Following Jesus has its difficulties, and prayer ranks near the top. Communication with the God we love shouldn’t distress, but it often does. Even the apostles need to ask for a prayer lesson, in Matthew 6:9. Mutual, two-way communication builds any relationship, and the lack brings damage. I do OK with trying to stay aware of God each moment of the day. I try to say thinks for the good stuff, and rely on him for help with the bad stuff. On the big decisions, I’m decent with immersing it in prayer. But I’m not OK…
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image by ReGenesis
First Love
The early days of a romance possess a quality that comes to possess us. We stay up all night, talking. Listening, genuinely. We think of nothing else. We’d do anything for them. But gradually, we get to know them. We get comfortable. We settle in. Following Jesus can follow that example. But should it? Can we escape that all-too-common trap?...
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Praise--A Path to Closeness
That knife above isn’t much to look at. A bone handle yellowed from age and contact with a fisherman’s hand. A small blade, with much of its essence sacrificed from sharpening. But each time I open the tackle box and see dad’s old knife, I think of him. How he transmitted a love of stream fishing. How he showed me the courage a man should have. How he demonstrated sacrificing for others. How he gave me that knife when emphysema robbed him of the ability to journey to his beloved Sierra Nevada Mountains. Each look keeps those memories fresh, makes me appreciate him more, and restores...
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