Devotions from James Smith’s book The Good and Beautiful Life The author talks about judging and that “Judging is making a negative evaluation of others without standing in solidarity with them.” Correcting someone can be healthy and even life-enhancing but judging others never is. We judge others to fix them or to make us feel…
Devotions from James Smith’s book, The Good and Beautiful God More on how we turn our worries into prayer as it says to do in Phil 4:6-7 Once we have done all we can do in a given situation, we simply turn the matter over to God and then worry won’t take over in our…
Devotions from James Smith’s book, The Good and Beautiful Life In Matt. 6:33 we are told to see the kingdom of God first which means “making the reality and principles of God’s kingdom our first and primary concern.” It means facing our trials and troubles not with anxiety but with trust that God can and…
Devotions based on James Smith book, The Good and Beautiful Life Have you notices how the media plays on our fears to boost their ratings and sales? There is a difference between concern and worry. We can be concerned about many things but worry is what we do after e have planned, prepared and acted…
Devotions based on James Smith’s book The Good and Beautiful Life More today on real treasure. Wealth pretends to offer what we want from God- Security, comfort, and happiness. That is why we are prone to serve money. But money is not the real issue; our hearts are. It is possible to be very poor…
Devotions based on James Smith book The Good and Beautiful Life Our minds are imprinted with narratives that begin very early in life. The way we handle money can be traced to our early experiences regarding material wealth. When Rockefeller was asked how much money he would need to make him happy he said, “Just…
I have been away from Canaan for the past two weeks. We have been with family. At present we are baby sitting our three grandchildren in Olathe, Ks. for a week. So I feel a little out of the flow. The posts I have been doing about a Father who delights in us, takes some reflection…
Devotions from James Smith book, The Good and Beautiful Life “Live for an audience of One.” This Puritan saying reflects God’s kingdom living. Much of our lives are spent playing for an audience of many, and fixating on what others are thinking or saying of us. But we need to shift to an audience of…
Devotions from James Smith’s book The Good and Beautiful Life We all want to be loved and feel valuable, worthwhile and wonderful. The world measures our worth on the basis of our appearance, production and performance. Image is everything! But this need for affirmation from others makes us vulnerable to the sin of Vainglory. It…
Devotions from James Smith’s book, The Good and Beautiful Life Jesus ways are so different from the ways of our world. Often people of this world feel vulnerable, impotent, and exposed. Their false narrative is that the only way to protect themselves is to use force. But that does not produce lasting change but just…