revealing

God's presence resolves wickedness.

God's presence resolves wickedness.

Psalm 94

And once again, we encounter an uber-familiar theme in this psalm—God’s dealings with the wicked: “The LORD is a God who avenges. O God who avenges, shine forth.” (vs 1) Immediately, we must recognize that the word used here is “avenge” and not “revenge.” In the Hebrew language, to avenge means to set right; to get revenge means, well, to get revenge.

God is always drawing us closer.

God is always drawing us closer.

Psalm 43

God has an agenda. It’s a simple one—to draw us ever closer to Him in relationship. I believe He does this even with His perfect creatures—those who have never fallen into sin. Why? Because no creature—even a perfect one—can ever fully understand the mind of the Creator. There will always be more to learn, more to be revealed. And so God is in the business of personal revelation.

God is an artist.

God is an artist.

Psalm 8

This has always been one of my most favorite psalms, especially this part: “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens... When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” (vs 1, 3-4)

God wants to show us more.

God wants to show us more.

Job 42

After having gone through the book of Job, chapter by chapter, with a fine-tooth comb, I find that I love this final chapter now more than ever before. I used to love it for the fact that God exonerated Job and put Job’s friends in their place when He said, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has” (vs 7), but I see so much more in this chapter now than I did previously. I guess that’s because God is always wanting to show us more! And that’s the picture of Him I saw here.

God wants to tell us more.

God wants to tell us more.

Job 41

Most people believe that Job got to the end of his life without ever understanding why he went through all that he did. They don’t believe God gave His friend any explanation for his sufferings. I disagree. I think God’s explanation to Job is contained in this chapter, and it’s stunning, considering that a general knowledge of Satan didn’t enter Israelite thinking until close to the end of the Old Testament time period.

God is always bringing us new light.

God is always bringing us new light.

Job 20

Are you feeling like I am about the speeches of Job’s friends? Come on, enough already. When I opened my Bible to chapter 20 today and saw that Zophar was going to launch off yet again into the same, old thing, I felt a huge yawn coming on. It’s like being on the telephone with an automated answering service—no matter what number you press, you get the same recording: Thank you for holding. One of our representatives will be with you shortly. It gets frustrating when there’s no way to break through the monotonous drivel and reach someone who is actually alive and breathing.

God reveals truth.

God reveals truth.

Job 12

From time to time, I visit a Christian forum online where people are discussing topics about God. Occasionally, I contribute. Most of the time, however, I simply read the ideas of others with interest. Recently, a self-proclaimed atheist has joined the group and has been asking a number of good questions about the Bible. She says this is her "last attempt" to try to understand the Bible and that she has come to the forum to find out why Christians believe what they do.

God brings us joy through the law.

God brings us joy through the law.

Nehemiah 8

Ah, the law. The one topic that is the time-honored whipping boy of Christianity. Is the law still in effect? Was it nailed to the cross? Done away with? Is there a difference between law and grace? And what does "law" mean? Are we talking about the Ten Commandments? The Mosaic Law? The Law of Love as defined by Jesus in Matthew 22:36-40?

God reveals our hearts.

God reveals our hearts.

Ezra 4

I was recently discussing the topic of The Judgment with some friends. I think this is a widely misunderstood concept. I believe that when most people think of The Judgment, they envision some sort of heavenly court where we are each going to stand before God and hear Him pronounce a verdict about us. Are we wicked? Are we righteous? He will make His decision and bang His gavel, and that will be that.

God is pure awesomeness.

God is pure awesomeness.

1 Kings 18

At the risk of sounding like a bad flashback from the 80s or 90s, I couldn’t pass this up as the title of today’s blog. This has got to be one of my all-time favorite chapters in the Bible. It seems like I’ve been hearing this story ever since I was a little girl, and it never ceases to amaze me. So, this was a great excuse to sit back and just marvel at God.

Name Game {ex6:3}

Photo © Unsplash/Kyle Glenn

Photo © Unsplash/Kyle Glenn

God revealed himself
to Moses
by a different name
than he had used
with Abraham
and Isaac
and Jacob.

An infinite God
with infinite names,
never failing
to manifest his presence
to the finite—
those who may resonate
for one reason or another
with a particular
moniker.

 

God reels us in.

God reels us in.

2 SAMUEL 12

I love things that remind me of my father. Today’s chapter reminded me of the topic of voice inflection that he covered in his Speech classes. He would hand out slips of paper to different students—all with the same phrase, but each indicating a different mood in which to utter the phrase. Then, we would go around the room, each of us saying the same thing—but with very different results. It is true that the actual words comprise only a fraction of communication.

That Moment {gn42:6}

Photo © Unsplash/Randy Fath

Photo © Unsplash/Randy Fath

I wonder what it's like—
that moment when you realize
the dreams you dreamed
so many years ago
are materializing
in front of you
in broad daylight.

I wonder what it's like—
the very next moment
when you realize
that you're right where
God planned for you to be
so many years before

and that everything
   the dreams
   the slavery
   the allegations
   the imprisonment
   the abandonment
   the lonely nights
   the wondering
all of it
was part of the plan
to bring you to the time and place
where you would save the world.

That moment,
as the ten sheaves
are bowing down,
would it not
drive you to your knees?

 

God is consistent.

God is consistent.

DEUTERONOMY 34

After the death of Moses, the record in Deuteronomy 34 says this: "Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face." (vs 11)  As I read this, it dawned on me that many of God’s good friends are found in the Old Testament, before the testimony of Jesus.