The Lord Is My Refuge

Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 The Psalmist writes as one who by faith chooses God for his protection and who will find all in Him that he needs and desires. Those who have found the comfort of making the Lord their refuge, cannot but desire that others may also do so. The...

Confession and Forgiveness

Psalm 32:1-11 All of us hope for happiness. I certainly do. The Psalmist says, “Happy are those whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned.” It is amazing, though, how we sometimes hang on to the very thing that keeps us from being happy! Pride and...

A Cry of Faith?

Psalm 22:1-31 “My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?” (Psalm 22:1)  Jesus cries on the cross because life at that moment hurts. Was Jesus being faithless when he cried out? We cry also when we experience pain, desolation, and loneliness. When we cry like Jesus are...

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

Matthew 3:1-12 John the Baptist is in the Judean wilderness preaching to the crowd and baptizing them. John was, in modern lingo, the “opening act” for Jesus. My mental image of John, from reading the scripture, is that he was a bit of a hippie; very organic, before...

The Challenges of Temptation

Luke 4:1-15 The first day of Lent shoves us into the solitary wilderness of temptations. Who else but Jesus could report on these struggles, since he was in this desolate place by himself? One main function of the season is its call to self-reflection, where our...