Basic Truths | Finding God in Everyday Life

  We traveled to France last year. We stopped in Giverny, where Claude Monet had his studio and painted some of his most famous works. We got to see the settings for many of his paintings. Monet is my favorite artist. I like Impressionism, where the artist captures the essence of a subject without necessarily trying to record all the exact details.   We may get down on ourselves when we think about our faults and shortcomings. Some of us may even feel unlovable at times. The truth is, when God looks at us, He doesn’t see all our sins and imperfections. He sees the essence of who we are, redeemed children through the sacrifice of His Son. As John writes, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9). God loves us totally and perfectly and He wants us to know just how much He cares for us. He wants to let His love flow through us, filling us with its healing power, transforming us into the ...

  We have flown several times in recent months and it seems like all of our experiences have been negative ones. We were in a holding pattern one flight and wound up being diverted to another airport. On another occasion, our plane sat on the tarmac for 3 hours waiting to take off. The airline misplaced the luggage for all the passengers on another flight. There have been a few other delays and unpleasantries as well, but in each instance, we eventually made it to our destination.   God made a promise to Paul, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome” (Acts 23:11). Paul also had some problems with his travel arrangements. First, he was arrested. The ship the Romans put him on as a prisoner was caught in a storm for weeks and eventually wrecked. He was able to get off the ship and swim to shore, where he was bitten by a snake. Finally, he was put on another ship and made it to Rome. Even though he was still a prisoner, Pau...

  More gardening talk today! We planted the seeds for our fall vegetable garden last week. We hope that the seeds will grow and produce a crop before the first frost comes. Here in Texas we usually have some extra time before the weather turns cold.   I don’t know the process by which a seed is formed, how it germinates, or how it grows to be a productive plant. I can’t make it happen by my own power and it’s not my responsibility. My job is to nourish the seedling as it grows by providing all that it needs to flourish and eliminating anything that could harm it.   I talked last week about how we are set apart, or made holy, by God. When He sets us apart, we are holy. We are then called to live in a manner consistent with our set apart state – that is – we are called to become holy. This is the process of sanctification. I’ve seen it described as “…..learning to love what God loves and value what God values”   ( www.cru.org – What Is Sanctification and How ...

  As I mentioned before, my mom passed away in July. We’ve started going through the house, cleaning things out and distributing items to family. My parents had a set of fine china that hasn’t found a home yet. The younger generation today has little interest in such things and I find that sad. I have many fond memories of holidays and other special occasions when we brought out the fine china for the celebration. We took special care because we didn’t want anything to break or be damaged.   Paul said to Timothy, “In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work” (2 Timothy 2:21). We set apart certain articles in our household for special use because they have great value to us. As Christians, we have been set apart by God because ...

  I did my residency in Family Medicine many years ago. I think the thing that drew me to the specialty was that a family doctor gets to build long-term relationships with their patients. I’ve enjoyed being “my doctor” to thousands of men, women, and children of all ages.   Relationships are a basic human need. At the very beginning, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 1:18). Positive, intimate relationships are a great blessing.  They are not always easy to achieve. As an example, people who grew up in dysfunctional families often have problems because they never experienced healthy, affirming relationships.   We should nurture the positive relationships in our lives, making an effort to maintain and strengthen them. How can we build up our relationships? Jesus gave us a basic rule, “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31). The Golden Rule is, on the one hand, so simple, but on the other, so deep in its implications...