I don't like writing, but I love sharing things that cause me to wonder in fascination

Michael's Blog



When Jesus told Peter to step onto the water towards Him ([Matthew 14:29-30](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+14%3A29-30&version=NIV)), Peter fixed his gaze on Jesus, miraculously walking on water. However, as he shifted his focus downward, realizing the impossibility of such a feat, he began to sink. A parallel unfolds in the Exodus narrative, where the Israelites, plagued by deadly snake bites, cried out to Moses for divine intervention. God's response was profound - He instructed the molding of a bronze serpent, and those bitten found healing by merely looking upon it ([Numbers 21:8-9](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2021%3A8-9&version=NIV)). Once again, the divine call is to fix our eyes on the One who redeemed all of creation. Through His death and resurrection on the cross, all creation finds renewal. By anchoring our hope, trust, and ultimate vision in our Lord and Savior, we find salvation. As echoed in the lyrics of an Alan Jackson song, *“we will walk through fire (on this fallen earth) without blinking.”*

We are not only summoned to serve and glorify God but also to live by and meditate on every word from His mouth ([Joshua 1:8](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua+1%3A8&version=NIV) and [Deuteronomy 8:3](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+8%3A3&version=NIV)), engaging in continuous prayerful reflection ([1 Thessalonians 5:17](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Thessalonians+5%3A17&version=NIV)). What does true meditation entail? Chad Bird, a professor specializing in the Old Testament and Hebrew, put it like this, *“Have you ever driven from point A to point B and have no recollection of the time on the road because your mind was so preoccupied with something else? Meditation is, in fact, a basic human behavior. Some subject, idea, experience, story, or person enthralls us. It might be a few minutes; it might be an hour. We lose ourselves in it. We focus on that one thing to the exclusion of everything else.”* [link to tweet](https://twitter.com/birdchadlouis/status/1669676318118625280).

In light of this understanding of meditation, I find myself often engaged in it, though regrettably not always centered on God. Too often, I am consumed by worry about the surrounding issues, pondering potential solutions. In the midst of this sea of uncertainty and anxiety, akin to Peter, I need to redirect my gaze to Christ. Focusing on Him, everything else falls into place. This shift doesn't negate the necessity of addressing the concerns that once burdened my thoughts; rather, it signifies trust that God will guide my efforts. This trust implies a willingness to undertake more than I would when attempting to navigate problems independently. Empowered by faith, I am now committed to serving and glorifying God, recognizing that in comparison, the issues are relatively minuscule.

All problems find resolution through the same principle—looking to God, fixing our eyes on the Good News, and attaching ourselves to our Savior, Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of faith ([Hebrews 12:2a](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+12%3A2a&version=NIV)). This is our duty, this is our calling. It doesn't diminish the need to work on the issues that once consumed our thoughts; rather, it redirects our meditation towards the Life-Giver Himself, God. This shift provides genuine life and real solutions, even if some remain beyond our timeline and our understanding. Regardless, we hold fast to Him and believe in Him, recognizing that He is our everything.

Go back [home](/).


Look to Jesus



For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Romans 11:36—We were made for God, to serve Him and to glorify Him. What does it mean, though, to glorify? I think one aspect of the much larger concept of glorifying something is to praise that very thing. Ok, so what is praise? “Express warm approval or admiration of.” Another definition I heard and quite like is that praise is the overflowing of our heart.


I really enjoy the video game Halo. I watch videos about the gameplay, about the developers creating it, about quirks and bugs in the game, about players who play it extremely well. I also play the game with friends and talk about it. I think this is praise. C.S. Lewis put it this way “Praise is the completion of the act of enjoyment.” Praise is not just taking in the thing I really like, love, appreciate, or desire to become. Praise is tied to sharing that thing and my fascination or admiration for it with family, friends, and the world. It extends not only inwards but also outwards. It is like a muscle. Think maybe of our lungs. Only taking air in will never strengthen them (or keep us alive, for that matter), they need to also expel it. And all the better if this process is practiced in an increasing manner, while jogging for example. Your lungs will grow and become strong. 


