Principles are not formulas, nevertheless we are wise to cling to them, remembering that it’s not the principles but the heart behind them that produces results. God’s commands are to be inwardly attached and strapped to our hearts. Figuratively speaking of course.

Deuteronomy is the last book of the Torah and spans a relatively short time compared with the rest of the Pentateuch because we see Moses standing at the door to the promised land, reminding the Israelites of the Law. The previous generation had witnessed great miracles through the parting of the Red Sea and the drowning of the Egyptian army. However, they soon forgot God's goodness and complained, longing for the leeks and onions by the Nile.

After lightning struck and the fire destroyed seventy percent of our home, we rebuilt. Every item seared, soaked, and smoked was lifted and sifted. Ashes were removed. All things broken and tattered were excavated and evaluated in pursuit of total renewal and restoration. Then a new plan was put in place. 

Until a few years ago, I’d never heard someone refer to their job title as “influencer.” Intrigued, I set out to discover exactly what an influencer is and how they earn a living. My first stop was of course, the internet. According to influencermarketinghub.com, an influencer is someone who has two things:

Nowadays, the predominant measure of being “satisfied” that we encounter is through relentless requests to complete customer surveys where we are typically asked, “Were you satisfied?” In that context, being “satisfied” is essentially a pass/fail. Did the store have what I wanted or not? Did the representative do what I needed or not? But is this what it means to be satisfied in Psalm 65? Is David pointing to some aspect of God that he is merely acknowledging as adequate? I don’t think so.

Be about your Father’s business, and unwrap the very last page of all that God has assigned you to complete, in your own story. Our rewards are coming soon enough. Your eternity is secure in Christ. Go your way, till the end.

From a tiny baby in a lowly manger to our everlasting Savior…He is Emmanual…God with us! He will never leave us, never forsake us. Our trust in Him can be complete and total. We require nothing else.

We have the sure promise of God, that He is going to make everything right, in His own timing. He will. We can fully trust in Him.

We must regularly sharpen our weapon of prayer and use it to fight with valor and truth as we proudly wear the colors of Christ and glorify Him! Laxness and dull weaponry is not an option for a soldier of Christ.

Though I don’t want to be guilty of the spiritual laziness that characterizes an unexamined faith, I have learned to live in the tension of not knowing everything. I think the question posed at the end of the sermon gets to the heart of it, “Is your certainty greater than your uncertainty?” If it is, it’s OK not to know whether the 70 weeks of Daniel are literal or figurative. It’s worth consideration and study, but God’s plan will unfold whether we see it coming or not.

My mother’s care and provision for me as a child required boundaries but also carried with it a promise to never abandon me in my time of need. I couldn’t survive without my mother’s care, and Israel could not survive without God’s hesed love and mercy. Hundreds of years later, in the form of Jesus, God would take all of our sins on the cross upon himself, taking judgment on himself so that his steadfast love would remain faithful to restore our relationship with our heavenly Father.

Dear Lord, Would You please quiet my anxious heart? Give me courage to step out in faith, beyond what I can see or attempt to control. I bring You these burdens now.

It is this eternal perspective woven throughout the gift of Scripture that carried me from my darkest days no matter how much others told me I was losing my battle. For I knew, even if I lost this “battle” on earth, I win the war with Jesus. Forever and ever. This is our strength.  Praise be To God!

Evil may abound for a season.  It will touch even God’s people, in this broken world. But hold on.  Joy is coming.  It’s a promise.

Scripture teaches that He hears our cries and has promised everlasting life beyond the bounds of this finite sin-ridden existence we now found ourselves in for those that take up their cross of faith. It is a burden much lighter than the burden of sin, and we must trust that He will teach us to walk in His ways unchained by the evils of our past. He will guide us all the way to glory, and every battle against the spiritual forces of this world will have proved worth every tear.

The current reality of our lives is that they are finite. God has appointed death, the opposite of life, as the adequate punishment for sin entering the world through us. Each of us has a day upon which we will stop being able to make decisions and our wills will be eternally bound to one fate or another. God is in control of every beat of our hearts and breath that enters our lungs, and the gift of life comes with the inherent responsibility to fulfill its purpose. What happens when we neglect the purpose of the will God has granted us?

Some synonyms for the word “humble” are demure, lowly, unassuming, and modest. I don’t know about you, but I see a lot more of the opposite played out across the globe….especially on social media. Arrogance, conceit, and egotistical behaviors are almost praised while humbleness is viewed as a weakness. Culture says “humility applies to you, but not to me” as Christians are expected to submit to worldly views while the opposition stands firm. We easily identify the self-centered nature of others, but it is hard to admit our own.

Humans do a terrific job of putting on the facade of perfection. I’m the queen of slapping on a smile and saying that I’m fine. Internally though, we’re all shaking in our boots in some regard. Maybe our family isn’t quite as put together as our Facebook photos and eloquent captions make it seem. Maybe our perceived mental stability is really a mask cobbled together to disguise a wreck of anxiety, depression, stress, addiction, and significant mood swings. Maybe our “I’m okay” is just a smokescreen to the blazing fire of physical angst. 

Daniel chapter 3 illustrates not only the courage of three young Hebrew men to disobey the edict of a power-hungry king to bow down and worship his image but also a reminder of the faithfulness of God to uphold his promise of deliverance for his people in exile.