Image via Wikipedia “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11) My friend Ron had been laid off from his job. He was his young family’s sole support. He loved and trusted the Lord, but he felt little sense of guidance about his future. Trying to collect his thoughts, he decided to make a day hike by himself. An experienced hiker, he went up the mountain trial of a lone peak in Southern California in December. It was a grey winter day, and the mountain peak was…

God walks with us through the desert. It’s where we meet Him and, having met Him, know Him. It’s not always a good thing to meet someone in the wilderness. Even today it can give you quite a turn to be alone on a trail and see a stranger coming in the opposite direction! The Eskimos didn’t like it; they thought that strangers they met in the wilderness were demons. The ancient Norsemen (our friends the Vikings) thought so too. But the One we meet in dangerous places is God. Let’s take as our model Israel’s 40-year journey in the desert and just a few ways that God revealed Himself…

This is so very beautiful: that we were created for God’s glory and His pleasure. What an amazing thing, what a high purpose! That we should please the God of all things. Because of this, we were made to know the will of God. His vocational will might be for you to go into full-time ministry, or to be a full-time parent and homemaker, or to start your own business. Is any one thing holier than the other? No, because the work that God has for you to do is holy because He wills it. Your work becomes an expression of the glory of God. Look at the way His…