You are what you worship. Agree? Disagree? If I had said, “You are what you eat,” that would be a bit easier to agree with. Food goes in, metabolizes, fuels and shapes the body. You actually are what you eat. But what about worship? Does worship have the same affect on us as food? AllContinue reading “What can satisfy the soul? part 2”
Tag Archives: israel
How to grow your love for God, part 3 (dealing with our fears)
What do you fear? Even if you are the kind of person who is not afraid of hardly anything, do you have concerns? What bothers you? Maybe your personality really struggles with fears. I’ve talked in a previous post about my own struggles with anxiety. I’ve come to realize I have triggers: health and financialContinue reading “How to grow your love for God, part 3 (dealing with our fears)”
How to grow your love for God, part 2
Yesterday I referred to the axiom, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” but I didn’t talk about how it matters. This week we are looking at Deuteronomy 11, and how to grow love for God, and I promise that I’ll eventually explain how the axiom about the apple tree relates to this. ButContinue reading “How to grow your love for God, part 2”
How to grow your love for God, part 1
Have you ever heard the phrase, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”? What does it mean? That children or young people tend to behave like their parents. It happens all the time. And it is not just that we look like our parents, or sound like them, but that we tend to haveContinue reading “How to grow your love for God, part 1”
What to do when life is hard and filled with tears
A friend of mine has graciously allowed me to borrow his tiller each year to get our garden ready for planting. It is a monster of a tiller. You have to grip that thing with all your might, lower your center of gravity, and hold on for dear life. I am not kidding. It isContinue reading “What to do when life is hard and filled with tears”
What is a song of ascent? (the next U2 album?)
For years the rock band U2 has been hinting that they are going to release an album called Songs of Ascent. What might “Songs of Ascent” refer to? Why would U2 think of that title? As the years went by, U2 changed directions a bit, first releasing an album called Songs of Innocence, and justContinue reading “What is a song of ascent? (the next U2 album?)”
When you cry out to God over and over and he doesn’t respond
Have you ever waited for something a long time? I feel like I regularly get in the store check-out line that has the longest wait. It’s uncanny. But that kind of wait is not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about waiting for something for months or years, and often the waiting involves pain. ItContinue reading “When you cry out to God over and over and he doesn’t respond”
Who are you really? (And how to find out)
In my last post, I mentioned that in Deuteronomy 9 Moses gives the people of Israel an exam, and he has shocking news for them. Remember the principle? They are not righteous in and of themselves. They were in danger of thinking that God brought them to the Promised Land because they were so good. Continue reading “Who are you really? (And how to find out)”
Why exams are so important for us – Introducing Moses’ exam of Israel in Deut. 9
A few years ago I had one of those eye exams where they put the drops in your eyes to dilate them. I wear contacts, so first my doctor (I go to the optometrist at Costco) had me remove my contacts. He put the drops in, and then my eyes slowly started dilating. If you’veContinue reading “Why exams are so important for us – Introducing Moses’ exam of Israel in Deut. 9”
Why we need a wilderness mindset, even when we live in the promised land
How can we remain faithful to God when life is good? How do we remain faithful in the Promised Land? When we are in the wilderness, we feel like we are going to die, and we need God to rescue us, we know that there is nothing we can do, and God has to intervene. Continue reading “Why we need a wilderness mindset, even when we live in the promised land”
Engaging Scripture 