As I type this on a gray, gloomy Monday morning, I feel the need to share a word of encouragement with you. I'm not sure how you're handling life this morning. I'm not sure how you're planning to address the Thanksgiving week ahead of us--whether you plan to embrace it with enthusiasm and gratitude or... Continue Reading →
If I had to summarize everything that God has been teaching me lately, it would be this: You can find joy in the seemingly mundane. Whether you're reading the book of Numbers or are experiencing an apathetic patch of days right now, there's no law saying that these things have to be bland. There's lessons... Continue Reading →
Finally, the Israelites come to Mount Sinai--the place where God meets Moses on the mountain as the Israelites stand below, remaining at a distance from the mountain on which God's glorious presence has descended in a dense cloud reverberating with thunder, lightning, and the sound of trumpets. This is God--the Almighty, Holy God. And He... Continue Reading →
This picture was taken approximately a year ago, and the following piece was written shortly after. Gray clouds and rain were the ominous jewels in today's crown. From this morning until a few seconds before I took this picture, the skies cried. However, when I stepped up to the window--my small window from which I... Continue Reading →
After the Israelites left Elim, the place where God commanded Moses to throw the tree in the bitter waters and the water miraculously became good to drink, they arrived at the Wilderness of Sin--a place between Elim and Sinai (where they would end up eventually in the next few chapters). Here, they encounter the third... Continue Reading →
I would bet that even in the middle of the night, when the Israelites embark on their exodus, they were celebrating. Loud, long shouts of joy. The incredulous belief that they are free--a belief that finds it place among the line of surreality and reality. But as humans, we tend to find ways to chain... Continue Reading →
The baby in the basket . . . he plays an important part in Exodus. But before we watch the basket flow down the Nile River, we need to look at the preceding chapters of Genesis. It's so easy to seamlessly flow from the last page of Genesis to the first page of Exodus, but... Continue Reading →
The word “Exodus” usually brings images of the great palaces and burning sands of Egypt. Of Israelite slaves under the harsh whip of the Egyptian overseer. Of the burning bush that led to Moses standing on the brink of the Red Sea, his staff extended as God separated the walls of the waters with His... Continue Reading →
It's days like this that remind me to persevere whenever I reach a day that's cold and rainy. Because when I'm cold, wet, and miserable, I can look back on this sunshine-saturated moment and smile. I can find happiness in that one moment of misery knowing that I will rest again in this moment where... Continue Reading →
The name Pharisee leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Religious leaders who practice laws . . . religious wolves whose teeth tear the sheep apart. They breathe schedules and routines and religious practices. Their heads swim in the Word, but when they come up for breath, all they breathe in is the air of... Continue Reading →
