Basic Truths | Finding God in Everyday Life

  I once calculated that I had written over one hundred thousand prescriptions during my medical career. Every time you write a prescription, you have to consider any possible interactions with other medications. Sometimes these interactions are positive, such as blood pressure or chemotherapy medications that work better when paired with a similar medication. Other times the interaction is a negative one which could possibly cause harm to the patient.   Last week, I talked about those sins and habits that can be spiritually poisonous to us. Our relationships and interactions with others can also be spiritually harmful.   We have a multitude of interactions with people each day. Some are family-related (spouse, children, parents, siblings), others are social (friends, dating) or professional, while others may revolve around church activities. These interactions, and the relationships underlying them, can be positive and uplifting or negative and toxic. Our goal sh...

  I fortunately have only had food poisoning a few times in my life. I think those were some of the worst illnesses I’ve ever had. Once I recovered, even the thought of the offending food made me feel sick. It was a long time before I could even think about eating it again.   It’s interesting that you can become accustomed to that which can make you sick. Visitors to Mexico and Central America will get sick eating the same things that the natives can eat without any problem.   We may have sins or habits that are spiritually poisonous to us. Even the apostle Paul faced the same problem. “For what I do is not the good that I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing” (Romans 7:19). We can always repent and seek forgiveness and healing. The problem comes about when we become so accustomed to our sins that they no longer bother us. The Holy Spirit will help us realize the poisonous nature of our sins and develop a revulsion for them if we are...

  I began thinking the other day about all the different names that people call me. I’m “Doctor” in the office and “Mister” outside the office. I’m “Daddy” to our daughter, “Dear” to my wife, and “Jim” to most of my family and friends. I’m the youngest in my family so I’m still “Jimmy” to some of my relatives, which goes to show that you are always the baby in the family no matter how old you get! There are even a few people who call me “James”. I’m comfortable with all these names because they are representative of my relationships with the people who call me by them.   When we read the Bible, we see many different names and titles that are given to Jesus. They each represent some part of His nature. We’re all familiar with these terms, but, in that familiarity, we run the risk of not fully appreciating what they mean to us. Today, let’s stop and reflect on our relationship with Jesus and what He means to us. Make some time for a ten minute retreat with the Lord.  ...

  I retired from full-time medical practice almost 3 years ago. I had been looking forward to the time when I could be free from the requirements of a regular job and have time to devote to other things. I’ve been enjoying my retirement so far and I think that I’ve been able to maintain a productive life.   We may decide to retire physically from our occupation, but we should never retire spiritually. God decides when our spiritual retirement will be, when He calls us home to be with Him. In the meantime, we are called to serve and to be alive and growing spiritually. This is more than just an optional, nice thing to do – it is God’s expectation for us. In Revelation, we read that He had harsh words for the church in Laodicea, “Because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16). We are distasteful to God when we let the fire of the Spirit cool to where it is “room temperature”, indistinguishable from the world. ...