Worthy Words

I received an email the other day with a list of children’s letters to God. One that especially caught my eye was this one that reads, “Dear God, thank you for the baby brother but what I prayed for was a puppy!” It is a simple and very honest prayer. It is obvious that this little girl’s biggest desire was for a puppy. If you’ve had one you know puppies are cute, fun to play with, make great companions and seem to be at the top of every child’s wish list. I imagine that she must have felt a little betrayed when God answered her prayer differently than she had anticipated. After all, baby brothers are okay, but for too many children that pails in comparison to a puppy. In Psalm 37:4 David says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Here in this psalm there is a promise — an if/then statement, you could say. It could as easily read, “If you delight yourself in the Lord, then he will give you the desires of your heart.” If that is the case, ho...

What comfort there is during the Christmas season, which is loaded down with boxes full of high unrealistic expectations, to know that God is consistent in every way this and every season. You and I on the other hand, well if you haven’t noticed, our ways are inconsistent. “God's ways are everlasting.” That is the statement made by the prophet in Habakkuk chapter three and verse six. There are many reasons why this is a comforting truth. Let me list a few. First, the Lord's ways are the result of wise thought. He has ordered all things according to the direction of His own will. Our actions are frequently the hasty result of passion, or fear, and are followed by regret and a change of heart. In contrast, nothing can take the Eternal One by surprise, or happen otherwise than He has not foreseen. Second, His ways are the outgrowth of an unchallengeable character. These ways are fixed and settled attributes of God and can be clearly seen. Unless the Almighty Himself can underg...

The famous story of How The Grinch Stole Christmas written by Dr. Seuss tells of a character called the Grinch who had a problem. His heart was two sizes too small. This is why the Grinch hated Christmas and everything else about the merry Whos of Whoville. By the end of the story something unexpected happens. Exhausting every resource at his disposal to ruin Christmas, the Grinch sees the Whos celebrating and loving each other even though they had nothing. “And what happened then...? Well...in Whoville they say, that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day!” The Grinch’s heart grew because he saw how the people loved each other no matter the circumstances. Once he saw their unconditional love, he wanted to be a part of it and he wanted to have it. It is no wonder his heart grew! He had never before experienced that kind of unselfish love that was not based on getting or gaining more. Jesus gave his disciples a new command in the book of John chapter thirteen and ver...

In Daniel chapter 5, the powerful King of Babylon, Belshazzar, is having a huge party for his friends and fans. Now, there is nothing wrong with having a party—even people who don’t claim they know God enjoy the benefits of something that the Lord created—fellowship. When people experience fellowship, when there is laughing and joy; when relationships are deepening and hearts are being shared, it is the unmistakable fingerprint of our compassionate Creator. The real issue is do we recognize this gift? In this example from the Old Testament book of Daniel, the people did not recognize God’s gift of fellowship and were actually engaging in mocking God. Daniel tells us that during the party, the gold and silver vessels used in worshipping God that had been looted from God’s temple were now being utilized in a manner that dishonored Him. God stepped in and judged Belshazzar and his court in dramatic fashion. “Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the w...