Basic Truths | Finding God in Everyday Life

  Our spring garden is coming to a close. We are still picking some tomatoes but the Texas heat has just about caught up with everything else. We had a productive crop for our little garden this year. Our one disappointment was the squash plants, which grew abundantly and looked pretty but never produced any fruit. This has been an ongoing issue with them. I am ready to move on and use the space for something else, although my wife might be willing to give them another chance.   The ultimate measure of our lives in God’s eyes is whether we are producing fruit or not. Jesus told His disciples, and us as well, just before He died, “ I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last” (John 15:16). This is not an option but an obligation. Jesus made this clear, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it may be even more ...

  I suspect most of you have had the experience of reading something in the Bible or elsewhere and having it suddenly strike you, even though you’ve read it many times before. I was reading the Gospel of Matthew earlier this week when I came to where Jesus was giving instructions to His apostles before sending them out. He told them, “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). It made me stop and think about whether I’m following these instructions as well as I should.   Everything we have comes from the grace and love of God. Our salvation has been won for us. All that we have, and our very life itself, is a gift from God. We have no way of repaying God for all He has done for us. All we can do is freely receive His gifts. We are called in turn to give to others freely, remembering that, when we do so, we are in essence giving back to God. We should be generous in sharing our material resources. Even more important is to give of ourselves. When we give of ours...

  I was working along the side of the house last week when I heard a persistent “cheep-cheep-cheep” nearby. I searched around until I found that it was coming from the cable box on the side wall of our house. There was a tiny opening at the bottom of the box where a mama bird had somehow squeezed in and made a nest. A bad storm came through two days ago with wind gusts over 75 miles per hour. Our neighbor’s maple tree fell over and we lost about half of our pecan tree. I checked the cable box nest and the little birdies were still happily cheeping away while mama sparrow watched from nearby.   A couple of thoughts came to mind as I pondered the little sparrows. God will make His home in us if we give Him even the tiniest point of entry. He is eager to be with us and help us on our life’s journey.   This is more than a matter of salvation. We may have areas in our lives that we haven’t been allowing God to enter into. These could include our marriage and other relation...

  I mentioned last week that we are getting ready to go on vacation. I’ve been busy confirming all our travel plans and making reservations for the places we want to visit. We are going on our own this time instead of being part of a tour. Tours are nice because someone else is in charge of all the details so I can relax and let them take care of everything. Flights may be delayed, there may be detours along the way, and other problems may come up, but everything will be taken care of.   Jesus told His disciples, and us as well, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms…..I am going there to prepare a place for you” (John 14:1-2). We can be confident that our eternal life is secure. No matter what difficulties we face, no matter what detours we take, we are going to arrive at our heavenly home some day and it will be beyond our imagination. Jesus has done all the preparations. All we have to do is accept His wo...