Delightsome Land

There is a woman named Abigail in 1 Samuel 25 who had to decide between grace and bitterness. Abigail was a woman well acquainted with hardship, negative people, rejection, and things not turning out as I’m sure she wished they would. But somehow she remained steady. And her steadiness proved to have a profound impact on the life of David. This is the David who defeated Goliath, who became the king of Israel, who, though he fell and faltered many times, God said was a man after His own heart. This David is the one from whose bloodline King Jesus would come. Abigail isn’t talked about or heralded much today. I’m not sure why. When everyone else arrives in heaven and is clamoring to have coffee with the saints of old, she’s one who will be at the top of my list. I feel pretty certain we are destined to be BFFs. Of course, she doesn’t know this, so if you get there before me, please don’t tell her and make her think I fall in the creeper-stalker category. But seriously, I adore this w...

Understanding God's Priority Mark 2:1-12 Which is easier: to tell this paralyzed man, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to tell him, “Stand up. Take your mat and walk”? — Mark 2:9 Let’s talk for a minute about lovebursts. You’ve witnessed sunbursts : sunlight shafting into a shadowed forest. You’ve seen starbursts : shots of light soaring through a night sky. And you’ve heard powerbursts: raw energy booming in the silence. And you’ve felt lovebursts. You may not have called them such, but you’ve felt them. Lovebursts . Spontaneous affection. Tender moments of radiant love. Ignited devotion. Explosions of tenderness. May I illustrate? You and your husband are at a party. One of those stand-in-the-living-room-and-talk-and-eat parties. You are visiting with some women, and your husband is across the room in a circle of men. The topic in your group is husbands, and the collective opinion is negative. The women complain about the amount of golf, dirty socks, and late nights at work. Bu...

Danny was the new guy in the camp with the moaning stomach. Randy and Beverly had gone to the supermarket — jumped in the Dumpster, found lettuce and tomatoes and bread, and bought a big bag of potato chips and one or two liters of fruit punch. Beverly shoplifted some cheese, lunch meat, mayonnaise, and mustard, and when they came back with this feast in hand, the two introduced themselves to Danny and handed him a paper plate with a big layered sandwich, chips, and a cup of fruit punch. When he finished eating, they asked if he wanted another one. Had he had enough? Is there anything more he might want? This moment was the turning point that eventually led to Danny’s total sobriety. Imagine that. Just a pinch of kindness. Just some garbage lettuce and a bit of turkey and Swiss cheese. And one cup of Hawaiian Punch. They didn’t know him, but they helped him. To this day, if you ask Danny, they were the ones who had the greatest impact on his entire perspective on giving. It was ...

Distraction is something we all deal with. You may remember having a dream, calling, or perhaps an inkling of what God created you to do. Then along came jobs, bills, dental appointments, and everything in between. Before you know it, you’re just trying to make it to bedtime so you can get some sleep, get up, and do it all over again. But what if we could separate ourselves from all the distractions and focus on what really matters? Can you think of the last time you gave your complete and undivided attention to something important, laying aside all distractions? Brother Glenn knew how to keep his eyes fixed on what mattered. He came from a small town in southern Alabama and ended up pastoring a very successful church with several thousand members in middle Tennessee. He was the kind of preacher you would listen to with your pen at the ready because you knew he was going to say something worth writing down. Folks often asked him how he could come up with fresh material week after w...

You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. — Isaiah 58:11 The Best Kind of Blessings Isaiah ended his message by describing the best kind of blessings — what God will do in the lives of those who reflect His mercy. 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. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say: Here am I. If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. — Is...

She [Hagar] gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi [the “well of the Living One who sees me”]. — Genesis 16:13–14 (NIV) In the ancient world it was not uncommon for an infertile wife to arrange for a slave girl to sleep with her husband so that the family could have an heir. In fact, Ishmael, the son born to Abraham and Hagar, would have been considered Sarah’s legal offspring. Hagar and Ishmael might have fared better had Hagar not forgotten her place the moment she learned of her pregnancy. Still, Sarah’s treatment of her seems inexcusable and harsh. In the midst of her difficulties, Hagar learned that El Roi (EL raw-EE) was watching over her and that He had a plan to bless her and her son. One of Abraham’s grandsons, Esau, married Ishmael’s daughter, and it was the Ishmaelite traders (also referred to as Midianite merchants in Genesis 37:26–28),...

In the beginning... Once upon a time... It was a dark and stormy night... Each of our stories has a unique beginning. My story started differently than yours, and yours began differently than everyone else’s. But regardless of how our stories began, each of us lives out the story of our life every day. If you’re like me, you don’t stop very often to think about “the story of my life.” You’re too busy living it! But recognizing the pattern of events in your life, the ebbs and flows of your story, can make a huge difference, both in your future and in how your story ultimately ends. Because when you understand the negative ways your past may be influencing your present, you have the power to make different choices, better choices. Reflection may also give you a clearer understanding about which things in your life you can change and which things you can’t. And this prayerful reflection can become a guide to making wise and God-honoring decisions as you move forward. If someone as...

I remember a day in my clinical training when one of my professors said something that stuck: Any strength taken too far becomes a weakness. Once intimacy and cooperation become over-amped in a woman’s life, she is sure to come down with the proverbial “disease to please” — a problem that stems from believing that “everyone else’s needs are more important than mine.” This is a topic my Band of Sisters has wrestled with on more than one occasion in our group of Friday Friends. We’ve all read the trendy solutions in shiny magazines about how we need to take care of ourselves by going to a spa, pampering ourselves, and so on. Yada, yada. “I don’t think a ‘day of beauty’ is going to cure anybody’s disease to please,” said Bonnie. “Though a good massage can do wonders!” “I’ll never pass up a massage,” Arlys joined in, “but you’re right — even my teenage daughter tells me I do too many things for too many people, that I don’t know how to say no.” “Don’t you hate it when a teenager ha...

Joshua 8:1-29 I have a distinct memory from the 1991 Super Bowl. I’m not a football junkie. Nor do I have extraordinary recall. Truth is, I don’t remember anything about the ’91 football season except this one detail. A headline. An observation prompted by Scott Norwood’s kick. He played for the Buffalo Bills. The city of Buffalo hadn’t won a major sports championship since 1965. But that night in Tampa Bay it appeared the ball would finally bounce the Bills’ way. They went back and forth with the New York Giants. With seconds to go they were a point down. They reached the Giants’ twenty-nine yard line. There was time for only one more play. They turned to their kicker, Scott Norwood. All-Pro. Leading scorer of the team. As predictable as snow in Buffalo. One season he made thirty-two of thirty-seven attempts. He’d scored from this distance five times during the season. He needed to do it a sixth time. The world watched as Norwood went through his pre-kick routine. He tuned out th...