Basic Truths | Finding God in Everyday Life

  “Near” is a relative term for me. When I’m coming back from an errand, near is when I turn into our neighborhood. When I’m coming from out of town, near means downtown Fort Worth, about 15 miles from home. If I’m flying back from overseas, near is about 300 miles, or an hour, away.   Jesus began His ministry saying, “The time has come…the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15) (other translations read “at hand” instead of “near”). When Jesus was born, His Father’s plan of salvation began its earthly fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is present today in the hearts of believers who acknowledge Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It will reach its fullness when Jesus returns to reign over all in the final days.   Today’s question is not how near the Kingdom of God is to you, it’s how near you are to the Kingdom of God. Is it near enough that it affects everything you say and do, or is it just a comfortable 300 miles away, not having...

  I have a large number of spray bottles in the garage that I use for a variety of yard chores. I always read the labels before I use anything to keep from harming our lawn or plants when I treat them. I had to buy some new bottles the other day because the labels came off of a few of the old ones and I no longer remember what was in them.   Labels are good when they are on products but they can be harmful when we place them on people. There has been an increase in violent threats and attacks in our country and in other areas of the world. Just as I was writing this, Charlie Kirk was killed by a gunman. When I read the reports of these incidents, it seems as if many of the perpetrators don’t see their victims as people, but just labels. We must resist doing likewise if we are to work against the violence and hate speech that surrounds us. We must see people as “created in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27) and not as “illegals”, “fascists”, “radicals”, or any other negative ...

  We took a trip to Austin last week. The day we arrived, the temperature got up to 103 degrees. We spent a fair amount of time outside so we had enough of the heat by the end of the day. We were glad to see that our hotel had an outdoor swimming pool. We got in the pool and it was so refreshing to feel the cool of the water! We felt revived by the time we got out.   In Acts, we read that Peter preached to the crowd, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord” (Acts 3:19).   Peter’s words apply equally to us today. The call to repent may invoke a negative response in us but it’s really a positive experience. When we come to God seeking forgiveness, we too can experience times of refreshing, where our spirit is revived and infused with new energy, purpose, and joy. This isn’t a once in a lifetime experience, but one that can be ours whenever we turn to God for forgiveness. It’s a foretaste of our ...

  We were trying to program our oven the other day and needed to look at the instructions. The manufacturer didn’t give us an instruction manual, only a link where we could go online to get the information. It irks me that many companies don’t give you printed instructions any more. I know we live in a digital age but it’s so much easier for me to have instructions right at hand when I need them.   God has given us an instruction manual for living. The Bible gives us all the information we need for knowing how God wants us to live. My bible study took me to Micah this week, where I read, “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). I was really struck by this, even though I’ve read it many times before. We’re told that “… the word of God is living and active” (Hebrews 4:12) because it has the ability to speak to us in whatever circumstances we may be in. It gu...

  Somehow or other, a recent conversation I was in got around to having regrets. Any time I hear the word regrets, I immediately think about “My Way”, the song popularized by Frank Sinatra. The song is about someone looking back on his life, saying, “ Regrets, I've had a few, But then again, too few to mention ”. He doesn’t have many regrets because “I did it my way”.   Now, like most people, I have a few regrets when I look back at my life. For me, though, my regrets are usually because I did it my way, instead of doing it God’s way. Even though I know that God’s way is the best, if not the most direct, way, I sometimes still try to get away with doing it my way and asking God to bless it.   The Bible has many examples of people who didn’t trust in God’s way. When the Israelites were in the desert, God desired to give them the land of Canaan. They refused to go to battle to win it, because they were afraid of the people living there and didn’t trust God to give ...