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Rear Guard

But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the Lord will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard.  Isaiah 52:12   Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.  Isaiah 58:8 For Fatuma and I, the village was a two-day journey… Read More

Do Not Dwell

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. Isaiah 43:18-19 Dwell: Reside, live, have one’s home, have one’s residence, be settled, be housed, lodge, stay; abide; linger over, mull over, muse on, brood about, think about, be preoccupied… Read More

Christmas for Every Tribe

I am a witness to the story I tell today. It is sure and true. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”  And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and… Read More

Out of the Stump

Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. Isaiah 11:1 I named him Oliver, and he was the cutest olive tree I’d ever seen. Sitting brave in his hand-hewn pot right in the middle of the village market, he seemed to be expecting me. I bought him immediately and took him home to live on my terrace.  Day after day, I tended him.… Read More

Compassion That Never Fails

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. Lamentations 3:22 Compassion is directly connected to power. Our human power has limits. For some, compassion can morph into workaholism and exhaustion. Others, looking at the widespread trauma in the world today, feel powerless to help at all. Then compassion becomes despair. Despair becomes avoidance, even as the needs of the world grow greater. There is a compassion that never… Read More

Be Still in His Presence

Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Psalm 37:6 The last thing I want to do is be still. I have so much to do, so many tasks mounting, so many urgencies clamoring. How can I possibly be still? Is that even responsible? In some circumstances, being still is life-saving. Reminds me of a true story, as usual.  The sun shone like joy as I made my… Read More

Burden Bearer

And Solomon assigned 70,000 men to bear burdens… 2 Chronicles 2:2 There are projects in God’s kingdom that cannot be completed without burden bearers. The stones hewn from the mountain would not carry themselves. They could not assemble themselves into towering walls forming Solomon’s glorious temple. They needed strong arms to carry them. To think burden-bearing may be one’s assignment! We talk much about laying burdens down. But some burdens are purposed for God's glory.… Read More

Too Heavy to Carry

for Sarah, and all whose bag is too heavy to carry. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.  Matthew 26:28   Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders. Deuteronomy 33:12   There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the… Read More

Stay Near

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you. Psalm 32:9 I met a remarkable horse I called Lovey recently. She was clearly trained to draw near and stay near when called. She looked me in the… Read More

Crushed

Awake, north wind, and come, south wind! Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread everywhere. Song of Songs 4:16   But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death… Read More