1 Corinthians 2:9b  “What no eye has seen,    what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”—    the things God has prepared for those who love him—  As I think about friends who are living with the flood damage, and the aftermath of the death of Usama bin Laden , and devastating illnesses of people I know, I wonder about God's imagination. I just watched a few minutes of a show about a photographer taking pictures of the Mohave Desert. It is a barren landscape with a lot of texture and shadows and sand. At first glimpse, all one sees is the same color of sand piled into various shapes, but still very bland. What about God's imagination here?  Think of the creation story of Genesis and the escape store in Exodus. Think of the grand miracles (calling dead Lazarus from his 4 day old tomb) and the "small" miracles (See 2 Kings 13:21 Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they t...

2 Cor 4:1-11 ESV Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.  And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted ...

Ephesians 2:8 (NIV 1984) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— Have you thought about this before?  I haven't. Until today.  What exactly is the "gift of God"?  Seems to me it could be grace. That is certainly a gift of God. That's what grace is, an undeserved gift. Maybe the gift refers to the word saved. We are saved. That is certainly a gift from God for it is through the gift of his son, Jesus, and the death and resurrection that we are saved. Without that atoning gift, there is no salvation. Perhaps it is the word faith. That is the gift of God. I feel like I have faith that was gifted to me. I participate in increasing it but it is from God that I have faith and that I want to learn more and practice more to increase my faith. I think it should say gifts, because it is all three that God gives to us. Our sins are already forgiven, whether we accept it or not.  That's grace - a gift of ...

ExpressionsbyD 2 Corinthians 4:1 1 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. I was contemplating this sentence from my readings today ( 2 Cor 4:7-12 ) . "Always being given over to death"  is the part that I was having trouble with. I do not die every day. I don't even get close to death (as far as I can tell). What does "given over to death" mean? I thought about this and reread it several times. Then my recent study on Job popped into my mind.  In Job , chapter 1 verse 8, God draws Satan's attention to " my servant Job ". Job 1 :  7 The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”    Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”   8 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” ...

2 Corinthians 12:8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.     In chapter 12 of Paul's second letter to the church at Corinth, Paul is telling the Corinthians that he is not superman, that he has weaknesses and even perhaps even has a disability. He goes on to explain that he is made strong through those very weaknesses, that God can be glorified by Paul's weaknesses or disabilities maybe even more so through his strengths. Good lesson.   Today the preciseness of his prayer is what I noticed. I pray a lot. I started using a prayer system this summer to help me be more diligent and less all-over-the-place in my prayer life. But I am no where close to knowing how many times I pray for any one particular thing. I am not that precise. I don't know if I need to be. I think God accepts our prayers as they are said, whether once or a million times. I just wonder if I'm missing something because I ...

My book is full. Almost exactly a year ago, I started writing down passages or verses of the Bible in my little wire-bound book on September 29, 2009.  The journal has a beautiful blue cover with a pair of yellow flowers. The cover says "He has made everything beautiful in its time". ( Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV)   That is only part of the verse but that is the way I've been writing passages.  Writing these down this past year has helped me remember where some passages are.  Now if someone references Jeremiah 29:11, I know what that verse is, even if I can't remember the whole, exact sentence. I've also grown in appreciation for the diversity of the Bible. There are poems, songs, stories, biographic tales, autobiographic entries, commands, comforts. There are cries for help, justice and pleas for mercy and grace. There are bits that we can't fully appreciate. For example, since we don't know the Hebrew alphabet that was used for a particular acrostic we can...

1 Corinthians 15:51b: "but we shall all be changed," The Bible is very clear about this.  We will all be changed.  Actually, everything, except for God, changes.   The climate changes.  The weather changes. The dress styles change. The tools we use change. Just look at the picture! The food we like changes over time. The people we want to be with or be like change as we change.  Our children grow up.  Our parents grow old.  Then we grow old. That is just the way it is. Change is all around us.  We can be afraid of it, or we can embrace it and say "Thank You, God. You are changing me." I for one know that I need changing.  I am selfish, rude, demanding, etc. Of course I'm not those things all the time, but enough that I need to be changed. Jesus was never any of that. Sure I'm not as bad as some people about some things. But I am no where close to THE example of Jesus. So...... Thank you dear Jesus for the example You set. Please Ho...

Romans 14:19 (ESV) "So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding (1 Cor 12:25) that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another." When we were in school, learning to read and comprehend, we were taught to read complete paragraphs or whole stories to get the meaning of particular words, sentences, the paragraph or story.  Sometimes when reading the Bible, we read one sentence or phrase and God uses that to speak to us.  It is also important to read the complete story, paragraph, book to get the rest of the story but sometimes one or two phrases speak to us. The above passages together, in separate epistles, form a very cohesive command - for lack of a better word.  We should pursue what makes for peace AND mutual upbuilding. We should work to create or keep the peace amongst other believers, especially those in our local congregations and communities. We should do this so that the body of...

Stumbling block by Rosemarie Kusserow 1 Cor 8:9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. We have an obligation and responsibility to live as though we really believe we are God's redeemed children.  Part of that responsibility is exercising our freedoms with recognition that others are watching and listening. We need not worry about those who are non-believers because we can't please everyone. The argument is spelled out by Paul in 1 Corinthians 8. He acknowledges that some things are not wrong in themselves.  But since we follow and are committed to Jesus, we should refrain from doing those things that other believers find un-Christ-like or unworthy.  We, by our actions and words, must represent Christ as He would want to be represented.  We have an obligation to other believers.  The passage supports this. Note that the passage says " to the weak".  Paul is not suggesting that we ...

A few years ago, one of the first sermons of our new pastor delivered had to do with his definition of love. To be honest, I don't remember much of the sermon.  Unfortunately that is pretty typical.  I scant remember even the best of sermons.  Sometimes, I'm lucky to remember more than, "gee, that was a good sermon".   Back to the pastor's definition of love: "Love is the relentless pursuit of another person's well-being." In my opinion it is not a complete definition but it is pretty good for LOVE as a verb . (for the definition of Love as a noun - see 1 Corinthians 13 starting in verse 4. - I like to insert God each time it says love.  Because I think God is Love, both a noun and a verb.) Anyway, Love is the relentless pursuit of another person's well-being according to this pastor's definition.  As I analyze this statement, I have to wonder if this definition can get a person into trouble.  Just because I THINK something is for a perso...