One Person – Many Names
My husband’s name is James. When we’re out together with friends, I call him James. When the two of us are alone in the house, I call him James, as in, “James, could you take out the garbage?”
However, the way I address my husband changes when my daughter comes over. To my daughter, James is Dad, so when I refer to him in her presence, I call him Dad, as in, “Will you see if Dad is ready to take out the garbage?”
The grandkids call my husband Papaw, so, whenever they’re around, I identify him as Papaw, as in, “Tell Papaw the garbage is ready to be taken out.”
If we’re all in the same room together, carrying on various threads of conversation, I’ll sometimes have to run through several names before settling on the appropriate one. It becomes even more confusing when my own father is present, because he has his own set of names, Dad, G-paw and Papaw.
Although not quite the same, something similar occurs on a spiritual level. God can be addressed as Father, Jesus, or Holy Spirit.
Jesus, who is our model for having an intimate conversation with God, used “Father” in every recorded prayer, except for one. Father is the name most believers use today when speaking directly to God. When we call God our Father, we are acknowledging a special relationship with the one who gives us life, who provides our needs, and who loves us as His children.
I am incredibly blessed and privileged to call the God of the Universe my Father.
Even though the Father is the Head of the Trinity and the one we most often call upon when we pray, we are also encouraged to address our petitions to Jesus. Jesus Himself said, “If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” John 14:12. Our petitions can be directed toward Jesus as well as to our Father, and we see both Paul and John praying in this way. (2 Corinthians 12:8; Revelation 22:20).
Because our access to the Father and to Jesus comes through the Spirit, there is a sense in which every time we pray to any member of the Godhead, we are calling on the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:18; Romans 8:26).
Like my earthly relationship with my husband, I often address God according to my circumstances. Most of the time, I cry out to Him as my Father. However, situations arise when I can only relate to Him as Jesus—my Savior, my Lord, my Shepherd. When I desire to be filled with His presence, I call out to His Spirit to fill me.
Regardless of how I choose to address my husband, it doesn’t change my relationship with him. The same is true with God. “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12. No matter how we address God, as born-again believers, we are always and forever His children.
How Do You Watch A Movie?
When I watch a movie, I’m intrigued by how the story unfolds, how the writer has pulled the threads of the plot together to get to a satisfactory—and sometimes unsatisfactory—ending. Of lesser importance to me are the specifics surrounding the actors’ ability to nuance the characters in the movie. Perhaps of least importance to me is the technique behind the camera shots or the way in which the director chooses to film the action in the movie.
However, my husband is not that interested in the “story” of the movie. Instead, he pays more attention to how realistically an actor portrays his character, and whether he or she is good at the craft of acting. He can also get excited about how a movie is filmed, noting things like the director’s love of close-ups or tall buildings.
I believe these two different methods of watching a movie reflect how we relate to other people. For example, take what happens when my husband and I meet a new couple. I immediately start asking questions about their background, their family, their “story.” On the other hand, he is much more interested in asking questions that reveal the couple’s emotions, feelings, and opinions.
Not surprisingly, our personality differences affect how we worship God, how comfortable we are with a certain style of worship, and how we enter into a worship service or respond to the pastor’s sermon. I believe Jesus seeks to encompass all kinds of worshipers with his words from John 4:24: “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
How does your spirit worship God?
Is It Okay To Worry?
In order to spend more time on other writing and editing projects, I’ve had to be absent from my blog for a few months. However, yesterday, after being convicted about my tendency to worry, I decided to take the time and share a few reflections about God’s command to live a worry-free life.
It’s true. God instructs his followers to be free from worry and anxiety. Jesus said in Matthew 6:25, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life.” Even though it’s worded a little differently each time, this command appears in all of the gospels. “Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27.
Paul also teaches the worry-free life in his letters. “Do not be anxious about anything . . .” Philippians 4:6. The command itself is pretty clear, and, unlike some commands in Scripture, how to deal with worry is equally straightforward. Paul continues in Philippians 4:7, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Not surprisingly, Peter echoes Paul’s solution to worry in 1 Peter 5:6-7: “Humble yourselves . . . casting all your anxieties upon him, for he cares for you.” The writer of Hebrews says we can be sure of his help when we are troubled. He writes, “So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear . . .” Hebrews 13:6.
