May the God of love and peace be with you today.
Today in Kindle deals you’ll find several popular books by C.S. Lewis.
(Yesterday on the blog: When God Seems Deaf To Our Cries)
Should We Watch for Signs from God?
This is a really good answer from John Piper. “The Bible teaches the doctrine of God’s providence not in order to lead us away from the revealed will of God in his word, but in order to give us confidence that if we follow the revealed will of God in his word, providence will work everything together for our eternal good.”
Jesus and The Reality of Hell
“In the age of Love Wins, we’ve relocated hell solely to earth and convinced ourselves there’s nothing worse than losing one’s body. Hell, we reason, just doesn’t sound like a good God. Especially when we’ve redefined goodness.”
A Better Definition of Beauty
Amber Thiessen: “There is a better definition of beauty. A better way of seeing. And it begins with God.”
Stop Pretending—Cry Out to God
“Where do you go when unknown dangers threaten the well-being of your faith? Who do you turn to when loneliness threatens to swallow you alive—and whole—like a thick storm cloud envelops your house? What do you do when the chastening, training hand of God seems so overwhelmingly crushing that you fear you will not survive your present trial of faith?” Paul Tautges provides some guidance.
Ten Thoughts About Personalities
I appreciated Samuel James’ ten thoughts about personalities. Like this: “Personality profiling easily becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Years ago someone told me that middle children (such as me) are adaptable but struggle to feel seen. Throughout the years I’ve told this story to myself often, interpreting behavior and feelings through this prism, and I’m almost certainly less assertive and more insecure because I’ve told myself I was already these things.”
Pray Whenever and Wherever but also on Your Knees
Zach Barnhart explains why he finds value in praying on his knees. “Three times a day, I’m making the shift to intentional, set-apart prayer—and prayer done in the posture of kneeling. Morning, afternoon, evening. It doesn’t have to be your rhythm. But I’m finding it works well for me. And if I haven’t made it clear enough, the kneeling is key.”
Flashback: When God Flips That Switch
When we take action, we find only destruction. When God begins to move, we are given grace.
This is the challenge for the believer this side of eternity: we cannot trust our perception of God’s closeness to be accurate. God is near whether we feel him to be or not.
—Jen Wilkin
