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Showing posts from December, 2016

Distant

"Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble, but he keeps his distance from the proud." Psalm 138:6 Like all other couples, my wife and I have experienced times and seasons of closeness as well as distance. Interestingly, very few if any of them had anything to do with our physical proximity at the time. We've been in the same room and even in the same bed, yet remained light years apart. On the flip side, we've been separated by half the globe, yet remained indivisibly connected. The difference? The heart.   David observes in his Psalm that the Lord is near and distant from people as well. The difference? Again, the heart. The humble are near to God. They're close enough to come under his care. The proud are far from him. This distance we read in other places in the Bible is not innocuous. No, those who are separated from God by their pride are actively opposed by God. Yikes!  We're all in need of a heart exam. Has pride w

Lukewarm

"I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, I will spit you out of my mouth!" Revelation 3:15-16 Cold milk is the best. It's so good, until it warms up. Ugh! So strong is my aversion to room temperature milk that I will use ice cubes to keep it cold. I'll put ice in my glass. I'll even put ice in my cereal bowl so the milk stays super cold. On the other hand, my coffee has to be hot. I know cold coffee is a thing now, but not for me. Once cool, it's either down the drain or in the microwave. Milk is to be cold and coffee hot. Middle of the road is simply no good. In speaking to this church, Jesus used a powerful picture to get their attention, which highlighted hot, cold and lukewarm drinks. Many believe Jesus was contrasting this city's water supply with water from two surrounding cities: Hierapolis - known for its medicinal hot springs