Try to Revise This Sentence
In one activity in my advanced writing class, we talk about the 5 Main Weaknesses in Academic Writing: weak verbs, delayed verbs, nominalization (making verbs into nouns), incorrect parallel structure, and overuse of nouns in prepositional phrases that should be adjectives (I’ll explain that later). Here’s an example I give with several nominalized verbs. Could […]
High Maintenance
I learn I need to mist my gardenia (and now also my lemon tree—I didn’t know!) twice a day. Twice! Creating the right, humid environment for such plants requires constant vigilance. In contrast to my orchids which thrive on neglect, my gardenia is high maintenance. It does remind me of our own need for daily […]
Try, Try Again
Today while shopping at Trader Joe’s, my daughter and I keep returning to the display of beautiful potted gardenia plants. I absolutely love gardenia. I love the waxy, deep green leaves. I love the bright white blooms that smell indescribably good. The smell of gardenia blooms, I’ve heard, is the hardest to reproduce. My favorite […]
Reflecting Light
So far, I’ve loved reading more and more about the attributes of God in Grudem’s Systematic Theology. This morning, I considered God’s glory. I love this sentence about how we also, in part, reflect that glory. Grudem writes, “Though we do not now find ourselves surrounded by a visible light, there is a brightness, a […]
May It Feed You
After thinking more about Andrew Murray’s analysis of intercession in Luke 11, I pray God gives me spiritual food to nourish others. Before teaching, before going into a meeting, before interacting with friends or family: anything I’m doing, I’m asking in a shamelessly audacious way. God give us bread to feed others. I think about […]
For Someone Else
I’m struck by Andrew Murray’s insight into Luke 11 in his book on intercession. He taught me something I had never noticed before. Consider the passage in verses 5-10: Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend […]
Stay In / Set Out
In Numbers this morning, I take note of God’s orderly instructions regarding when the Israelites should stay or go. It’s wonderful to think of God’s care for them in Numbers 9: At the command of the Lord the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the Lord they camped. As long as the cloud rested over the […]
All Day Long
In Psalm 71, you’ll see a certain way of thinking about God. It’s an all-day-long kind of thing. I love how the writer says “I will hope continually” and that he “will talk of [God’s] righteous help all the day long” and “of [God’s] deeds of salvation all day long.” We tend to think of […]
By Awesome Deeds
In Psalm 65:5, I note three interesting things. David writes, “By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness. . .” We ask. He answers. It’s sublime.
As It Ought To Be Cared For
I continue to love this theme of knowing God’s peace: well-ordered, pleasant, and righteous. His paths are best. His care for us is right, in whatever way it manifests. This morning, I read how Hannah Whitall Smith puts it: “Only God knows how to take care of things as they ought to be taken care […]