Thought For the Week

Dear Friends, Today’s ‘thought’ has to do with what to do when we seem to have lost touch with God. It’s by Ray Ortlund, and was taken from his blogsite ‘Christ is Deeper Still.’ The entry was posted October 30, 2015, and is titled, “When God Seems Unreal.” Most every believer I have ever broached the topic with (except those who have not yet broken free from, “our need to be impressive” as Ortlund puts it) have confessed to going through times when God felt “distant,” “unreal,” or “far away.” Times when it felt as if He had “abandoned” them or “turned his face away” from them. Times when that sense of closeness and intimacy they once knew with Him seems to have evaporated. It’s an experience that can be doubly painful for those who have known the pleasure of His presence in the past, yet go through an extended period of time where they have to lament its loss. Over the years I have discovered that the reasons for such ‘desert experiences,’ ‘spiritual winters,’ or ‘d...

Dear Friends, This week's "thought" has to do with follow-through. Something many people struggle with! We are often good at dreaming, but fall short of doing. We can be well-intentioned, but as time passes we can be tempted to simply let things slide. After all, doing takes more effort, involves more time, means taking more risks, and leads to greater sacrifices. It's more costly. Yet, on the brighter side, it 's also more satisfying, leads to greater growth, and brings more glory to God. The author, Bob Goff, is right. We will never be remembered for what we simply planned to do! In fact, chances are people will never even know we ever planned to do things if we don't follow through! This entry is found in Goff's book, "Live in Grace. Walk in Love." Enjoy. No One Is Remembered For What They Just Planned To "Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." - James 1:22 Have you e...

Dear Friends, Today’s “thought” comes to you from Corrie ten Boom – whom I assume (I hope!) most of you have heard about. You may have even read the book, or seen the movie of her and her sister Betsy, called, “The Hiding Place.” It chronicles their efforts at hiding Jews in Holland from the Nazi’s, and their subsequent time in a German concentration camp as a result. This excerpt is from a letter written from China, in 1974, warning the church in the West that it should prepare itself to go through tribulations. It is a bit long, yet I include it in full, for she shares lessons learned by the Chinese Church that was so ill-prepared for the persecutions that began in 1949 under Mao Tse Tung's Red Guards, during the People’s Revolution. Christians in the West, she suggests, are in danger of falling into a similar unpreparedness because of an incorrect view of the future. I share it with you in the hope that you will gain wisdom and encouragement from her...

Dear Friends, I like like stories that have a twist which catches you off guard! You think it's heading in one direction, and you end up in a place you didn't expect, nodding in complete agreement. For me, that was today's entry. It's by Julie Garmon, and is found in "Daily Guideposts for 2018." Enjoy. Letting God Be God “I am the LORD; there is no other God. . .” – Isaiah 45:5 (NLT) Twenty years ago, I told a close friend about some family members who had DUIs, court dates, and jail time. She insisted that I needed help and recommended Al-Anon. “I’m doing just fine,” I said. “The rest of them are in trouble.” However, I agreed to go. By the end of my first meeting, my own addictions were undeniable: people pleasing, perfectionism, trying to play God. My temptation wasn’t alcohol, but the “high” that comes from control. After all these years of working my program, I had a relapse. My b...