Today's Musing is from Margaret Fowler. “But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” —John 4:14 NLT As summer draws to a close, our garden is still thriving. We have enjoyed many vegetables and look forward to more, but I am thinking back to all the work of weeding and watering. Recently, I was attempting to weed a part of our garden I had neglected too long. Those weeds were big and hard to pull out because their roots were bigger too—and they didn’t want to be uprooted! As a child, I learned how to weed. I can still picture my father teaching me, kindly but firmly: “You […] Read more »

Then the LORD asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.” —Job 1:8 NLT I’ve been reading the book of Job lately. It’s not easy reading. Job, as you may recall, did everything right and ended up with all sorts of horrible things happening to him without any cause or reason that he could see or understand. Ever felt like Job? Ever tried your very best to get it right and still see a crumbling and tearing apart of what you have carefully built? Job was right there with you. Probably worse. He lost all his wealth, all ten of his […] Read more »

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” […] Read more »

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. —2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NIV Sometimes, early in the morning, I sit and watch the river sleep. The trees hover over the still water and stare at their own reflections. When the air is motionless and the water tranquil, the reflected image is perfect and realistic. Then, boats glide by, and ripples smudge their likeness into smokey, green clouds. Later, a breeze caresses the surface as the ocean tide pulls the river back to itself. Like an eraser on a chalkboard, […] Read more »

Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to join in my struggle by praying to God for me. Do this because of your love for me, given to you by the Holy Spirit. —Romans 15:30 NLT A funny thing happens when you start seriously praying for someone. Your love for them grows exponentially. I know this from long experience with the phenomenon. It began years ago when a friend urged me to “pray blessing on the head of an enemy.” I confess that, on my own, I had not thought of this novel approach to enemies. My friend reminded me that Jesus was pretty clear that we are to love our enemies and pray for those who […] Read more »