When God Shows Up

When life gets hard, we want answers. When life gets really hard, we demand them. We want to know what’s going on, why it’s happening, and what is going to be done about it. Job certainly did. He cried out to God for answers on why all the terrible things he had experienced had happened to him. God doesn’t always give us direct answers to our questions – He’s certainly not entitled to – but He did finally come and respond to Job. It wasn’t the response Job was expecting. As we wrap up our series through Job today, let’s talk about what He said, and what we can learn from it for our own hard situations.

When God Shows Up

Do you remember the worst lecture you ever got from your parents? While I confess that I fall to it way more often than I should with my boys, my folks either weren’t much for lecturing, or else I’ve just forgotten all of them (which really isn’t very comforting news for all the wisdom we as parents impart to our children through the vehicle of the lecture…). Still, though, there are times when as parents we need to impart a great deal of important information to our children in a rapid-fire fashion. And, coincidentally or not, these times often happen to coincide with something they’ve done that wasn’t perhaps totally on the up-and-up, and when we are in a state of mild- to extreme-agitation. Now, if that happens to come across as a lecture, is that our fault? Well…probably…but that much is not where I want to go this morning. We’ll come back to this idea in a second. 

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Luke 6:32-36

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do what is good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High. For he is gracious to the ungrateful and evil. Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Well, we survived the week at camp. Really, we only had to survive three full days. Monday and today were barely half days. Camp days always feel extra long (because they are), but the week always feels like it rushes by at breakneck speed. We’re all tired—I suspect most of the kids will sleep a fair bit of the journey home—but it’s a good tired. Yesterday, we came back to the theme from day one: Loving God. This time, though, we dove deeper into what it looks like to love God. Most notably, it looks like loving the people He loves. That’s easy with the people we are inclined to love. It’s harder with the people we aren’t. So naturally, that’s where we focused. Let’s take a closer look.

Continue reading “Morning Musing: Luke 6:32-36”

Morning Musing: 1 Corinthians 10:13

“No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Day three of camp was all about living a holy life. If we are going to go higher in our relationship with God, we are going to have to come to look more like Him. This means growing in holiness. God is holy. If we worship Him, if we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, we will come to reflect His holiness in and through our own lives. That’s natural for someone who is in Christ. What’s unnatural for a Jesus follower is sin. And yet sin keeps getting in our way. As a result, in worship tonight we talked about one of the vehicles sin uses for that: temptation. Let’s dive in a bit deeper.

Continue reading “Morning Musing: 1 Corinthians 10:13”

Morning Musing: Isaiah 55:8-9

“‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.’ This is the Lord’s declaration. ‘For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.’” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Day two of camp is in the books, and it was another fun day of worship with music, Bible study, good food, and tons of games. I even won a round of Gaga Ball. I will likely be paying for my victory for the next few days, but it was satisfying all the same. The theme for the day was the importance of putting God first. We looked at several stories throughout the day of different times and ways people put God’s will and ways first including Jesus Himself. At worship tonight, the camp pastor mentioned another verse that helps us understand why this is something that makes sense to do. Let’s dive into that just a bit more today.

Continue reading “Morning Musing: Isaiah 55:8-9”

Morning Musing: Mark 12:29-31

“Jesus answered, ‘The most important is “Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other command greater than these.’” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Something a little different this week. I have the privilege of chaperoning some of our kids to camp this week for what I suspect will be the final time. That’s a little bittersweet, I’ll confess. It’s a lot to do this each year, but it really does make for a fun week. Like the last few years, this week we’ll take a break from our normal fare to explore a bit what the kids are learning this week. These will likely be pretty short reflections as time is fleeting at camp, but as least you’ll get the gist of it. Without further ado, here we go.

Continue reading “Morning Musing: Mark 12:29-31”