By bringing our worries and cares to the Lord, we are rewarded with the strength and peace to deal with life’s inevitable anxieties. And, because God is always overflowing in his care for us, He promises to do this for us anew every morning. Lamentations 3:22-23, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning . . .”
Why Do You Believe In God?
Why do you believe in God?
I’ve seldom had to answer that question. In fact, when I heard it the other day, it surprised me. That’s like asking me why I breathe or why I love my grandkids. The answer seems obvious.
Then again, maybe it isn’t.
Why do I believe in God?
It’s certainly not because I’ve had some tangible experience. I’ve never seen God or had an angelic visitation, nor have I received some special sign—a cross in the sky or writing on the wall—to prove He’s real.
The answer to why I believe in God involves trust; it involves faith. I trust what the Bible tells me about God. Ironically, the faith to believe in Him and what the Scriptures tell me about Him is a gift, a gift from God. It is, as Ephesians 2:9 says, “not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Believing in God is not something I can do for myself. The ability to believe in God comes from God.
Any person who sincerely wants to know God will find Him. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13.
I believe in God because He created the desire, provided the means, and made the provision for me to believe in Him.
I Had To Do It
One day last week, I had to run away from home. It wasn’t—as some of you may be thinking—the result of having a retired husband at home all day. No, it was the roofers. Hundreds of them were on top of my house pounding away. Well, maybe there were only six, but it sounded like an army up there. It was Chinese water torture with sound. So, I left for a few hours.
I believe living in our modern culture with its massive information overload, constant communication and 24/7 news cycle can torture us just like the constant, irritating noise of six hammers beating out an irregular rhythm. Each of us needs a break from this daily onslaught.
So, how can we find a peaceful retreat?
The Bible gives the seeker of peace a definitive answer. “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3 (ESV).
Retreat. Get away. Find time during the day to get your mind “stayed” on the Lord. Read His Word, pray, fellowship with Him and the hammering will stop..
I Was Late For Church On Sunday
I was running late when I arrived at our church for the worship service last Sunday, so I quietly slipped in the back door and chose the first seat available. It was on the other side of the auditorium from where my husband, James, and I usually sit when he isn’t out preaching somewhere. This location on the “outer fringes” would not have suited him, but since I was alone, and, as I said, trying not to disturb others with my late arrival, I scooted into an empty row of seats just as the worship leader began leading the congregation in a praise song.
Within seconds, though, a middle-aged couple in front of me caught my attention. I wasn’t acquainted with them, but I could tell, by the way they sang the praise choruses with familiarity and enthusiasm, they were probably regular churchgoers. At one point during the singing, the husband looked over, smiled at his wife, and slipped his arm around her waist. She, in turn, patted his hand. Their loving gestures seemed to demonstrate a worshipful delight at sharing this experience together.
As I observed their obvious love for the Lord and for each other, it made me smile, and I felt blessed.
At the beginning of the second song, the couple’s son and daughter-in-law joined the couple, appearing to apologize for their late arrival. Although I was just guessing at their relationship, the “son” was the exact height and spitting image of his “dad,” so I felt safe in making this assumption. As soon as the younger couple unashamedly greeted the older couple with hugs and kisses, they too joined in singing the worship songs.
As I observed their outward affection toward one another, it made me smile, and I felt blessed.
As soon as the pastor began his sermon, all four individuals opened their personal Bibles and followed along as he read the Scriptures. Each one wrote down in the worship folder the different points the pastor was emphasizing in his message. When the pastor made a humorous remark about families in his talk, the four of them looked at each other and laughed, whispering back and forth for a moment as they enjoyed the joke together.
As I observed their attentiveness and serious approach to the hearing of God’s word, it made me smile, and I felt blessed.
On my way home from church, I thought about how four ordinary people had been a blessing to me. They were not Hollywood glamorous or especially attractive from a physical standpoint. Their clothes were not expensive or fashionable. None of them spoke any words of wisdom to me or gave me any spiritual insight.
Yet, they blessed me because they were expressing their love for each other and their love for God in the midst of worship, exactly the kind of blessing God Himself surely loves to receive.
“Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!” Psalm 34:3
What’s Your Story?
All of us have a story. It may be your parenting story, your pregnancy story, your career story or the story of your life. For as long as I can remember, I’ve enjoyed hearing someone’s salvation story–the details surrounding how a person came to faith in Christ.
