Focus on Eternity

         This morning as I was engaged in my Bible study, I had a feeling of uneasiness that I was participating in a shallow engagement with God’s Word.   I longed for a deeper connection with God than I was allowing myself to experience.   I had completed and shared my Homily with those who I try to encourage daily, and I headed for the shower feeling less than successful in my engagement with God.   Have you ever recognized when your time of devotion has failed to feed your hungry soul?          I believe that each day God wants to take us on a journey with Him, to know Him, to draw close to Him, and to restore our souls.   In some way, I try to experience a daily change of heart, as I renew my mind with Scriptures; so naturally when I do not feel it, I know my encounter has been shallow.  I stepped into the shower to divert my attention and I prayed for a deeper and richer encounter with God.  I decided there that I would return to the same passage that had been laid before my

  King Hezekiah lay in his bed-chamber, contemplating the visit he just received from Isaiah, the prophet who spoke God’s words.   He had been sick for a while and had not been getting better.   The initial news was not promising, not promising at all.   Isaiah told Hezekiah that this was the end, that there was little life left in him.   At the time of this news, Hezekiah was not ready to relinquish the throne.   He had only overseen the Kingdom of Judah for about fourteen years, not enough time to do all the things he wanted to do.   Although yet a young man, King Hezekiah knew that this short life expectancy had been the fate of many men.   Just 39 years old, Hezekiah was not just any man, and he had told the God of his people so.      Isaiah was still in the room when he turned away, barely able to hear the devastating news that his visitor had brought to him.   He wondered if  it had better thinking he would recover, or now knowing that God only gave him a few more steps.   A

        In my morning Bible reading, I found my eyes upon the 24 th chapter of Isaiah, and after reviewing my highlights, I realized the strong message that emerged.  If you are not familiar with this passage, even the heading added by the editors is revealing, “Judgment on the Whole World.”  It doesn’t make for light reading.     Here are the passages that consumed my mind as I studied God’s Word.  Passage Verse Isaiah 24:1 Behold, the Lord will empty the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants. Isaiah 24:3 The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered; for the Lord has spoken this word. Isaiah 24:6 Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left. Isaiah 24:18 He who flees at the sound of the terror shall fall into the pit, and he who climbs out

     Today my daily reading passage included the eleventh chapter of Hebrews commonly referred to as “the faith chapter.”   Rather than read it as a familiar chapter, I decided to look at each example of faith and see what it might teach me in the process of evaluating my faith journey.   In this article, I will pose some of the same questions of you that I asked myself.   If God found men and women, worthy of their eternal reward, and commended them for their faith, what might I learn from reviewing each of their stories?   If their faith journey is any indication of the kind of faith that we are to possess, how would our faith measure up? 1.      In verse 3, we recognize the significance of believing in the creation story, that by God’s Word, He created the visible out of invisible things.   Do we need more evidence that God created the world in this way?   Can we take God at His Word?     2.      In verse 4, we see that Abel’s offering was acceptable to God and earned him

     If I were the soil of Gilgal, what stories would I have witnessed within my boundaries that would justify what I heard proclaimed by the prophet Hosea?   What I heard was, “Everything evil of theirs is in Gilgal, there I began to hate them because of the wickedness of their deeds, I will drive them out of my house, I will love them no more.”   (Hosea 9:15-17)      This was spoken by their God, the God of Israel, against his very own children.   My mind thought back on everything that had transpired in my presence.   What had these people done to be rejected by the God who promised them this land, this blessed land?      My first recollection of these people came as they passed across the Jordan River with their courageous leader, not a young man, but recognizably the leader who had captured the hearts and attention of this massive swarm of people.   There were men in white tunics who carried a golden rectangular object set on poles with much pomp and circumstance to the ban

     Seventeen years ago, today, we moved into our new home.   Although many unknowns lay ahead of us, we did not allow that to create worry or fear.   The delight we had while unpacking boxes, gave us images of what life would be like ahead in this house we would now call home.   The reason behind our decision to buy a more spacious home was our anticipation that it would be filled with family.   We did not understand precisely what that would look like.   Both my husband and I in our forties, yet we believed that God had a family plan for us.        Seventeen years ago, today, we did not know that there would be more commotion between the walls of our home, more than a husband, a wife, and a blind dog could produce.   On that day, the unfamiliar environment overwhelmed the dog, who fell down a full flight of steps attempting to find my familiar voice that rose from the lower level.   A terrible shock to us, but as fortune would have, she survived without injury.