Lindsay Willis

Who is God?

Exodus 34:6-7:  The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

 

Exodus 34:9:  O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff- necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance

 

There are lots of conversations to day about God...Who is is and what He will do.  Is He good and loving or is He angry and judgmental?  

I see God as the former...all good and His lovingkindness enduring forever.  

The key is that love always gives us a choice...to receive or reject it.  

When we receive His love, we walk with Him and live to please Him.  

When we reject His love, we want to go our own way, call our own shots.

We all have tendencies toward the latter.  It looks different in each of our lives, but rebellion toward God will always manifest itself in each od our lives.

When we refuse to acknowledge that--when we refuse to see that each of us would really rather live our own way, get our own way, and make sure that "I" gets the upperhand--we have rejected the love of God.

And when that becomes a pattern in our life, it becomes a problem for God.

Our sin--our rebellion--is not the problem.  

But our unwillingness to see our rebellion and confess and forsake it is.

Is blogging worth it?

Tell me what do you think?

Is the world ready for more than 140 characters?

Can we still digest longer thoughts and articles or ideas or meditations?

Or has Twitter so changed the landscape that blogging is "old school?"

I think I may try blogging for a while....and see if anyone shows up.

One essay question

In the end, I think we will find that life is just one essay question: who do you say Jesus is?

Living by faith

In our SOAP devotional today, I find one of the best descriptions of faith I know. It is in Colossians 1:4 Amplified Bible: your faith in Christ Jesus [the leaning of your entire human personality on Him in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness].

I know I do not live that way at all times, but I have learned that the more I learn to lean on Him in the good times, the more I will know how to lean on Him in the tough times.

Holey Week

It starts today! Holey Week! For those of you who know me or have followed me, you know that means The Masters Tournament starts this week.

Play actually begins on Thursday...but the excitement for me has been building for weeks.  My home for the week will be in front of the TV, with either the Golf Channel or ESPN or CBS dialed in. 

I simply cannot get enough of it...best sporting event EVER happens this week every year.  If you have never been able to figure out why people enjoy golf, tune in this week....and you will get hooked!!

Holey Week! Let it begin!

What if....

...we as followers of Christ really lived as He did.  John 5:30 in the Amplified Bible quotes Jesus:

I am able to do nothing from Myself, independently, of My own accord—but only as I am taught by God and as I get His orders. 

Even as I hear, I judge. 

I decide as I am bidden to decide. 

As the voice comes to Me, so I give a decision and my judgment is right, just, righteous, because I do not seek or consult My own will. 

I have no desire to do what is pleasing to Myself, My own aim, My own purpose, but only the will and pleasure of the Father Who sent Me. 

Kiwi fruit moments

Do you like kiwi fruit?  I do!  First, I think the fruit, once it is peeled and sliced, is so cool looking!  The green, the black seeds, the white center.  Wow, what was God thinking when He created that?  (He has a pretty vivid imagination, doesn't He? And I LOVE the taste of kiwi.  So refreshing...almost a purity to it, like nothing else.

But the wonderful fruit is hidden in the ugliest skin.  I have three kiwi sitting on my counter this morning.  I stopped for a moment wondering who first ate a kiwi...and whatever possessed them to think of cutting (or tearing) into that little ugly thing?   I wonder if their friends thought they were crazy to even think about opening that ugly little package...and then daring to eat that fruit.  would it be poisonous?  Or would it be good for them?  (by the way, did you know that kiwi are one of the healthiest things you can eat?)

And then God brought the point home:  how many moments in life are kiwi moments?  They look really ugly on the outside, they don't come packaged beautifully.  They are kind of rough and scratchy and they certainly carry no outward promise of inward joy.

But when we engage them and open them, we find the most wonderful, sweet fruit, that is healthy and beautiful.

Beware of moments that come to you in ugly packages...God may just have something wonderful on the inside, if you dare to open them up.