Category: Ramblings

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The Value of Writing Down What God Is Teaching You (No. Not Journaling.)

Not Journaling. Certainly Not Keeping a Diary.

Simply Writing Down What God is Teaching You on Occasion.

I don’t remember when I started doing it or even who it was that encouraged me to start. It seems that maybe it was around the time I started seminary that I started writing down a few of the things God was teaching me. Maybe it was a professor who encouraged us to start doing so? Maybe it was in one of the books I had to read for class? I had heard of the value of journaling, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m just talking about occasionally writing down valuable things God is pointing out.

man taking notes in front of his computer - a form of journaling

I’ve been doing this now for more than 25 years. I don’t write something down every day, but as I read God’s Word each morning, if something strikes me in a way that I think is important or challenging or points out something I hadn’t noticed before, I write it down. And if I hear something really helpful in a sermon, I write it down. And if I read something of great value in a book, I write it down. (Again… this is not the same as journaling.)

You can do that in the margins of your Bible, or in the front or back pages of your Bible. You can do this on scrap pieces of paper. You could even use a notebook. I have done all of that at various times. But I then keep all of that info in one place. And occasionally I go back through my scribblings and scratchings to see what God might point out to me from what I had previously thought was valuable. It is always interesting to see what God was pointing out to me at different times of my life.

And as I have been doing so, I have come across a few ideas that I thought might also interest you. And so when that happens, I’ll share those ideas for us to consider together. Here’s one I ran across from a few years ago when I was reading through Genesis:

In Genesis 15, God establishes his covenant with Abram by having Abram take sacrificial animals, cut them in half and lay the halves apart from each other, creating a path down the middle between the split animal halves. (Seems a bit odd, right?)

The Study Bible I was using that year provided a helpful explanation:

This type of ceremony was not uncommon in that day and age. An agreement is being made between the superior party and the inferior party. The superior typically promised protection and the inferior promised service. And typically the inferior was the one who walked through the halves as an indicator that he realized this would happen to him if he did not keep his end of the bargain.

But here are the two big differences between the typical covenant and this one that God made with Abram.

1) Typically, the inferior’s list of duties were longer than the superior’s. But that isn’t the case here. God had much more listed: protection, blessing, descendants, land, care for future generations, wealth, & peaceful death. Abram’s list of duties were minimal – they are not even mentioned, but we assume it is simply to believe in the Lord’s promises (15:6). The focus is on what the Lord promised Abram, not what Abram promised the Lord.

2) The inferior party is also the one who typically would have walked through the pieces to indicate his death if he broke covenant, yet here we have a symbol of God passing through the pieces, indicating that He would die before He would allow His covenant with Abram to fail.

And that is exactly what happened! Jesus did die to fulfill His covenant with Abraham. And through Jesus’s death, Abraham became a father of many, and Abraham’s descendant (Jesus) became a blessing to all nations. What an amazing story of God’s faithfulness to His promises!

So this is just one of the types of things I would jot down as something helpful to me when reading the Bible during my quiet time. And now, with new technology, it’s even easier. I can simply open up a note-taking app on my phone and type in the thought, whether at home or when listening to a sermon. coffee cup and notebook to point toward the value of journalingI want to encourage you to begin occasionally writing down what God is telling you. Whether you do it in the margin of your Bible, in a notebook, or in a note-taking app on your phone – keep up with the ideas that God points out to you as you engage with His Word. And go back on occasion to see how God has worked in your life over time!

(And as I’ve pointed out several times now. This is not journaling.)

Wait… is this journaling? Well, if it is, just don’t tell anyone. Because I’ve found that word turns some of us off.

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You Are A Unique Miracle.

Our world has an amazing creation story. God created it out of nothing. But the truth is that every single one of us also has a miraculous creation story.photo of earth from space reminding us that creation is a miracle

Because from the beginning of creation up to present day – only God can make another person. We know how a human egg gets fertilized and becomes an embryo and continues to grow in the womb and is born into this world as a new baby, but…

…We can’t create life without God.