When we lived in Indiana back in the late 1980’s, the editor of our denomination’s weekly state paper, The Indiana Baptist, asked me to do a weekly column on a different individual each week, emphasizing the details of their conversion experience. I decided to call the column “A Story To Tell.”
My husband’s job at that time was in Baptist missions, and we travelled to a different church in Indiana every week. Since we usually arrived at the church at least an hour before he was to preach, I had time to seek out a friendly man or woman, get their permission to record our conversation, and then ask them to tell me their salvation experience. After the interview, I would write down our conversation in a story format.
While all the stories culminated in the person becoming a born-again Christian, each convert’s circumstances were unique. However, after several months of writing salvation stories, I sensed a common thread in each experience. It was the way God used a friend, a neighbor, a relative or even a stranger to draw the unsaved person to Christ.
An example of this was a young man who had not been brought up in the church, knew nothing of the Lord and was planning on becoming a professional golfer. One evening, when he was about to enter a nightclub to enjoy several hours of partying, he noticed a group of people carrying picket signs. They were protesting what was going on inside the establishment. One of the signs read “The wages of sin is death.”
For weeks the young man was haunted by these words, but he had no idea what they meant. However, after he followed his girlfriend’s suggestion to talk to a pastor, he was led to the Lord, and his life was forever transformed. I’m sure the man who picketed the nightclub that night, carrying a sign with the words from Romans 6:23 written on it, never realized his small gesture eventually made an eternal difference in someone’s life.
I’ve been asked to write these kinds of salvation stories once again. This time I’m writing them for Baptist Press, a daily news wire service. You can visit their website here. The most recent story I wrote demonstrates the importance of inviting someone to church. You can read it here: The K. J. Williams story.
What’s your story?
If you came to faith in Christ within the last three years, or you know of someone who did, please contact me. I’d love to hear the details and share your story with others. You never know how God might use your story to open the heart of an unbeliever to faith in Christ. Your story could become a part of someone else’s story.
Granny’s Garden Looks Good
One gorgeous spring day, my grandson and I were in my kitchen having a conversation about the nice weather. I pointed out to him that I had already put my patio furniture outside, and we would soon be able to plant a beautiful flower garden. He looked out the window at my weed-infested flowerbeds and replied, “But, Granny, your garden already looks good.”
In his eyes, the purple flowers produced by the weeds made a good-looking garden. While his assessment was delightful to me, I knew it was flawed because, having seen exquisite flowerbeds before, I recognized that, in its current state, mine was very ugly.
My grandson’s perception of what constituted a good-looking garden was skewed because his standards were minimal and based on limited knowledge. This same principle can be applied to an individual or a society when the perception of what is good or evil is based solely, or in part, on the thoughts, practices, and writings of fallen man and not on the standard supplied to us by God in His Word.
I believe my grandson will adopt a more stringent requirement for what constitutes a beautiful garden if he’s exposed to lovely flowers. In the same way, the more time we spend reading, studying, and meditating on God’s Word, the more our moral standards will be aligned with the standards God requires of us–made possible to all believers by His Spirit living within us.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” 2 Timothy 3:16.
The Message of God in an Asteroid and a Meteor
Two rare events happened in our atmosphere on Friday, February 15th. I definitely see a message from God in both of them.
Before Friday’s close fly by of asteroid DA14, the media bombarded the public with information about asteroids. Each time I heard a reporter talking about the millions of space rocks out there, I marveled at how our planet has escaped being hit or destroyed by one of these celestial bodies. How have we been spared? The answer is in Isaiah 45:7: “I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.”
Clearly, our loving God, who created the asteroids in the first place, continuously protects Earth from being seriously damaged by them. Until He decides such a planet-shaking event will occur, every asteroid, every comet, every meteoroid, stays in its God-appointed place away from our earth’s atmosphere. The fact that He allowed such a close encounter on Friday, and that the occurrence was broadcast worldwide, only served to emphasize His hand in the other rare event which happened on the very same day.
Early Friday morning, before asteroid DA14 whizzed by our planet, a meteor, 50 feet wide, slammed into Chelyabinsk, Russia. Scientists say a meteor of this size impacts our earth every decade or so, but most of them simply fall into the ocean. The fact that this one injured almost one thousand people and heavily damaged a city made it an extremely uncommon occurrence.
