Basic Truths | Finding God in Everyday Life

  I studied Investment Management in college and subsequently managed investments for a few people during the business part of my career. When you are managing someone else’s money, you have a fiduciary responsibility to your client, to act according to their best interest and according to their goals and priorities. You exercise a degree of care above that which you might have for your own personal investments, because someone has entrusted their savings to you.   All that we have, all that we can do, is through the grace and providence of God. We are stewards of the gifts that God has blessed us with. When we view our possessions and abilities as belonging to God and not ourselves, we see them in a different light. It may lead us to invest them according to God’s priorities and not our own.   Stewardship is not an optional add-on to the Christian life but a mandatory obligation– God expects a return from us. Isaiah Chapter 5 tells about the landowner who planted...

  I loved to play board games when I was a kid. One of my favorites was Monopoly. I was thrilled when I got to be the banker and handle the money but, at the end of the game, I had to put it all back into the box until next time.   When we look at it from the viewpoint of eternity, all the money we have now is just Monopoly money. There’s one difference – we go into the box when our days are over, but the money stays behind!   Our money and all our other possessions are of no value to us when we die, just something to pass on to someone else. They have no eternal value, except to the extent that we use them for the benefit of, and under the direction of, God and His Kingdom.   We are called to distance ourselves from the pursuit of money for its own sake. Paul advised Timothy, “Godliness with contentment is great gain…..For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:6, 6:10). There is nothing wrong with working hard to provide for our fam...

  As I’ve mentioned before, we traveled to California over spring break. While driving along the coast, I saw a huge rock along the shoreline that greatly impressed me. Morro Rock is almost 600 feet high, and it’s estimated to have been there for 23 million years. The waves wash up against it, storms batter it, and earthquakes shake it, but nothing moves the rock from its place.   David faced many trials in his life. He had to run for his life from King Saul and his soldiers and later from his son Absalom. Throughout his trials and despite the bleakness of his circumstances, he continued to place his trust in God. It was still a struggle. Psalm 31 and others that David wrote during this time express his deepest emotions; nevertheless, he never lost his faith. Afterwards, he could say, “I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Ps...

  I must admit that I have a hard time being optimistic about the direction society is going in. It seems that we are turning away from God and that the pace of change seems to be accelerating. I wish that I could do more to advance the cause of Christ.   I recently read the book of Nehemiah as part of my daily Bible study. We hardly ever hear anything about Nehemiah but his story really spoke to me. He was the cupbearer to the king of Persia. When he heard that his fellow Jews who returned to Jerusalem were struggling and had not been able to rebuild the walls of the city for protection, he took action. He got permission from the king to return to Jerusalem to lead the rebuilding project, he got the king to provide the materials, and he oversaw the project through to its completion. He later helped lead a revival when his people began to backslide in their commitment to following God’s law.     I found several lessons in Nehemiah’s story that applied to my l...

  I’ve seen lots of patients for follow ups after they had surgery.   I’m impressed by the lack of scarring that they had from their procedures. I had knee surgery last year and I can’t even see a mark on my knee. Many surgeries are now being done endoscopically, which speeds up the healing and leaves less scarring.   God is the Great Healer. He can heal us physically and He also provides emotional and spiritual healing. He can heal relationships or anything else that is broken in our lives. He is a God of great compassion. When He heals our heart or spirit or relationship, He heals without leaving a scar. We can be confident in this, knowing that Jesus didn’t just make people a little better, He healed them completely.   When Jesus appeared to the disciples after His resurrection, He invited them to see the marks on His hands and side. Since His resurrected body was perfect, these weren’t scars but rather marks or testimonies of His great love and sacrifice....

  The clinic I work at moved into a new building last fall. I noticed today that they have a plaque ready to install marking the dedication of the building. The concept of dedication goes back a long ways. Solomon’s temple was dedicated to God in a grand and solemn ceremony. God honored their work and desire when “The Glory of the Lord filled the temple” (2 Chronicles 7:2).   People also can be dedicated to God. The prophet Samuel’s mother dedicated him to God after He answered her prayer for a child (1 Samuel 1:27-28). The Nazirites of the Old Testament dedicated themselves to God, either for a period of time or for life. John the Baptist was likely a Nazirite from the time of his birth (Luke 1:15).   We tend to think of ordained ministers when we think of people who have been dedicated to God’s service. While this is true, it doesn’t prevent us from dedicating ourselves to God and to His service. When we consciously dedicate ourselves to God, we open the door fo...