When Moses left the presence of Yahweh by leaving the tent of meeting, he terrorized people he encountered by glowing. It became such a problem that he started putting a veil over his face so they couldn’t see the glow. Moses met with his God face to face in the tent. When we meet with Him, our hope of glory is Christ in us (Colossians 1:27). We don’t have to […]
Category Archives: Discipleship
Bullets Kill People
Paul, while lamenting about his unconverted behavior in Romans 7, stated twice, “It is no longer I who do it…” speaking of sin. He was swamped with sin, but he wasn’t sinning. John stated that “If we say, “We have fellowship with Him,” and walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, […]
The Better Response
We get in trouble. We respond by wanting to see Yahweh’s power. We get in trouble. We respond by wanting to know Yahweh’s ways. One of those is much better than the other…
Who Are You?
Your identity can be expressed in two ways: your relationships and your work. My name is not my identity, even if it describes me perfectly. My father and mother, my spouse, my children, my friends; these are part of what makes me uniquely describable. My work is something that only I can leave in the earth as a heritage or inheritance or warning to others. You are more than you […]
Working Hard
I have come to believe that the hardest working people in the earth are those who have rights and those who have jealousy. When I live in a place where I must judge every event based on whether I have been defrauded or misjudged or offended, I will never find an end to the work I must perform to achieve justice. When I live in a place where all of […]
A Death Has Taken Place
Now the Messiah has appeared, high priest of the good things that have come. In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation), He entered the holy of holies once for all, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a […]
This, Too, Shall Pass
This phrase is a Persian adage that can be good news or bad. If my leg is healing from a compound fracture, it would be good for me to remind myself that the pain and immobility are only temporary. If I am having a wonderful time with a dear friend, it would be sad for me to remind myself that it won’t last… I believe that a proverb that works […]
Stupid on Purpose
We all do stupid things by accident. Ideas float in and out of our minds constantly. Our environments attempt to provoke us with events and pictures and words and fears, hoping we will let them master us constantly. When we wake up to that bad influence, though, and find ourselves floating downstream with bad ideas, we can get out of the boat and head back where we belong. On days, […]
Weakness and Wickedness
Wicker is a style of furniture that requires twisting green stems of plants into woven shapes that, when dry and hardened, are strong. The wick of a candle is a twisted piece of material that burns slowly because it is surrounded by the wax the candle is made of. Wicked would sound just like picked if we were not using ancient religious English when we mention it. It means “twisted.” […]
Fertilizing in Love
I have both killed and allowed death to take many plants. Some, I killed on purpose, like devil’s walking cane or volunteer wild cherry trees. Others, I gave too much water or not enough. Some, I left out in the cold, others I left out in the heat. Too much fertilizer, no fertilizer, etc… If I take care of a plant, I need to give it what it needs and […]