The Shulamite was coming uncorked. She was upset with those close to her (“my mother’s children were angry with me” SS 1:6b), while not yet realizing that her frustration resulted from some erringly placed attachments. All she knew is that she was laboring hard, trying her best, working long hours guarding the vineyard, and feeling […]
Show Me My Heart
There are some prayers the Lord delights to answer. Sometimes we may not be delighted to pray them. But if we do, we almost assuredly will be audience to the zealous presence of the Holy Spirit. “Show me my heart” is one of those prayers. Recently I found myself praying this very prayer. It was […]
Royalty Realm – His Scepter Extended
Timid’s turn to step across the threshold into the King’s presence was fast approaching. Up till now, the long queues of inhabitants in the Royalty Realm had made it easy for her to demur and “graciously” grant cuts in line, thus assuring she would never quite reach the entryway. Her summons had come much earlier. […]
Jehovah-Shammah – The Lord Is There
Happy New Year, dear reader! I hope, like our household, that you welcomed 2012 with open arms. No matter what the next 366 days bring (it’s Leap Year, too!), the LORD is already there as each day dawns. He’s waiting just for you…and I pray you experience the magnificence of His presence for where the […]
Climbing Your Mountain, Part 2
Mountain climbing may not be for the fainthearted, but neither is it for the lone ranger. It is one thing to go hiking in the wooded mountains with a compass, a canteen, and some beans and weenies. To reach nosebleed heights on the highest of mountain peaks, it is never wise to go it alone. […]
Desert Days – The High Stakes of Inheritance, Part 2
This one’s for the girls… As I was reading and writing last week about Caleb, the “give me this mountain” man, I found in Judges 1 a continuation of his story – and that of his daughter, Acsah. You can read it yourself, but the upshot is that Acsah was given in marriage to Caleb’s […]
Desert Days – The High Stakes of Inheritance
One man stands out to me when I read about the children of Israel frittering away forty years in the wilderness: Caleb, Joshua’s partner in clandestine operations. The two of them, along with ten other men – one from each tribe – were commissioned by Moses to explore the territory of Canaan, the Lord’s land […]
Desert Days – A Heart Set on Pilgrimage, Part 1
One thing God intended about deserts: we were never meant to linger in them longer than necessary. “Necessary for what?” you might ask. To come to the realization that desert journeys are not just ‘part of life,’ as we blithely remark. More than that, they are purposed as a Divinely-orchestrated thoroughfare (in spite of the […]
Back to the Original
The re-weaving has been accomplished! Amazingly, it is natural and beautiful – a true medical miracle. Eleven days post-surgery, I am recuperating at home from my recent bilateral breast reconstruction and hysterectomy. While looking for a fitting Bible reference for this evening’s blog post, lo and behold, I discovered in scripture the perfect description of […]
Secondhand Smoke
I saw an ad the other day that simply said, “Secondhand smoke kills.” Of course it was talking about smokers and those nearby who inhale the lingering leftovers. Since I don’t smoke (or chew or hang out with girls who do!) my thinking landed on a different plane, transported back to Old Testament times. In […]