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Seasons Of Dryness, Springs Of Refreshing

Watching God At Work When I Rest In Him

There are seasons of life where I have found that God is more at work doing the little things than he is showing me the big things. Have you ever experienced that?

Seasons Of Dryness, Springs Of Refreshing

A year ago, I would probably have said that I was in a spiritual valley. I don’t know if I could identify anything that was wrong, but it just felt like I was in a dry season of my spiritual life, and I didn’t even know why. But as it turns out, now that I can look back at the last several months, maybe it wasn’t such a dry time after all.

For the past several years, I can honestly say that I have never felt more consistent in my spiritual journey. My spiritual disciplines have been growing steadily. I have been learning more and more about God’s Word, consistently becoming aware of new things as I read. My prayer life has never been more more solid. And yet, I felt dry… drained.

But one of the habits I strive to as consistent as possible is the discipline of journaling. And a week or two ago, I took some time to look over and read some of my entries for the last year or so. And frankly, what I read surprised me. I saw two very consistent themes in those pages. The first was that I have frequently felt overwhelmed and tired, to the point where I needed to take a rest. The second was that when I took the time to rest, the next thing in my journal was God pointing something out to me in his Word.

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Reminded Of God’s Love

When God Uses a Big Dog And A Bigger Man

Every now and then I need to be reminded that God loves me. And sometimes, that reminder needs to be a pretty severe kick in the head. Fortunately, God loves us enough to do just that.

Reminded Of God's Love

A few weeks ago, I was feeling pretty overwhelmed with some things going on in my life. I decided to go for a drive to clear my head. I ended up down by a river somewhere south of where I live. I couldn’t tell you what river it was, I have no idea even where I ended up. In fact, I tried to find it again a few days ago and couldn’t. But it was beautiful. And it was just what I needed.

I didn’t plan on stopping but the scenery was beautiful, and the river bank was wide and clear, and looked like it would be a good place for a walk. So I stopped driving and started walking. I hadn’t made it too far when a big, mean looking dog came barreling out of the woods and joined me. He looked like a cross between a German Shepherd, a T-rex, and a grizzly bear. That’s how big he was.

His appearance kind of startled me, but he was a friendly pup, and he joined me as I walked along. It wasn’t long before I found the people he was with. I’m just walking along, and this guy, who owned a big, super-friendly but mean looking dog, who looked to be part grizzly bear himself, was sitting there with his feet in the water with a couple of other people.

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Coffee Break – 07.23.2018

Your Monday Dose Of Inspiration

On this day in history: In 1715, the first lighthouse in America was authorized for construction at Little Brewster Island, Massachusetts. In 1829, William Burt patented the typographer, which was the first typewriter. And in 1878, Black Bart robbed a Wells Fargo stagecoach in California. Wearing a flour sack over his head, the armed robber stole the small safe box with less than $400 and a passenger’s diamond ring and watch.

Coffee Break

Today Is National Vanilla Ice Cream Day!
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

The Best Coffee Brewing Set-Ups On Any Budget – You don’t have to spend a fortune to make great coffee. But if you have the budget, you can expand to add some pretty creative and incredible items to your coffee bar. Check this article out and see where you can start building a great coffee set-up.

How To Match Jeans With Anything – Some people think jeans can go with anything at all. And they can… if you have the right jeans. Check out this article for more information.

Underwater Photography Of The Year – Here are the winning images for 2018 in various categories of underwater photography. Some of these are stunning!

Darwin’s Bark Spider – This spider can build the world’s largest orb spider web, and uses the strongest silk to do so. It’s pretty fascinating.

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Memorize Scripture: Psalm 119:73-76

Hiding God’s Word In Our Hearts

The last couple of stanzas of Psalm 119 have dealt with affliction. But where does this come from? That’s the topic of the tenth stanza, the one that begins with the Hebrew letter yodh. You can see the first half of this stanza in Psalm 119:73-76:

Psalm 119:73-76

The tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is yodh is the smallest of letters, and it takes just a simple stroke of the pen to form. This is probably the letter Jesus had in mind when he stated in Matthew 5:18, that “not the smallest letter, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law.” It is a small letter, and it is the letter that begins this tenth stanza of Psalm 119, but the import of this section of the psalm is by no means small. It may be one of the most significant, especially in this section that deals with affliction.

We will break this stanza into two sections in order to memorize it, but it flows together very tightly as a whole. The past few stanzas have dwelt on the topic of affliction, and have hinted at the source. But right here, the psalmist reveals the source of his affliction, and it is God himself. Look again at verse 75:

I know, O Lord, that your laws are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.

God is the source of the affliction. But before we dig to deeply into that, we need to back up a bit. In the first verse of this stanza, the psalmist speaks of being made and formed. This brings to mind the passage from Jeremiah 1:5, where God states, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” Even more so, it brings to mind images from the creation narrative in Genesis 1 and 2, where God created the earth and everything in it.

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Coffee Break – 07.16.2018

Your Monday Dose Of Inspiration

On this day in history: In 1790, the District of Columbia, or Washington DC, was established as the permanent seat of the United States Government. In 1926, the first underwater color photographs appeared in National Geographic magazine. The pictures had been taken near the Florida Keys. In 1935, Oklahoma City became the first city in the U.S. to install parking meters. And in 1945, the United States detonated the first atomic bomb in a test at Alamogordo, NM.

Coffee Break

Today Is National Get Out Of The Doghouse Day!
Do you need to send someone an apology?

The Best Coffee Grinders Under $100 – One of the biggest pitfalls many people make when it comes to coffee is grinding it incorrectly. Perhaps the best, or one of the best, investments you can make is to purchase a quality grinder. You’ll be surprised at how it changes things in your coffee. Here’s a guide to some of the best options.

Buying The Perfect Dress Shirt – One of the hardest things I have found is making sure I buy the most versatile wardrobe that I can. Everything needs to have a purpose, and should have more than one. But the hard part for me is dress shirts. I get tired of plain white or blue, but find that other varieties don’t work as well as they should with plenty of options. So here’s a guide to buying the perfect dress shirt.

How 16th-Century European Mapmakers Described The World’s Oceans – Describing the vast reaches of the oceans on this earth had to be a nearly impossible task for early mapmakers. This is a very interesting article.

The Subway Of Congress – Did you know that our Congressional leaders have their own subway system? It’s not big, but it’s pretty cool.

The thoughts that come often unsought, and, as it were, drop into the mind, are commonly the most valuable of any we have, and therefore should be secured, because they seldom return again.

John Locke, to Samuel Bold, May 16th, 1699