickle or tricky but we are. I believe that most of us suffer from the misconception that we will always feel God’s love in the exact same way, every hour, every day. That makes an odd sense given the fact that God never changes but we do change. Our lives changes, our circumstances change and then our perception of God’s love and the way we feel it, changes too. The other day my husband and I watched a movi...

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, For you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4 Years ago someone gave me a cross with the words “the Lord is my Shepherd” printed on it. It is very small, meant to be carried in your pocket as a reminder. When I first received it I thanked the giver and promptly put the cross in a drawer, not being a big fan of the 23rd, or death Psalm as I then called it. Through a very well written and directed study I have changed my opinion of Psalm 23. Right in the middle of that study, while looking for something else, I found my cross in the drawer where I had placed it. With my newfound love of Psalm 23 I began to carry it in my pocket. All of this occurred at the same time that just about everything in my life got difficult, really difficult. That little cross became very important to me. Whenever I was faced with adversity, from whatever direction, I would touch that cross and remembe...

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough worry of its own. Matthew 6:34 A new year has started and with it talks of resolutions. I don’t make New Year’s resolutions for reasons of my own. I have no problem with them and I admire people who make and keep them. Just a little while ago I read an article because I was drawn to the title. It was about faith. It turned out to be about an athlete and was a discussion, much of which I did not understand, about game strategy and backing the right guy. I did get lost in the sports terminology but the principles were sound. Believing in something and knowing it can happen because it always has, in the exact same way, requires no leap of faith. Believing when there are a whole lot of variables, that’s a different story. That article reminded me of New Year’s resolutions. There are things like marital fidelity, fiscal responsibility, and honesty in matters large and small, which are very impor...