Author: SmoothStones

Follower of Jesus. Husband to Amy. Dad to Isaac, Philip and Gabriel. On the way in life, grateful, for the Light has come.

Heavy choices

“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:30-33

When you think about how God provides for you, is it your experience that He is generous and delighted to give to you or do you see Him as stingy and reluctant with His care?  How does that perspective affect your idea of how He loves you? Continue reading “Heavy choices” →

Matters of life and death (Part one)

 “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” John 1:4

Every moment of every day, we are propelled by a silent urging.

Persistent in our minds is the unspoken, prime directive around which we orient our awareness. It is the a priori of our existence, the point of our central orientation, our singular focus.  Continue reading “Matters of life and death (Part one)” →

We are seen

“And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” Luke 7:13-14

This is such a cool story. I love the way it is told. But there is something missing….

Jesus is approaching the village of Nain, and a funeral procession is coming out of the city. He sees the dead man’s mom weeping, and he has compassion on her….asks her not to cry. Everybody stops. Jesus touches the bier, and brings her son back to life.

What’s missing?  Continue reading “We are seen” →

In or out?

 “But if you say, ‘We will not remain in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the Lord your God and saying, ‘No, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or be hungry for bread, and we will dwell there; then hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to enter Egypt and go to live there, then the sword that you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you are afraid shall follow close after you to Egypt, and there you shall die.” Jeremiah 42:13-16

When challenges flow strongly into the day, are you “in,” or “out?” Too often, I’m out. Continue reading “In or out?” →

Get carried away

“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.” Psalm 91:14 

The Hebrew language is as high and as wide, as deep and as long, as it is old. That is to our advantage. Many of its words and their varied uses are rich portraits of shade and nuance into which we can gaze wonderingly and get drenched well with meaning. To read it is to walk in a story that unfolds on a pathway of color and ideas that beckons one to join in and explore. It calls one to become an active participant in understanding. It is alive. Continue reading “Get carried away” →

At home in God

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.” Psalm 90:1

Moses wrote this psalm, we believe, soon after the Israelites had been delivered from slavery in Egypt but near the time they began to grumble about being led into a barren and bleak desert. “What are we going to eat or drink?” “Where are we going?” “How long until we get there?” “What will happen along the way?” “What will happen when we get there?” “By the way, where is ‘there?'” Even though they were now free, they were alone and completely dependent on God for daily living.

Where were they? Right where God wanted them: in a dependent relationship with Him. They didn’t know then,  but they were “home.”

How do we know when we are, “home?”  Continue reading “At home in God” →

Newsflash

“And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.'” Luke 2:10

When I was a boy, I had an image in my mind of God that was built around the ideas of his power and his greatness. He was a distant person who was busy tending the mechanics of the universe or the trajectory of nations. He was big.  I was small. He was loving, but in a miffed kind of way, because we, as people, had really screwed up his plans for the perfect and beautiful world that took him six whole days to build. If anything, he was reluctant with his attention: when I would seek his help, I was an interruption. He wasn’t smiling.  Continue reading “Newsflash” →