Claimed, gathered and sent

Revelation 3:1-6 If the Christian life is all about God’s grace and our inability to please God on our own, what is all this talk of works in Revelation? Obedience and repentance??? The good news is God know us intimately, better than we know ourselves. We can’t fool him. The church of Sardis had a “name of being alive” (v. 1), but instead they were dead. The outside looked good, but what was on the inside? Remember Jesus telling the Pharisees “You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean” (Matthew 23:27 NIV). What preventative measure is there for this problem? We must carefully tend the garden of our inner life. Those in Sardis and the Pharisees had it reversed. The outside looked great and the inside was full of death and decay. The inner garden is a delicate place, and if not properly maintained it will be quickly overrun by intrusive undergrowth. God does not often walk in disordered g...

As always, God is faithful. I still have my job. My husband, Ray, wisely suggested I act as though I never heard the rumor about my termination. It was extremely difficult to do so on Tues., but then as the week progressed, I had peace. The realization slowly dawned upon me that no one, including my boss, could do anything to me, firing included, unless God allowed it. And if he allowed it, it must be for a good reason. Take a look at this post from Scot McKnight at JesusCreed. After my experience of last week, it resonates with me. Against the Wall: Rescue Filed under: Psalm 119 — Scot McKnight @ 2:10 am Have you ever had your back to the wall? Ever wonder if you were going to make it? Ever wonder if the enemy would do you in? Ever wonder if you would live another day? The psalmist knows the experience, and the Resh section (119:153-160) reveals how the psalmist faced the future when his back was to the wall. (read more…) The theme of the Resh section is ...