Let’s try another, and I think more applicable analogy, friendship. If I strike a friendship with John and only ever express this friendship when I am with John, that friendship will remain as it is, in isolation. But if I admire things in John and I bring them up when with other people, they will start to experience John as well. They can push back on things he says, agree with things he does, admire his character, and best case scenario, desire to get to know John as well.
When they do eventually meet him, they already can enjoy the things they heard about John from me right away. They will become friends, interact with each other, and refine each other, so that the sum of friendship, the community of people, is larger than it ever was before when each was only their own. But that is not all. My friend- and relationship with John is growing as a result as well. C.S. Lewis observed this phenomenon in his book The Four Loves when talking about 3 friends A, B, and C. When B dies, A and C suddenly have less of one another because there was something B brought out in each of them that they are unable to access on their own.


So, what was my role in this scenario? I praised John. If I had never talked about John to anybody and only would have talked to John, that friendship would have remained as it was; a private one only between us two people. It would probably not have grown much without any other outside input. But by praising him, I ultimately allowed other people to get to know him through me, to appreciate him before they’ve had the chance to ever meet him, to then become friends that challenge and encourage each other; friends that grow together, just like John’s and my friendship with each other grows as a result as well.


Ok, so what does this have to do with writing a devotional? I only recently started writing down things that come to mind when reading the Bible. And while writing things down has been good, expressing these thoughts and ideas to others (this was a D-Group) has been the step that made it especially fruitful. And I’ve come to realize that this process is working so well because it involves praise. I’m not just trying to write a college essay or a short story for a random anthology. Instead, I am focusing on God’s word, how I understand it, and on how I see what I read in the Bible in the world. I put my relationship with God into words and share it with the people around me; just like I share my relationship with my friend John or my love for Halo with other people. As a result of this writing and discussing, my relationship with God grows, and I humbly hope that the people I talk to do as well.


When I challenged myself to write a devotional, it became a cathartic experience. I don’t like writing, I never have. I find it especially hard to force myself to do it. But when something comes to mind, and this thing is something I enjoy greatly, I find writing flows easily. My last devotional on the beauty of God is an example, I didn’t know what to write, but had an idea that got stuck in my head earlier in the week, I kept thinking about it, discussing it with Jenny and then finally it hit me; I should write a devotional about this idea. I sat down and wrote the majority of it in 15 minutes. And the more I do it, the easier it gets. The muscle of praise is repeatedly being exercised. I’m not saying praise is solely this, or that praise is impossible without writing and sharing, but I am saying it is a very good exercise of praise!


I would love to hear the things you are learning about God, the things He does in your life, the things the Holy Spirit has shown you, the new, exciting, or fascinating things you have learned when looking at Jesus and the Gospel. “It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.” 1 Peter 1:12

Go back [home](/).

Write A Devotional



God is Beautiful


I sometimes lose sight of or don’t think often enough about this idea; that God is beautiful. Not only is he beautiful, he himself loves beauty. Ubiquitous with the idea of beauty are, sunrises, sunsets, mountain landscapes, Caribbean beaches, clear blue water, massive glaciers, grazing herds of bison, or a cute and cuddly kitten, but I think, if God loves beautiful things, then he loves all these things too. But first, let me backup a little bit. How do I get to the conclusion that God loves beauty? 


Well, there are many reasons, but one that just came to me this week was the sacrifice of Jesus, who died while still sinless, who took our just punishment, and rose again on the 3rd day. Yes, that alone is beautiful. Not much stacks up to the beauty of sacrifice. Jesus says in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” But how does that make me think God loves beauty? There is much more that could be explored here because Jesus died for those who persecuted him as well as his friends, but for now my point only concerns the beauty of sacrifice.


We were made in God’s image. He knows us inside and out, and even with the fall, we carry a lot of Him within us. He knew what could bring us back to him. Beauty, and namely his (this is only one aspect and I’m only covering this one, for my point.). Beautiful things are a source of gravity, though it is the type of gravity that can be denied, they pull and change the things they act upon. A real world example is playing with a kitten when in a sour mood, or being around people with overflowing joyfulness. It is really hard to stay the same while encountering beautiful things. Either we need to leave and possibly even hide from the beautiful thing, or we will be changed by it.


Beauty is somehow wrapped up in the essence of God and a sense of it was imparted on all His creation, and since we are made in His image, we can also do more and change more through it. By this I mean that we have the ability to actively foster beauty and to let ourselves be changed by it.


“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” - Psalm 19:1-4


The Gospel is beautiful, and it will change us if we recognize it (this does not negate us choosing), but it can also be denied which also changes us. Denying its beauty is only done if we use a different standard of beauty, namely our own, which is worthless (since we are mere fallen humans as opposed to the Creator God, our creations necessarily fall short)  in comparison and will lead us to nothing or rather nothingness.


