The House You're Building

Even when we are too weak to have any faith left, he remains faithful to us and will help us, for he cannot disown us who are part of himself, and he will always carry out his promises to us. (2 Timothy 2:13; Philips paraphrase) It’s that time of year where we look back and look ahead.  Everyone is in the business of self improvement and we jokingly know that most habits will die out not far into the month.  I never make resolutions as I can sometimes be a little to intense about not meeting personal goals, so I avoid making them.   On the blog, around this time,  I typically share you with what God is doing in me, my faceless audience (might be a time to mention I have a lot of regular traffic on the blog but not a lot of comments so please interact to help guide my future content). Well, right now I’m here to confess that I didn’t keep my “spiritual” resolution from last year and don’t have any clear picture about where I’m going next.  In the previous yea...

I had a blog post all ready for this month as we trek through Hebrews, but woke up this morning with another message on my heart.  Dear reader, I don’t know when you will read my blog post, most likely not today, as I’m actually typing this on Christmas morning.  As I post this, many people will be getting kids out of pajamas and heading off to something or another with friends and family and more food before we all start ourselves in January.  It’s a different Christmas for me, as my 21 year old is still asleep in bed and my daughter is hours away.  It’s the first year we can’t all be together, which may be making me a little maudlin but I’m a mom so I get to get to be a little sappy.  I’m here with tea, the dim glow of the tree and time to reflect.  This year my husband and I are not exchanging gifts.  I guess that we’ve reached that point in our life’s where we have everything we need and what we value has changed a bit.  Don’t worry-we’ve stil...

[12] Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. [13] Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, [14] I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. [15] Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. [16] Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Philippians 3:12–16  (ESV) Human reality is in constant flux.  No state in our present experience is ever permanent.  In the good times, this is a negative characteristic.  Contrastingly, in hard times it is often a benefit to realize that your current circumstances aren’t always going to stay the same.  This has led to a saying “this too shall pass.”   This truism does not come from Scripture, though the...

Come though long expected Jesus, come to set thy people free;                                      From our fears and sins release us,                                                                                               Let us find our rest in thee.                                                                                                              -Charles Wesley As I write i...

  [ 24] Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. [25] Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. [26] If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. John 12:24-26   When I first became a Christian, I was intrigued by the concept of idolatry.  I had been to enough Sunday school classes with flannel board pictures to know that worshiping idols, a prohibition by God in the moral law [1] ,  had to do with gold statues.  In my childlike faith I never imagined that I was in fact breaking this same commandment—I didn’t bow down to precious metal objects! I was surprised to learn that I was in fact worshiping idols because they aren’t only concrete item.  An idol is anything you worship, honor, or eleva...