Basic Truths | Finding God in Everyday Life

  Our cat Shadow doesn’t like storms, or even a hard rain. If he hears raindrops on the roof, he immediately runs under our bed. He will stay there for hours, even after the rain has ended, until we lure him out with the promise of food. He apparently has yet to realize that he has a roof over his head that protects him from the storms.   We tend to think of Shadow as being a “scaredy cat”. The truth, though, is that we can act the same way that he does. We can get very anxious and even agitated in the face of our trials. We know that God loves us and cares for us but we don’t extend that belief practically to whatever problem we are facing.   We need to live in the knowledge that God has provided a roof of protection over us to protect us from the storms of life. That doesn’t mean that bad things will never happen to us; we can be confident, however, that God will be with us to help us get through them.   Make it a part of your daily prayer life to pray God’...

  We have some plants that we bring inside for the winter because they won’t survive a freeze. We keep them by an upstairs window so that they get enough light. Every once in a while, I have to turn them because the leaves grow in the direction of the light and the plants look unbalanced.   The plants know instinctively that they need the light in order to grow. The same is true in our own lives. The spirit within us was formed by God. It knows that it needs to be open to the light of God’s Spirit in order to grow. The areas in our life that we keep in the dark, hidden away, will never change. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them” (Eph 5:8-11).   As we begin this Lenten season, let’s make it a point to open ourselves completely to the Spirit’s light tha...

  I am running in the annual Cowtown 5-K race later this month. I used to run the 10-K but age and arthritis have convinced me to set my sights a little lower. I enjoy running in races. I’m slow but I like the challenge of trying to meet or beat a time goal that I set for myself. It also forces me to get into shape in preparing to run. When I’m running the longer distances, I appreciate the people who come out to shout encouragement to the runners, especially in the last mile or two. I also look forward to when I can see the finish line. It makes it so much easier to keep going when the end is in sight.   The author of the Letter to the Hebrews advised his readers, “Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus…..so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (Heb 12:1-3).   The grea...

  I’ve ordered many stress tests over the years. I order them to see how my patient’s heart is working when it is under a physical stress. Many people have normal EKG’s at rest but abnormal changes show up during the stress test. This allows the cardiologist a chance to fix the problem before it becomes more serious or even deadly.   We all receive spiritual stress tests throughout our lives. They come in the form of the various trials and tribulations that we all face. Their purpose is not to do us harm but to see if we are spiritually healthy and, if not, to help us see where we need to change. We face trials because we live in a fallen world which, like us, will one day pass away. God doesn’t cause our trials, but He is able to use them for our good.   The Bible speaks in several places about how gold and silver are refined by fire. The refiner’s fire removes the impurities and leaves only the precious metal. Peter wrote to encourage the early Christians who we...