My God My Everything

As my bible study of Luke 5 continued many little details were highlighted that I hadn’t noticed or didn’t pay attention to before. “On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret,  and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.  Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.  And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let…

I enjoy seeing the ocean, hearing the waves, walking on the beach and taking in the beautiful horizons, but getting into the water is another story. Stepping into the ocean triggers a fear of the unknown for me. There are thousands of things swimming in the waters let alone the power and force of the waves. Even watching movies about storms at sea causes me to tense up and feel anxious. When I was planning our recent fishing trip to Cabo, I chose to book a small fishing boat rather than a large one because I was concerned about being to far out to sea and it was less expensive.…

I love those moments when I come across a nugget in the bible that catches my attention. Today I found one in John 1:35-38; The next day John was there again with two of his disciples.  When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.  Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” This began as a simple reading of how the first two disciples met Jesus. But as my study continued it became so much more. The first question that Jesus asked them was, “What…

The devotional that I read on New Year’s day provided three bible verses that were incorporated in the message. As I read them I thought about how fitting and refreshing they were to read and believe. The first was Isaiah 43: 18-19 which reads; “Forget the former things;    do not dwell on the past.See, I am doing a new thing!    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?I am making a way in the wilderness    and streams in the wasteland.” This passage was so encouraging to me and an answer to many prayers. To know that God is making a way in a wilderness experience we have been going through and the…

Years ago a friend asked me what my life verse was. As a new believer I hadn’t really thought about it but I could see the value in having a verse that would really speak to you in a personal way. In thinking about the new year I thought it would be nice to have a theme for the year. A theme would summarize my goals and help me stay focused in my daily pursuit of those goals. Building on the 20/20 vision idea I began looking up verses that spoke about Godly vision and found the story of two blind men found in Matthew 20: 30-35: Two blind men…

Today I am reminded of a scene in the movie, “The Passion of the Christ.” The scene takes place when Mary sees her son Jesus fall under the weight of his cross and remembers running to him when he fell as a young boy. Despite the crowd and his captors, she races to Jesus and raises his bloodied face from the ground while she offers the greatest of comfort she can give; her presence and the words, “I am here.” Jesus sees her and responds, “See, Mother, I make all things new.” Our lives were forever changed on that day. We were given the opportunity to become new creations with…

I’ve learned over the years that when you pray and asked for God’s leading it’s important to watch what God does next. Does He give a bible verse that provides direction? Does a door open or close on an opportunity? Does He give you peace of mind and a clear purpose? When I prayed for His leading on goal setting several things began to come together and I knew what I was to do. Now with the goals set the next step is to keep my focus on achieving them. One of the verses that I was given is Philippians 3:12-14, “I don’t mean to say I am perfect. I…

As I continued on with my 2020 goal setting I noticed that 20/20 also means perfect vision. Thoughts of how nice it would be to know what lies ahead crossed my mind and how much easier it would be to set goals with that knowledge. I may not know what lies ahead, but I know the one who does. A very popular bible verse reminds us that God has a purpose for us and His intentions are good. Jeremiah 29:11 reads, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” God is leading…