The Transforming Word of God

"Hallowed be your name." Anyone familiar with the Lord's Prayer (so named because it is the prayer Jesus taught, not the prayer He prayed), knows that phrase very well. My dictionary explains that to hallow something is to make or set apart as holy; sanctify; consecrate. It also means to honor as being holy; revere; adore. So when Jesus teaches us how to pray in His famous Sermon on the Mount, He is telling us to treat God's name as holy, give it special respect. That doesn't mean we will toss it around without thinking about it, responding as so many do with "Oh, my God." God Himself is holy and His name must be revered as such. But I cannot help but wonder if we truly understand the meaning of holy; I think it goes way beyond a simple definition, way beyond its aspects of righteousness and purity. And I have a feeling that true comprehension of God's holiness would totally transform us, that we would bow in total humility before the Almighty...

Life has been extremely busy lately and I have had a hard time squeezing in time for my Bible study and prayer time. I often need the reminder of a bookmark in my Bible that says,     Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him... (Psalm 37:7). A familiar verse, but something about it caught my attention as I opened my Bible. Maybe it was the picture of the two empty rockers that beckoned me as though they were waiting for me to sit in one and invite the Lord to sit in the other. Be still.    Hmm. I can be still to read or knit or create cards or play computer games for hours, but sometimes I just can’t seem to still my mind, to empty it of all the many things I have to do or would like to do—or even those things I know I should have done.  Multi-tasking has become a way of life. Somehow, I don't think multi-tasking fits with the admonition to be still . Instead, it's indicative of the frenetic pace at which I live my life, at which most of us ...

Have you ever had someone in your life who just seems to watch for you to trip up? Who is sweet to your face but talks about you behind your back? Who hasn't? I don't think I have such a person in my life at the moment, but a few years ago I did. And I wrote about my thoughts, about the hurt, about the effect God's transforming Word on my attitude. I want to share some of that here on this post. The woman I wrote about was well-respected, was biblically well-versed, but she lacked compassion—at least for me. I saw her as the embodiment of 1 Corinthians 13:2, which reads, "If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." In fact, by associating her with that verse, I felt vindicated about my antipathy toward her. But any peace I gained from that thought was very temporary. With the next report of her comments criticizing me, all my feelings rushed back...