CEDERBLOGS

       I describe this next piece as ‘historical fiction’. I imagine John the disciple in his old age, probably writing a letter to a friend, ruminating about his life.      Yeah, I knew Mary.      I never was very comfortable around her. In fact, almost everything about her made me feel uncomfortable. Her clothes, her voice, her attitude. The way she would stare. She looked right through you. She would sit and study Jesus for hours, even when he wasn’t talking. She had too much money for a single woman and spent it like a kid sometimes. That bottle of perfume for example. It must have cost a year’s wages and she bought it on a whim. She had no qualms showing it to people either. I could smell that stuff across the room even with the bottle sealed shut. Then, a year later she just breaks the bottle and dumps it out all over Jesus head. Let me tell you one thing, I couldn’t figure out Jesus’ response for the longest time. There she ...

       In the following parable, I am exploring the bitter fruits of unforgiveness. I have personally experienced how destructive it can be when unforgiveness is left unchecked in your heart and I have also experienced how wonderful and freeing forgiveness can be.      Let me be perfectly clear. I do not believe that forgiving someone is, in any way, condoning their actions. It has nothing to do with that. I am commanded to forgive, because I have been forgiven. When I am obedient in this; when I forgive those who did me harm even though they do not deserve it, I am simply removing myself from the position of judge and acknowledging that I, too, have been the recipient of forgiveness that I did not deserve. ~~~~~ Years ago, I offended and hurt you. I slapped you in the face. I mocked you and injured you. I stole your innocence and I murdered your dreams. There was no obvious reason for my cruelty and I possessed no apparent remorse.   ...

 “Be still, and know that I am God.”  Psalms 46:10      The Hebrew word for “be still” is raphah. It means to cease, to be feeble, faint or weak, or to be idle. So there is something about being still, quiet and weak that enables me to hear the voice of God.      “The Lord said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”       I Kings 19:11-12      If I can just get past the storms of life and be still, the voice of God will always be there, speaking to me. He will never leave me nor forsake me. God is always talking to me, always desiring tha...

     The presence of God in our lives, and the way he manifests Himself, can be completely different from person to person. The way He supplies our needs and speaks to us can also be very interesting. I absolutely love the idea of “be still and know that I am God.”      Be still...and know. It’s so hard to do in the 21st century.      This is a poem I wrote with Elijah in mind, as he sat by the brook after running away from Jezebel in fear. Even in his weakness, Elijah was loved by God and taken care of by God. This particular visitation was not terribly normal though. I spotted the bird through the foliage approaching slowly from twig to safe branch as he studied me carefully. The pangs of my hunger awakened when I spotted his burden. It was freshly baked manna. The yawning sun slanted through green leaves and lichens sending twinkles in sprays from the shimmering brook painting the glorious air with reflected shards of the river's sweet dit...

  I believe that indifference is the antithesis of love. Nobody is created with indifference. Children are never indifferent. They love and they hate things, but they’re never indifferent. Indifference is a defensive mechanism gone bad. The child gets a pet goldfish and cares deeply for the goldfish. The goldfish dies. The child is hurt, discouraged and disillusioned. The parent offers to buy the child another goldfish but the child says, “I don’t like goldfish anymore” The defensive mechanism has been put into place. We were created to love. The only commandment Jesus gave was to love. “ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34-35 We should always love, but if we love we will invariably be hurt, discouraged, disillusioned or wounded. It will always, eventually, happen. We will usually withdraw a bit...

     The Enemy speaks in an entirely different voice than Holy Spirit does. For some reason, it often seems very easy to get those two voices confused. I have been actively seeking out and asking for more discernment so that confusion does not happen so often and I must say, God seems very interested in dispensing that particular gift. “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” Hebrews 5:11-14      Distinguishing between good and evil, or discernment, is often hard to find in today’s world, but I promise you...