Where are you seeing God?

I keep trying to see God every day because it is so easy for me to overlook his blessings. Sometimes it is easy for me, but at other times it is more difficult. I find it especially difficult if I am wrestling with something or feel unsettled as I have been for the past week. God is working though and has been blessing those around me and letting me observe it in amazing ways while also blessing me.

• A family just returned from Russia where they adopted three siblings (1, 3, & 4 years old). This process took many months and had lots of obstacles so it is amazing to see the positive answer God gave to our prayers.
• Yesterday Katie willingly gave her healthy kidney to another in need. The surgery went well and the kidney immediately started functioning. Again, this has been a couple years of prayers and it is amazing to see how God worked this situation out.
• A friend was just hired as a Deputy DA in Los Angeles. He has searched for work and lived in three different towns before having this door opened for him.
• Seeing a woman who almost lost her life in a tragic accident before Christmas regain her health and memory in spite of innumerable obstacles to overcome.
• Seeing and hearing of others around me growing in their relationship with God or understanding of him. This is happening through personal bible study, challenging questions, discipleship relationships, and especially through God softening hearts and drawing people toward him.
• Four families around me are pregnant, three for the first time. Two of those babies are due in the next few weeks.
• I have also found surprise personal notes and gifts in my mailbox every day this week. God knew the encouragement I needed and met it in unexpected ways.

Are you seeing God work or are you overlooking something amazing that he is a part of?

Why are you bursting my bubble?

Before Christmas I was talking with the junior high youth at my church about the Christmas story. I was pointing out some misconceptions about that story which have become mainstream ideas such as the points that no where does it say there are three wise men, and when the wise men arrived to see Jesus they came to “the house” (Matthew 2:11) not a stable.

One of the youth listened to me for a while and then asked, “Why are you bursting my bubble?” He was asking why I was giving him information that would change what he believes and what he had accepted as truth. My answer was, “Because I want you to know the truth. I want you to know the real story of God.”

How often do we run away from, hide from, ignore, or refuse to listen to the truth? Do we even know what the truth is? Do we make up our own version of the truth? I heard a speaker last year talking about truth and deception. He asked the crowd how we know when we are being deceived. The answer was, “You don’t!”. I like to turn that question around and ask, How do you know when you are being told the truth? Don’t you need to know what truth is before you can recognize it?

John 8:31-32 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”