We can clone cells, we can fertilize an egg, but we can’t take the raw building blocks of life and create new life. Only God can. Even with all our technology and science and medical know-how, we can’t do the one thing God has been doing since the creation of our world – creating new life.

Only God knows how to create life. He created all that we see and know. And…

He created you!

You are an amazing and unique story created by our remarkable, eternal, all-powerful God.

This is exactly what God is telling us through David in Psalm 139 –

It was you, Eternal Creator God, who created me and my inward parts. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise you because I have been fearfully and wonderfully made!

Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well, because…

Your eyes saw me when I was still formless.

And all my days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began.

Sometimes we have self-esteem crises. We wonder if we are valuable. We have negative thoughts about our worth. But if you ever find yourself in that place… wondering if you are valuable… remember this:

God – the eternal Creator of the universe, the One who speaks all things into being from nothing, this infinite, eternal, almighty, all-knowing God – He has created you uniquely, which means you are truly a one-of-a-kind miracle.

fingerprint - reminding us that each of us are a unique miracle
Eight billion people on the planet – and your fingerprint is unique. What a miracle!

You are made in the image of God, which is amazing in itself. But you also have been made by the very hand of God. You are special, because of who you are in the eyes of the Great, Eternal, Creator God. He loved you so much that He made you unlike any other person on this planet. In fact, He has made you unlike anyone who has ever existed, or ever will exist. Therefore…

You Are Priceless!

Not only did He love you so much that He created you as a unique miracle; He also loved you so much that He sent Jesus to be your Savior, so He could have you – a priceless treasure – with Him forever.

He loves you, He created you, He arranged you just as you are – He knit you together. And now He is drawing you to Himself with loving-kindness. He is drawing you into a deeper relationship with Him. So turn your life over to the eternal, almighty God who made you the unique miracle that you are.

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Where Have You Been?!?! (& a return from a lengthy absence)

Did you ever get asked that question by your parents – perhaps when you missed curfew? When our absence is unexpected, those who care about us want to know what has happened. an image showing a directional sign "lost" and another one "found" to relate to my absence

And so when we are running quite late, we know that this question is coming. So we begin concocting some great excuse, working up various explanations for each point we think we might need!

Well, some have wondered the same regarding my absence from all social media & website postings. And as I have encountered some of you, I’ve had several tell me they wish I would start posting my devotional thoughts again.
– First, Thank you for the encouragement!
– Second, I apologize for my absence. And…
– Third, in response to the question, “Where Have You Been???”
…let me share my concocted excuse!

My absence hinged on the whirlwind of changes in my life over these past two-and-a-half years. This extended hiatus goes all the way back to 2019, when I felt God calling me to a new ministry position with Lifeway. During the first six months of learning that new ministry position, I did not have time to write. But then as I was just getting my footing and preparing to start posting again, the pandemic occurred, and I ended up losing my job due to the economic downturn. (I plan to say more about the loss of my job in a future post, because I know this has occurred to many people during these past two years of turmoil and uncertainty, including to some of my own family members and several more from our church family.)

The next few months were spent praying about what new doors God would open for us. And instead of posting on social media, my time was taken up with sending out resumes and taking part in interviews. In August of 2020, God opened a new door and provided us with the wonderful opportunity as I was invited to serve as the Senior Pastor of Poplar Springs Drive Baptist Church in Meridian!

Even though pastoring was not unfamiliar territory for me, this was a new church family with new staff and new systems to learn.

Also, becoming a pastor in the middle of a pandemic where neither I nor the church family could see each others’ faces due to masks was certainly a weird way to get started in a new church. So with learning new people and systems while also learning how to pastor during a pandemic, I again was left with too little time to write.

silly picture with a person's whole face covered by a mask
(Don’t worry. We didn’t wear our masks this way!)

But fast-forward a year-and-a-half later, and while the pandemic isn’t quite over, life has definitely become more stable. As a church family, we are finding our rhythm, and that is beginning to open up my time to be able to do a bit more writing. So I’m planning to begin sharing some thoughts again.

