Jesus’ Second Gift, Righteousness Jesus’ Second Gift is Righteousness. This isn’t because it’s less important than salvation. Nor is true righteousness anything resembling two flawed human-based behaviors: works righteousness, and self-righteousness, which many people find burdensome and disagreeable. What then? On Tuesday, I used the concept of a-box-within-a-box. Let’s switch word pictures, because one of
Jesus’ first gift is Salvation. Have you ever had someone give you a large gift, but when you unwrapped the box and opened it, you saw another wrapped box, and another one inside that? The friend at your party intended it as a joke, and to make you work until you found the final good
Today’s Wordy Rabbit Trail: What’s this? Today’s wordy rabbit trail exists because occasionally, I find something interesting in a podcast. I listened to a recent one by Mignon Fogarty, aka Grammar Girl, which focuses on “ghost words,” entries in dictionaries that result from misunderstandings, or are deliberate choices by publishers to provide proof of plagiarism.
God’s Son Offers Gifts. Why? Unlike some of us, it’s not to manipulate, or put us under obligation to him, or even to quiet an uneasy conscience. I’m thankful for that. God’s Son offers gifts because he wants those who are his to have the BEST, the gifts that are irrevocable. When I decided to
God’s Gift—God the Son God the Father/Creator fully intends maintaining relationship with people through God the Son. This despite the fact that we misuse his gift of free will and left to ourselves, we prefer to ignore him. Providentially for us, he planned ahead. As I write this post, it is October 25, two months
Why have I chosen to discuss God’s gift of relationship first? Why does it make me thankful? Partly because in Genesis it’s one of the first insights God offers into who he is. In the persons of the Trinity, relationship, solid and creative, has existed since before time. As a concept, that’s fairly mind-blowing. The truth
Glimpsing God’s take on gifts is important, because although we may have a sufficient amount of physical things, those don’t completely satisfy us. Back Then: When I was born prematurely in 1957, weighing two pounds, one ounce, pediatric ICU’s were rudimentary. The priest on standby at St. Mary’s Hospital baptized me on the spot, and
God’s gifts and call are irrevocable. As a Christian, I believe the statement is true. What ideas does it contain? Let’s start with the word gift. Webster’s Dictionary informs me that gift, when used as a noun, has been with the English language since the days of Chaucer’s Middle English. Definition First, it’s a notable
Some who know me might say, “Words focus her life.” I’ve been reading since I was two. When I entered school, the idea of a story problem appealed to me, until I discovered that the expected answer involved numbers. Spelling and English made much more sense, and I reveled in composing essays that brought the
In my childhood, I knew ants and grasshoppers, ladybugs and crickets, cicadas and walking sticks. bumblebees, and mantises—but fireflies? For me, lightning bugs were only read about in books. I don’t remember seeing them at all. Of course, I was the only girl in the classroom who didn’t speak of watching the evening movie on