Journey
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Kingdoms Falling; A Look at Peter
Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before Me; your throne will be established forever. 2 Samuel 7:17 The Twelve are the closest followers of Jesus Christ while His human feet stir dust on this planet. Men whom Jesus calls, grants authority over demons (Matthew 10:2), appoints (Mark 3:16), designates as apostles (Luke 6:14) and chooses (John 6:70). They walk in step with Him, watch Him, listen to Him, eat with Him, learn from Him. They do life together as Jesus carries out His earthly ministry. The Twelve are a band of hooligans consisting of fishermen, a tax collector, a zealot, brothers, tradesmen, tough guys from tough places, led…
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Tug-o-War; Strengthen your Feeble Arms
Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Hebrews 12:12 My following Jesus started because He kept something from me that I wanted, something I wanted badly enough that I was willing to battle Him for it (silly impertinent girl…). Tug-o-war, a hand to hand struggle for supremacy, a contest of strength. Tug-o-war, the most dreaded of games for a girl with skinny arms. Imagine me with my dangly arms engaging with the omnipotent God of the universe in a game of tug-o-war and my need for a solid pair of muck boots becomes readily apparent, as does my prideful arrogance. He invites you to battle, like a formidable opponent…
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It’s Just a Dream; When God Plants a Seed
“So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.” Genesis 45:8 I feel spring in my bones, not just warmer air and longer days, the birds noisy in the morning. I feel restlessness stirring in my heart, I want it to hurry up already. I run it out, begging the terrain to pound against the soles of my shoes. I am not running because it feels good. It does not. I feel the impact against my joints as I run, I will feel it later. It is the rhythm I am after, the rhythm of breathing and of the pavement hitting my feet. I engage in the…
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So You Want to Follow Jesus? Grab Your Muck Boots
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? Isaiah 43:18-19 A welcomed change to the weather creeps into West Michigan. Hopes of an early spring dance in with sunshine and balmy (35 degrees plus, balmy is relative) temperatures. Hats are left indoors and snow boots are exchanged for muck boots. If you reside in a warmer, dryer climate perhaps this does not resonate, the need for muck boots. But if you live in West Michigan in March, it will click. The promise of spring does not initially reveal itself with peeking purple…
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Trading Jesus; Missing Out When We Get What We Want
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 I am stuck, early in this walk, bartering with Jesus. I cannot seem to move past what I want and the lengths I will go with Him to get it. I take a queue from the persistent widow in Luke 18, and I ask repeatedly. I mean, I ask repeatedly. I quote to Him in my prayers, “ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it”…
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Digging Out; Where Does Your Help Come From?
I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2 The boy’s day starts long before his sister or I consider waking. Winter brings challenges to our West Michigan home, primarily in the form of a relatively long driveway built on an incline. There is a slight curve in the middle, identifying those who belong to this driveway and those who do not. Experience is required to navigate both an entrance to and an exit from the home that sits atop the hill, experience or a four-wheel drive vehicle. The boy’s…
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He Loves Me, I Loved Him Not
And Jesus, looking at him, loved him. Mark 10:21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Mark 10:21-22) I want to know the rest of the story. What becomes of this young man who so earnestly ran and knelt before Jesus, referring to Him as the “Good Teacher” and asking how he could earn eternal life (Mark 10:17). Will he lose what he desires to gain what…
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A Letter From This Side of Joy
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean: I will cleanse you from all of your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people and I will be your God. Ezekiel 36:25-28 You have been without joy for a long while,…
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For Glory and Beauty; The Unlimited Goodness of God
You shall make them for glory and beauty. Exodus 28:40 Snowflakes are falling in West Michigan. Walking through cold January air I find myself captivated by their fleeting beauty. One in particular catches my eye, landing on my mittened hand. I study the intricate detail and wonder how many there must be stacked upon the ground and floating in the space around me, touching cold against my face. So much beautiful encapsulated in such a tiny package. As I walk, the lyrics of Gungor’s “Beautiful Things” roll through my mind. You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of the dust. You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things…
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Choosing Something from a Landscape Cluttered with Nothings
Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways. Psalm 119:37 I find myself living in the midst of superfluous options, like one who sits and eats from a box of chocolates. Chocolates that come packaged in a flat white cardboard box, lined in neat rows. A box once opened reveals a homogenous landscape of too sweet, too many. I am in the middle, surrounded by flimsy brown papers, reminiscent of a Shel Silverstein line drawing (complete with a slightly cynical but true rhyme) with my pigtails askew, cheeks and tummy puffy, holding a partial box of carrageenan filled chocolatey choices. Partaking fully in…
