the blessings of God
Recently, my wife and I embarked on a plan to reach out to people who are different from us—spiritually, ethnically, and otherwise. Why take on this challenge? We’ve experienced the grace and blessing of God, and we want to bless Him by loving others who are also made in His image. It’s interesting, however, that even as we’ve strived to bless Him, we’ve been greatly blessed by God through these new relationships!
abundance
The other day I took my son to a baseball-batting cage and paid for eight sets of 25 pitches. To our pleasant surprise, when the round finished, the balls kept coming—and coming. The machine had malfunctioned, and as a result it kept delivering an abundance of pitches. This reminded me of the time a friend’s 5-year-old daughter woke up and said, “Last night I had the best dream. I was at the beach and more toys than I could ever hope for washed up on the shore for me to have!”
firstfruits
John started his new job. When he got his first check at the end of the month, he wanted to celebrate by buying my lunch for me. During our meal, he told me that his first paycheck was his “firstfruits.” With a grateful heart, he wanted to give a significant portion of it back to God.
upside down blessings
I traveled to Russia soon after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Tensions ran high, and I was still wary of the Soviet military and leadership. I flew alone from Kiev, Ukraine, into Moscow. Due to miscommunication, I failed to secure the necessary visa. I was detained in the Moscow airport and held overnight by Soviet guards. It was an…
return of the King
Harold Camping received a lot of attention for declaring that Judgment Day would begin around dinnertime on May 21, 2011. Few people believed him—even his receptionist admitted that “no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen” (Matthew 24:36). The secular world had much fun at Camping’s expense, planning apocalyptic survival parties and playing R.E.M.’s rock song…
the pilot seat
An F16 fighter jet is an amazing aircraft with incredible capabilities. But there’s one thing that a jet pilot requires above all else: The F16 must respond to his control.
God has much to say in Deuteronomy about why He must be at the controls of our life. The book is the story of Israel’s renewed covenant with God—one that…
