As the Ground Receives the Rain

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“For it is God who works in you….” (Phil. 2:13)

When we think in terms of being obedient to God and living for God, we tend to think about results. Results are achievement oriented. Our whole world in Western society is ordered that way. It’s no wonder that we think in those terms about our spiritual lives.

The results we recall tend to be the accomplishments we have achieved.

God’s perspective is wholly different than ours. He doesn’t consider what we have accomplished, but what HE has been allowed to accomplish in us. We are participants in that accomplishment, but only as the ground receives the rain that falls upon it. Continue reading “As the Ground Receives the Rain” →

Be a Great Servant

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“The greatest among you….” (Matt. 23:11) We all have a desire to be great. I recognize that bit of human nature staring at me in my own heart. Continue reading “Be a Great Servant” →

God Has No Grandchildren

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“God has no grandchildren” is a statement provided “for further reflection” found in The Discovery Bible[i]. Sure, we are invited to call God our Father (Matt. 6:9).

“I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord….” (2 Cor. 6:18)

But why not grandfather? Why should God not have grandchildren?

If the parent/child relationship applies to God and us, why not the grandparent/grandchild relationship?

We are born to our parents and carry our parents’ genes in our bodies. We pass on those genes to our children and to our children’s children. Our grandchildren are not born to us, but they carry our genes. This is the natural order of things. It’s biology (or science as they say).

So why no grandchildren of God?

Continue reading “God Has No Grandchildren” →

What Does it Mean that God is Holy?

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“Our Father who is in heaven hallowed[i] be his name…” (Matt. 6:9)

Special, sacred, holy and set apart is God. No one set Him apart. He just is (from the beginning and always, continuously and ever will be) holy.

What does it mean, though, that is God is Holy? Continue reading “What Does it Mean that God is Holy?” →

Our Father Who Is in Heaven

Because God is not contained by time, God is ever present, (Ps. 46:1) and God is ever near us (Jer. 23:23).

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“Our Father who is in heaven[i]….” is what Jesus taught us to pray. We might be tempted to picture God in the clouds, but the popular idea of God in the clouds is not at all accurate. God the Father is outside of time and space. Time, space and the Universe in which we live are contained and sustained by God. They emanated from God; they do not contain God. Continue reading “Our Father Who Is in Heaven” →