Basic Truths | Finding God in Everyday Life

I often see people on TV holding up signs with scripture verses, most commonly John 3:16, but occasionally others. I’m sure there is some value to their witness – it’s good to remind people of what God has done for us.   I personally would like to see someone holding up a sign for 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God”.  This is a reminder to us about how we should live. If Christians were all to take this to heart and live it out every day, the witness to the world around us would be truly earthshaking.   How do we bring this about? Jesus was our perfect example. His whole life was one of obedience to the Father and drawing people to Him. He lived a life of sacrificial love. At the end of His life, as He was contemplating His death, Jesus was able to say, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4).   We are witnesses to God’s glory when we strive to serve and obey Him and do Hi...

  Back in pediatric clinic, we screened our infants and toddlers regularly for strabismus, a condition where the child’s eyes are pointing in different directions. It’s important to treat this early in life because it can lead to amblyopia, with resulting severe vision loss or blindness in the affected eye. The problem comes about when the child’s brain starts focusing only on one eye and ignoring the other to keep from having double vision. The nerves to the ignored eye don’t develop properly, leading to irreversible damage.   We talked about our goals for life last week. It’s important to have goals, to provide a measuring stick to see how we are doing. If our primary goal in life is a selfish or worldly one, we may develop an internal “double vision” with our spiritual goals. When this happens, we will tend to prioritize worldly things to the detriment of our spiritual life. Over a long enough period of time, the spiritual side of our life may atrophy.   Paul w...

  My dad was a champion archer. He won many competitions over the years, even up to the national level. When I was young, I used to go with him to the park where he practiced. The first thing he did was to set up the target. There’s no point in just shooting arrows into the air! You need a target to aim at in order to see if you are shooting accurately.   Many people live their lives aimlessly. They go from day to day just existing, without any real purpose to their lives. They feel unfulfilled, as if they are shooting the arrow of their lives into space, without any target. They find it easy to get diverted into unproductive areas such as substance abuse, in their search for relief from the meaninglessness of their lives.   As Christians, we should live with a goal for our lives, to serve our Lord Jesus Christ and to become more like Him, that we might grow closer to God in readiness for the day when we will meet Him face-to-face.   Once we accept that goal ...

  I love going into the sanctuary of our church when nobody else is around. There is something about the quiet of a sanctuary that is different from the quiet of any other building. I love just being silently in the presence of God.   I’ve made an effort to have more quiet time during this season of Lent. Lent is a 40 day period observed by many Christian denominations commemorating the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert before beginning His ministry. We traditionally are called to fast during Lent, in memory of Jesus’ fasting. When I was young, it was common to “give up something” during Lent as a spiritual exercise, although I have not seen this as much in recent years. Lent is also a season of prayer and almsgiving.   I have a slightly different perspective on Lent. When the Spirit sent Jesus out into the desert, it was preparing Him to begin His ministry, to put everything else aside so that He could focus on what the Father was asking Him to do. We should...