Officials from NASA immediately declared the asteroid and the meteor were not connected. These were two rare events that just happened to occur on the same day. However, I disagree. I believe the two incidents are connected. I believe they’re connected by the message God delivered on Friday.
While NASA and other scientists assured everyone they knew the asteroid’s path and were tracking its every move, God allowed an unforeseen meteor to enter earth’s atmosphere. This unexpected cosmic rock was God’s way of reminding mankind that scientists can never accurately predict what God will send upon planet Earth or when He will send it.
Mathematicians tell us—astronomically speaking—the odds of these two events happening on the same day were 1 in 100 million. The improbability of this is a clarion call to worship an Almighty God who governs the heavens and the earth.
“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.” 1 Chronicles 29:11
Bits and Pieces 1/28/13
Website Lists All Free Books Available On Amazon: I love reading books on my Kindle for iPad, and it’s so much better when they’re FREE. Freebook Sifter is a website which lists all the free books on Amazon. The link provided here opens to Christian fiction, but if you click on the e-book tab, you’re able to choose any kind of book you like. Click here for Freebook Sifter.
Did Jesus Sing While He Lived Among Us? The answer from several New Testament passages is yes! I’m sure He also laughed, and I suspect what made Him laugh was an inexpressible joy we’ll only know when we see Him face-to-face. Here’s a great article about Jesus and singing by Tony Reinke.
It Could Have Been Me: This is such a great reminder that all our steps are ordered by God. Whatever comes our way (or doesn’t), may we thank Him daily for His grace. Read Lisa’s blog post on “When It Could Have Been Me” here.
How Much Money Am I Supposed To Give Away? The short answer Tim Challies gives is “enough that it matters.” His full response is insightful and could serve as a springboard for a family discussion on giving. Read it here.
Book 8 in the Mylas Grey Mystery Series, Click on cover
Book 5 in the Silas McKay Suspense Series, Click on cover
Book 11 in the Titus Ray Thriller Series. Click cover
Book 7 in the Mylas Grey Mystery Series on Amazon. Click cover.
Book 4 in the Silas McKay Suspense Series on Amazon. Click cover.
Book 10 in the Titus Ray Thriller Series on Amazon. Click cover.
PREQUEL to the Mylas Grey Mystery Series on Amazon. Click cover
Book VI in the Mylas Grey Mystery Series on Amazon. Click cover
Book III in the Silas McKay Suspense Series on Amazon. Click cover
Book IX in the Titus Ray Thriller Series on Amazon. Click cover
Book V in the Mylas Grey Mystery Series on Amazon. Click cover
Book II in the Silas McKay Suspense Series on Amazon. Click cover
Book I in the Silas McKay Suspense Series, Available in Winter Deceptions
Ben in Trouble follows Four Steps Missed in the Titus Ray Thriller Series
Book IV in the Mylas Grey Mystery Series on Amazon. Click cover
Book VIII in the Titus Ray Thriller Series on Amazon. Click cover.
Ben in Charge, Follows Three Steps Away in the Titus Ray Thriller Series
Ben in Love, Follows Two Steps Forward in the Titus Ray Thriller Series
Two Days Taken:Book II in the Mylas Grey Mystery Series; Click cover.
Book VII in the Titus Ray Thriller Series on Amazon. Click on book cover
One Day Gone: Book I in the Mylas Grey Mystery Series; Click on Cover
NEWEST BOOK: Available on Amazon. Click on Cover.
Prequel to the Titus Ray Thriller Series is $0.99 on Amazon. Click book cover
Book I in the Titus Ray Thriller Series on Amazon. Click book cover
Book II in the Titus Ray Thriller Series on Amazon. Click on book cover
Book III in the Titus Ray Thriller Series on Amazon: Click on book cover
Book IV in the Titus Ray Thriller Series on Amazon. Click on book cover.
Book V in the Titus Ray Thriller Series on Amazon. Click on book cover.
Book VI in the Titus Ray Thriller Series on Amazon. Click on book cover.
Books 1 & 2 in the Titus Ray Series Available on Amazon. Click on cover.
His Glory My Joy, a blog of Author Luana Ehrlich 
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