Category Archives: Spiritual Nuggets

Forgiven and Forgiving Idioms are often unhelpful because their overuse has robbed them of meaning. But the idiom “putting up walls” has a twist in Proverbs: “A brother who is offended is worse than a city of strength, and quarrels … Continue reading →

Faithful Decision-Making “I asked God, and He didn’t answer me.” When I hear people say this, I’m often tempted to reply, “Haven’t you read the prophets?” Because sometimes what people are really saying is, “I asked God to do something … Continue reading →

Constructing Lives by the Law Dispensing good, helpful advice gets the benevolent juices flowing. As easy as it is to give advice, though, it often hits me with the irony of a cartoon anvil when I end up tripping over … Continue reading →

Self-Evident Hope “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all impiety and unrighteousness of people, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what can be known about God is evident among them, for God made it clear … Continue reading →

The Gospel for Barbarians and Fools It’s dangerous when we feel entitled. We may come to believe our communities are righteous while all those outside are not. This can even take place inside our faith communities—popularity or various achievements can … Continue reading →

Relationship Will Change Us Although God has granted us complete access to Him through Christ, we struggle at times to live this reality (John 17:15-17). The stale or frightening depictions of God in stained glass and Renaissance paintings have convinced … Continue reading →

The Easy Way There is a certain amount of freedom in being foolish. Foolish people don’t stop to reflect on their actions. Characteristically unimaginative, foolish people don’t stop to consider how their words and actions affect others. The scary effect … Continue reading →

Do No Harm Love can hurt. Many well-intentioned people have done more harm than good while attempting to care for others. This is especially the case in cross-cultural situations, as well-meaning people attempt to introduce change without understanding the local … Continue reading →

Put Off, Put On We often hear that being a good Christian means not doing bad stuff. This statement is true—but not exhaustive. In Colossians, Paul makes this exhortation: “Therefore put to death what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, … Continue reading →

Facing the Storms on the Horizon Having knowledge or insight into a situation and feeling helpless to act upon that information is one of the most frightening feelings we can experience. It makes us anxious, even pained. The Prophet Jeremiah … Continue reading →

The Mystery of God “God wanted to make known what is the glorious wealth of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Paul’s use of the word “mystery” in this passage … Continue reading →

The Calling of Jeremiah, Colossae, and Us We all have trouble accepting our calling. When God asks us to do His work, we tend to wonder whether we’re able to execute His will. We are not alone in this—the prophet … Continue reading →

Do Not Turn to Folly I have a problem with criticism. Being one of the youngest in a large, opinionated family, I quickly learned how to stand up for myself and get my way as a young child. I learned … Continue reading →

Revitalization: Moving Beyond the Catch Word Ideally, spiritual renewal wouldn’t be necessary—we would continually grow closer to God. But that’s not the case. There are ups and downs in our walk with Yahweh. We experience times of intimacy and times … Continue reading →

The Unity of Believers It’s easy to sort believers in a community based on the quantity of their service. Most of us could roll out the masking tape and divide those who contribute their time and efforts from those who … Continue reading →

When Hezekiah Gave Away the Farm After the announcement that Hezekiah “did right in the eyes of Yahweh,” the next description comes as a surprise: “At that time, Hezekiah cut off the doors of the temple of Yahweh and the … Continue reading →

A Moment to Reflect Anyone will admit that wisdom is more than just knowledge. We think of wisdom as thoughtful insight acquired with life experience. However, Paul and the author of Proverbs tell us that it is not something we … Continue reading →

You Have to Mean It Wisdom really isn’t all that difficult to find. We think of this attribute as hidden or fleeting, but the book of Proverbs portrays Wisdom calling out to us: “Does not wisdom call, and understanding raise … Continue reading →

The Ties That Bind We don’t often consider our former lives as enslavement. We characterize our lives before Christ by bad decisions and sinful patterns, but not bondage. We like to think of ourselves as neutral beings. But Paul paints … Continue reading →

The Games We Play We live in the age of online résumés, with pages dedicated to us and our faces. We can broadcast our thoughts in seconds and republish ideas that make us look smart by association. And we do … Continue reading →