This morning, I simply want to share with you some thoughts from Psalm 20 which I read as part of my Bible reading this morning. As I read it, I first thought of it as a prayer for myself. But then as I finished praying through it, my mind went to my brothers and sisters in Ukraine. Our Christian family in the Ukraine is in such difficulty right now. Certainly all of Ukraine is. But our Christian brothers and sisters are distressed and displaced like so many others in their nation, annd they are also desiring to be a light in the darkness for others. And therefore, here is a prayer we can pray from Psalm 20 for them today and in the days ahead:

Father God, answer the prayers of your people in this day of trouble. Great God, protect our brothers and sisters in Ukraine and send them help that only You can provide. Sustain their faith and help them to feel Your presence as they continue to trust in You even in the midst of their distress.

You are the victorious One – the One who sends us salvation. Help our Christian family in Ukraine to continue to point others to You. Help them to shout for joy at Your victory – the victory of eternal life even in the face of so much destruction and pain.
We know that You are our God who listens. Hear all of our prayers and bring them victory from Your strong hand in this time of trouble.

As David wrote in the Psalm: Some trust in chariots, and some trust in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

So while many today are trusting in military might and power, God help them (and us) to trust in You and Your strength. We will stand firm in our trust and faith in You.

Please answer our prayers as we call upon You in these days of difficulty.

In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.

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Is My Current Physical Pain a Punishment From God For My Past Sins?

Here is a question that came to me from a friend a while back:

Is my current physical pain a consequence of my past sin?
I know that sins have consequences we may have to bear naturally. For example, I know that being drunk all the time can have physical consequences later in life such as cirrhosis of the liver, and that having an affair can lead to the consequences of divorce. These are natural consequences to those life choices. But what about something such as chronic pain that isn’t the direct consequence of a specific sin? Is God punishing me for some sins in my past with unrelated physical pain now?

Before I share my response, I’m just wondering – How might you answer this question?
(Don’t worry, you won’t have to wait long as I’ll share my response tomorrow!)

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Communication in Marriage is a Key to Marital Success

My last two posts have been about loving our spouses – using the five love languages and remembering that we must be selfless as we choose to love. Another key aspect of having a healthy marriage is having healthy communication.
a sculpture of a man listening, reminding us the communication is important in relationships

Regarding communication in marriage, I have appreciated this insight from The Secret of Loving, by Josh McDowell, for many years:

Most people think of talking as communication–with the goal of getting their point-of-view across. Meaningful communication, however, is two-fold…both talking and listening. The facet most neglected by couples today is listening. From the fact that God gave us two ears and one mouth, the Irish have drawn the thoughtful conclusion that we should listen twice as much as we talk.

James wrote, ”Be quick to hear, slow to speak” (James 1:19). The phrase ”quick to hear” means to be ”a ready listener.” But most people are a lot more comfortable in communication when they are doing the talking. They feel greater security in asserting their positions, feelings, opinions, and ideas than in listening to those of another. Listening is the most difficult aspect of communication for most people. Listening never comes naturally.

Hearing is basically to gain content or information for your own purposes. Listening is caring for and being empathetic toward the person who is talking. Hearing means that you are concerned about what is going on inside you during the conversation. Listening means that you are trying to understand the feelings of the other person and are listening for his/her sake.

It is imperative that we recognize that we always communicate in one way or another. In other words, even silence is communication. So, the key to communication is to do it effectively, in a way that creates a climate of greater intimacy and vulnerability.

The best commentary I’ve heard on Jesus’ commandment to ”love your neighbor as yourself” is by David Augsburger: ”To love you as I love myself is to seek to hear you as I want to be heard and understand you as I long to be understood.”

…When you and I listen to another person we are conveying the thought that ”I’m interested in you as a person, and I think that what you feel is important. I respect your thoughts, even if I don’t agree with them. I know that they are valid for you. I feel sure that you have a contribution to make. I’m not trying to change you or evaluate you. I just want to understand you. I think you’re worth listening to, and I want you to know that I’m the kind of person that you can talk to.”

So, how good of a listener are you for your spouse on a scale of 1 to 10?

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