Why and how does this particular beauty change us? My wife Jenny theorized that “it is our natural longing to become what we are meant to be, and we, who recognize the Gospel, know that this goal is to be like Jesus!”


“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” - Romans 8:29


“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” - 1 John 3:2


"One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple." - Psalm 27:4


This connection didn’t seem like a lot at first, but it makes me feel closer to Jesus, though this is only a feeling because Jesus is never far, but it is not nothing. It is a feeling of confident peace. A good and confident feeling, a solid and steadfast heart are forces that carry a soldier into battle and fireman into a burning building. I need that feeling of closeness in order to overcome some obstacles and challenges, and I love the thought of standing there on my back porch, with steaming coffee in hand, watching the sunrise while the birds chirp, with Jesus! 🙂

Go back [home](/).

Not only is God beautiful, he himself loves beauty

God is Beautiful


First I wanted to ask everyone what they think that title means, how would someone put trust in worry?
**Discussion**
Some things I worry about because it is the only way I know how to function in those situations. With those things I have not trusted God with them so doing so in the moment feels unsure and foreign whereas trusting in the worry is what I know. A few years ago one of the artists I like released a song with the lyric “There's comfort in the panic”. This artist had struggled with depression for a long time. I think this lyric is very much related to trusting in worry. The panic, though chaotic and uncertain, was a comfort because he knew it, he was familiar with it, its ins and outs, the ups and downs. He knew he survived panic before, so he could now. Other ways are foreign, so why change strategies when you think you know how to navigate it.
What we discussed so far was to get us thinking about this topic, but how does it look like in real life?

[tweet](https://twitter.com/erikreed/status/1613158864085557251?s=46&t=n6RIPSBxKIq1ciXbW-CFqA)
Erik Reed is a pastor of a church in TN and his son was born very early and needed surgery to remove one of his kidneys because of a growth. The doctors accidentally removed both kidneys so then after a few years of dialysis he received a transplant from his mother, which allowed him to live a relatively normal life until the event that occurs in the story I'm about to read.

“One day at a time.”
That became the motto of my family when my son had a stroke in October 2017 from fungal meningitis. His stroke change our lives. We had no idea if he would survive the meningitis, and if he did, what brain function or abilities was he retaining. This was my son, guys. My only son. We were devastated, and scared.

Proverbs 3:5-6 quickly became a passage we held to: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.“

Trust God with all of our hearts. Do not lean or trust in our own understanding. That's a wonderful coffee mug passage, but it is incredibly difficult to do when you don't know if your child is going to survive. Every moment of every day was intense. Spinal taps. CT scans. Blood results. We were always on the edge of our seats. Our hearts rode a rollercoaster each day. Fear comes in and out. What if's start piling up. Exhaustion sets in. We finally reach a point where Jesus' admonition to not worry about tomorrow really set in (Mt. 6). Tomorrow would have its own troubles. We needed help and grace for that day. We needed to trust the LORD for today's needs. And that's how the mantra arose: one day at a time. 
People would ask, “How are y'all doing?”
We'd answer, “We're taking it one day at a time.”
“How are y'all doing this?”
“God's giving us grace one day at a time.”
That became a massive lesson for us: God doesn't give you grace in advance of your trials, so you can imagine going through them. He gives you grace *in* your trials. He gives you today's manna. One day at a time trust in God is how we're all supposed to live. Only when we let our eyes wander ahead and let our minds race ahead to a future we don't control does our hearts sink into despair, fear, and worry. We stopped looking ahead. “God, help us today.” That's the only place where we can live—is today—so that's where we need grace. This lesson would serve us for the next two years, and beyond. Kaleb would recover from his meningitis, but the effects of the stroke did significant damage to his body. He would live two more years and died December 1st, 2019.

This topic was on my mind because Shayne recently announced he would retire from his 35yr pastorate at Lockwood and this will likely cause at least some to think often about the what ifs and what can be done, which can easily spill over into worry.

Go back [home](/).

Consider that for a moment: What does it mean to put trust in worry?

I don't like writing, but I love sharing things that cause me to wonder in fascination

Look to Jesus

Write A Devotional

God is Beautiful

Trust in God, not worry