Posts by Gene (Page 11)

Posts by Gene (Page 11)

‘Father, How Do You Want to Use Me?’

God not only has a general will for our lives, but He has a specific will for us too. God’s general will is found in Scripture: don’t steal, don’t lie or be dishonest, speak gracious words, be filled with the Spirit and walk in His light, bear witness to all of God’s goodness, put on the Lord Jesus and make no provision for the flesh, let your reasonableness, your…

Are We Too Easy on Our Flesh?

It’s not a message we hear too often from Christian pulpits today: You have to be harder on yourself! But, here’s what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:27: “I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” Now, I’m not loving this translation! It’s TOO soft! I think the problem is that the translators aren’t sure…

You Gotta Serve Somebody, Yes Indeedy Doo

Bob Dylan wrote some really great songs during his so-called ‘born-again’ period. Perhaps the most famous was, You Gotta Serve Somebody. The lyrics are pure gold: You may be an ambassador to England or France You may like to gamble, you might like to dance You may be the heavyweight champion of the world You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls. But you’re…

A Rest for Every Season

As God leads us through the various seasons of life, He wants us to know that there’s always a rest available. Some of life’s seasons are clearly more difficult than others, but God’s rest – and internal Garden of Eden, a place where we can retreat in the calm of His presence – is never far away. The Children of Israel never quite got this! When the seasons changed, they…

God Shepherds Us Through the Seasons

Ecclesiastes chapter 3 may be one of the most well-known chapters of the Bible, familiar to believers and non-believers alike. It talks about the times and season of life. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:      a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a…

God Gives, but Not to Everyone

“For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away” (Matthew 25:29). Near the very end of His earthly ministry, Jesus told a story, a parable. It was about a Master who was about to go on a journey and three servants He left behind. Before He left, He entrusted each of the servants…

The Season Has Changed. (And So Have I.)

I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it” (1 Corinthians 3:2). Mary and I love art! So, recently we took in an exhibition in Boston at the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum called, Fra Angelico: Heaven on Earth. Fra Angelico was a truly breath-taking painter of the early renaissance. He was a very devout man. It’s said that whenever he attempted…

John’s Two Longings

Of the four Gospels, John’s stands alone in many ways. His focus is more upon what Jesus said than what He did. We almost get the sense that the aged apostle is ‘filling in the gaps’ left by the earlier three Gospels. After all, he’s writing some sixty years after Jesus’ resurrection. He’s had a lot of time to consider all that he witnessed and what it meant. He’d lived…

A Memorable Meal

There are certain things we just never forget. When I was a very young boy, my brother Mike and I were playing with a garden hose that had been coiled aside my grandfather’s – my Pépère Giguere’s – house on Hope St. in Woonsocket. He saw us playing with the water and yelled at us. I was, well, startled and terrified. I remember it vividly. He wore a plaid shirt and…

Another Fire

“When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast” (John…

Breakfast with Jesus

“Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. 7 That…

Sojourns in Solitude: Leaving the Desert, Trembling

In Matthew 14, Jesus performed one of His most astonishing miracles: He fed a multitude of 5,000+ bewildered people with a few fish and few loaves of bread. God had moved and moved powerfully. He’d manifested His omnipotent control over the natural in a supernatural display of divine capability. It…