Basic Truths | Finding God in Everyday Life

      We interact with hundreds of people each day, some directly and some indirectly. Some of our interactions may be with people we are close to, such as with our family. Others may be with people we don’t even know, such as the other drivers on the freeway. Out of those hundreds of interactions, probably only a few shape our mood and the impression of our day. Maybe it was a kind word that a coworker said to us that lifted us up and made us happy. Maybe it was the frustrating conversation on the phone or the person who cut us off on the drive home that made us angry and colored our view of the day.     Realizing the power that one individual can have over us should make us stop and think. It’s easy to accept the positive reinforcement we get. It’s much harder to let the negative vibes...

      It doesn’t seem right that you can die of thirst in the middle of the ocean. You’re surrounded by water but you can’t drink it because it has too much salt. Your brain tells you that it’s water but if you drink it you’ll die because seawater isn’t what the body needs.   Our spirits seek joy because they are made in the image of God who is joy. Some people misinterpret that search for joy as a search for happiness. They turn to possessions or drugs or any one of a number of worldly pleasures seeking happiness. They wind up feeling empty because what their spirit is searching for is joy and not mere happiness.   The Christian life is meant to be a joyful one. God loves us and He has blessed us beyond our ability to comprehend. He wants to us enjoy his blessings. This is not to say that our lives will be perfect or that we will not have times of sadness. We should, though, have an underpinning of joy in our lives that comes from our personal rel...

    It’s fall in Texas and that means it’s football season!   We enjoy going to games and watching them on TV. It’s quite a sight to see a stadium packed with 80 to 100 thousand people all wearing the same color, all cheering for the same team. The fans certainly don’t agree about everything, one might want them to pass the ball more, another wants a different quarterback to start, and so on. Despite that, they express a unity of support that transcends their differences.   Sad to say but Christians fall short of that same degree of unity. This has been a problem since Christianity began. The apostle Paul wrote sternly to the Corinthians about the divisions that had formed due to believers following different teachers, “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought” (1 Cor. 1:10).   This is not...

    Detachment is a word we seldom hear and a concept we rarely think about. We can get so caught up in our material possessions and the things of this world that we forget that everything we have is a gift from God, that we are only stewards of what He has given us. The early Christian church understood this. Those who had extra gave to the community so that those who were in need could be provided for.   We would probably have less stress in our lives if we became more detached from our possessions, to not allow THEM to own US. We could then be freer to seek God’s will for our lives. Before you read any further, stop and think about what things are really important to you today. If you have the time, write them down.   Now, stop and think about what things about you are important to God today. Write the list down if you can. Compare your lists. If they’re similar, great! If they’re not, start to think about your priorities and whether you should adjust ...

    Lots of us had piggy banks when we were young. Our parents taught us the discipline and life lesson of saving up for what we wanted versus spending everything in the moment. As adults, we put our money into savings accounts with the expectation of earning a return.   Our life is a bank. We can focus on what we put into it, what good we can do with our life. If we do that, we will find that our deposits will have created a great reward from God. Alternatively, we can always be looking to see what we can get out of life. We may find at the end of our life that we are overdrawn, that we have nothing of lasting value to show for all we have done.   Jesus says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will b...

  As I write this, we are working on a jigsaw puzzle at home.  It has been sitting on our coffee table all month while we try to get all the pieces in their proper position.  There are a thousand pieces in the puzzle, each with their own unique shape and pattern.  If any piece is put in the wrong place it distorts the whole picture.  So it is with the Body of Christ.  The Church will be most effective if all of its members are in the positions they were designed for.   Carrying the puzzle piece analogy a step further, what do you think would happen if a piece decided it didn’t like what it was, that it wanted to be an edge piece even if it didn’t have a straight edge or that it wanted to be a flower piece even though it was jet black?   It is an amazing fact that we are all unique individuals with our own strengths and weaknesses, our own gifts and talents.  God knows us perfectly and He knows the perfect place for us to be in order to have t...

  My view of rain has changed a lot over the years. When I was young, I didn’t like rain. I didn’t like to get wet (still don’t) and the rain messed with my plans for what I wanted to do. Now that I’m older, I’m thrilled when we get rain because it waters the lawn and the gardens, keeps the house foundation from shifting, and replenishes our water supply.   Rain is a blessing from God. Without it, we couldn’t survive. How I view that blessing is up to me. The same is true for the other blessings God provides for us. God’s love for us is so great that He wants to bless us every day. How we view those blessings is up to us. Some blessings, like the birth of a child, may bring us great joy. Other blessings may not be so obvious, such as when God corrects us or tries to lead us in a different direction. I thank God today that He closed some doors in my professional career. Though the experience was painful at the time, it brought me to the place I needed to be, to the plac...

    When we first learned about God, we learned basic truths about Him.   As we grew older we learned about God in greater depth. The challenge to us as we grow in faith is to not lose sight of the basic truths about God and how they should affect our life.   Peter wrote, “I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live…and I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things” (2 Pet. 1:12,13,15).   Our study of God is one of paradoxes.   On the one hand, God is the ultimate in complexity. We cannot begin to comprehend His ways.   On the other hand, God is the ultimate in simplicity. John writes “God is love” (1 Jn 4:16) and “God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 Jn 1:5).   God is love and knowledge and might brought to perfection.   ...