A Season for Wisdom
One of the greatest desires of my life is to be a woman marked by wisdom. I watch many foolish actions and rash decisions unfold around me on a daily basis. I want to fight the trend of floating along without intentional goals.
Smokey the Bear in Oven Mitts
Why are my oven mitts also an inch too short when I use them? I have expert skills when it comes to burning myself in the kitchen. I’m running cold water over my finger in the sink before I can figure out what went wrong. The Lord created our bodies with automatic defense mechanisms such as pulling your hand away when it comes into contact with a hot surface. I don’t stand there and think to myself, “Hey Renae, the knuckle of your thumb has reached an unbearable temperature since it has come into contact with the oven rack. Let’s move our hand rapidly away from this heat.” If I had to think through that motion, I would be blistered every time. That reaction saves my skin additional pain.
Unfortunately, not all of our defensive reactions prevent pain. There’s always that tongue of ours that James 3 warns us about. James tells us it’s a restless evil, full of poison, able to set the largest of forests on fire.
Better put Smokey the Bear on high alert because these tongues of our are deadly. We don’t need microphones, megaphones, or large platforms, just a small kindling will do. A harsh word in anger or frustrated complaint when patience is worn thin.
When Faced with Sin
If we really all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, then what do we do when we are confronted with this sin? The Bible lists plenty of good and bad examples for us, but let’s take a quick look at the first two kings of Israel to reflect on our own lives.
Saul, after being commanded to kill all the Amalekites and their possessions and failing to do so, reports back to Samuel that “I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.” Samuel cuts him off with a reproach and yet Saul continues to say, “The troops brought them … The troops took sheep and cattle …”
TV Show Review: Resurrection
Renae, I actually started watching this show last week when I should have been sleeping and am now hooked. I…
From the moment the first commercial echoed the a capella words “I’m coming home, coming home, tell the world I’m coming home” I wanted to know how ABC’s new show Resurrection would mirror culture’s desire to have life after death.
After all, this is the same station that has heaped a pile of shows I refuse to watch: Grey’s Anatomy, Modern Family, Nashville, Revenge, Scandal, Betrayal, Desperate Housewives, Trophy Wife, The Bachelor / Bachelorette, and Dancing with the Stars. (I will make four exceptions: Once Upon a Time and Marvel’s Agents of Shield (though I have not watched them), Wipe Out and our house’s favorite, Shark Tank.
ABC does not reflect my family or my family’s values. With our little spare time, we have become increasingly choosy about the television shows that we do watch. But the echoes of “coming home” triggered a deep desire to hunt for the moral truths in Resurrection.
By the Word of Their Testimony
They conquered him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not love their lives in the face of death. Revelation 12:11
My testimony? That’s easy. I was raised in church and I walked down the aisle when I was seven. Isn’t that how most of our testimony stories go? A yawnful summation of God’s grace. I thought my testimony ended at the end of that aisle with my cute seven-year old self. But my testimony isn’t over yet.
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