n0klu's Rants

  April 15, 2022 at 12:42 AM CST Topic: +DEV+     Productivity and Peace Productivity and Peace "The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul."     Psalm 23:1-3   Scripture Focus: Luke 10:38-42 When having people into my home, I'd often set the bar too high, working like I was trying to win an entertainment competition. I'd end up unable to focus on enjoying my guests. Talk about missing the mark! Finally, my husband and I decided to take a new approach to hospitality. In order to give more attention to our company than to food preparations, we now make meals ahead of time and simply re-heat them before our guests arrive.   In Luke's account of the Mary and Martha story, we hear Jesus' gentle rebuke to a Martha who may have been as frazzled as you and I have been at times. She pressured herself     to offer more than necessary, engaging with the m...

  April 14, 2022 at 2:20 AM CST Topic: +DEV+     Self-Peace Self-Peace "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, . Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness."     James 3:17-18 Scripture Focus: Psalm 103:1-12 God's never-ending love story begins in Genesis where the relationship between the Lord and mankind is initiated. In Genesis 1:26, "Let us" (Father, Son, and Spirit) were words spoken in perfect triune harmony, setting into motion a tale of heaven and earth and the greatest rescue ever. With the foreknowledge He would be nailed to a cross for the sins of those He created, Jesus became the Provision, the only way to make peace between us and the Father.   We have a spiritual enemy who persistently tries to convince us that our lives are to be defined by our worst moments rather than by God's peace-making grace. If you buy into the lie, only unrest will follow. But if you let His never-stopping, n...

  April 13, 2022 at 2:01 AM CST Topic: +DEV+     Passion and Peace Passion and Peace "For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. ,May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands."     Psalm 149:4, 6   Scripture Focus: Psalm 149 David was a passionate man. He danced in the streets to show delight in his God; he lay on the ground refusing to eat, crushed by grief over his dying son. His life and his God-breathed writings reveal an array of human emotions.   Our emotions are gifts, a means to express our humanity and our heart. They are not sinful by design. But any human emotion can lead to sin. The Lord made us in His image, like Him. He does not conceal His "feelings," and     none of His "feelings" lead to sin. But we would be unlike Him to bury our emotions. Genesis 6:6 says the Lord's heart was "grieved" and "filled with pain" watching the people He created dest...

  April 7, 2022 at 12:01 AM CST Topic: +DEV+     Peace-Giving Regard Peace-Giving Regard "What a man desires is an unfailing love."       Proverbs 19:22a Scripture Focus: John 4:4-26, 39-42 After receiving certificates of divorce from her five former husbands, the Samaritan woman at the well was thirsting for love that lasts. Jesus knew she could be truly refreshed only with Living Water. Though we don't know the details of her life, we do know that often men in that day divorced their wives for minor reasons and then sent them away-a great burden to a woman at that time who could not then return to her father's house.   Jesus derailed social protocol by engaging in conversation with her, a Samaritan woman who was disrespected and thought unclean by the Jews. He gave her the same regard He'd give anyone else. He knew her heart. Certain she would rejoice in her belief by telling her story to others, He continued unfolding His knowledge of her life. ...

  April 5, 2022 at 1:44 AM CST Topic: +DEV+     Peace in Wisdom Peace in Wisdom "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." Proverbs 14:12 Scripture Focus: 2 Samuel 5:17-24     At age 10, a     friend and I     decided to take a new shortcut home. This unexplored route meant crossing the DryFork Creek as well as an outlet from a water plant that merged with the main stream.   I was looking downward at     the current when I heard my friend yell. He was ahead and midway across the outlet, stuck in muddy silt, steadily sinking. Reaching the outlet, I shot forward in a horizontal dive to skim the surface of the shallow water. When my momentum slowed, I went limp into a float, gingerly propelling myself so my limbs wouldn't drop into the quicksand. I managed to snatch a fallen tree branch and hold it out to him. He grabbed on, and we battled the powerful suction until he broke free.   Our sh...

  Feb X, 2022 at X:XX AM CST Topic: +DEV+     Peace at Table Peace at Table "When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him." Luke 24:30     Scripture Focus: Luke 24:13-35 Many families today have exchanged meal time together for participating in sports, or being absorbed in screen time, or conducting business. The connectedness that families enjoy around the meal table is being outmoded. Listening     to each other, giving eye contact, and cultivating relationships around the dinner table are slipping away. Yet sharing mealtime together seemed quite important to Jesus.   Imagine being at the table with Him and the     two friends after their walk to Emmaus. Though the disciples hadn't recognized the resurrected Jesus, they listened to Him. Though their hopes had been dashed, they felt something remarkable about Him.   In the...