My childhood friend Woodrow could walk on his hands, climb anything, and do crazy things with bicycles. He would have made an excellent athlete if his family had not driven him toward intellectual pursuits. One day in 12th-grade English class, he shouted me down: “The only reason you’re a Christian is because that’s the wayContinue reading “WOODROW. Romans 9:14-16, 20-21.”
Category Archives: Blessed to be a blessing
Be a Pipe, Not a Bucket. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
When God blesses, the blessings go THROUGH you to others. They don’t collect in a bucket. Ask God to show you ways that you can be a blessing to others today. We are blessed to be a blessing. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comfortsContinue reading “Be a Pipe, Not a Bucket. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4”
Foreigners.
In the 1980s, Sharpstown High School welcomed a sudden influx of refugees fleeing the Communist government of Vietnam. The students showed up knowing no English and carrying a pass that entitled them to free lunches. Every day three of the loudest non-English speaking Vietnamese girls would cut the line in the lunch room to grabContinue reading “Foreigners.”
Anticipating What God Might Do.
God prepares us before he calls us. Often we are born with the gifts we will need, and our experience births in us a desire to work in the area of those gifts. Some of us will have an overwhelming desire to DO the work, but no idea HOW to do it. Have you everContinue reading “Anticipating What God Might Do.”
Bless Your Children.
Even a casual reader of the Old Testament will notice that people took spoken words—blessings and curses—more seriously back then. Genesis is filled with powerful blessings spoken over people. Each patriarch blesses his sons: Abraham blesses Isaac, Isaac blesses Jacob and Esau, Jacob blesses his twelve sons, and more. Some of Jacob’s blessings are poetic:Continue reading “Bless Your Children.”
“It Was Not You, But God…”
By God’s grace, terrible things can have positive outcomes. Romans 8:28 says “God causes all things to work together for good….” God is sovereign—He is the Ruler and King of the universe. He fashions the worst things into good. More than twenty years after they sold him into slavery, Joseph revealed his identity to hisContinue reading ““It Was Not You, But God…””
A “TYPE OF CHRIST” (Have You Heard the Phrase?)
At the age of 147, Jacob is in his final days. He calls his sons to himself and blesses each one—although some of the blessings sound like curses as he notes their colossal failures. Jacob reserves the greatest blessing for Judah, which reads in part: “The SCEPTER will not depart from Judah or the STAFFContinue reading “A “TYPE OF CHRIST” (Have You Heard the Phrase?)”
Forgiving is Easy When You See God’s Hand.
When Joseph insists on keeping the “thief” Benjamin as his slave, Judah asks to take his place: “My father’s life is wrapped up with the boy’s life. When he sees that he is not with us, he will die…. Now please let your servant [Judah] remain here as my lord’s slave in place of theContinue reading “Forgiving is Easy When You See God’s Hand.”
Time Flies When You’re Working Hard.
Imagine sitting in a dungeon all day, nothing to do, nothing to read, no one to talk to. Time crawls. Joseph was sold into slavery at 17. He served Potiphar, was falsely accused, spent years in prison, then was elevated to second-in-command of Egypt. But Joseph had never stopped working. God did not send himContinue reading “Time Flies When You’re Working Hard.”
WHY DID GOD CHOOSE ABRAM? Genesis 12:1-3
We don’t know. But look at what He says in Genesis 12— “Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you, and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and makeContinue reading “WHY DID GOD CHOOSE ABRAM? Genesis 12:1-3”
Household Words: 