No matter the success

After 2 Samuel 11:1-27 

No matter the success,

no matter how great 

the achievement;

no matter the gain,

the accolades, the praises,

the success is not yours

or mine; the success

belongs to the Lord.

When you succeed,

give thanks; 

when you prosper,

give thanks;

when you accomplish,

give thanks. 

Do not think you did

it all, for you yourself

did nothing. The Lord

did it all for you.

It’s one of the lessons

we learn from the story

of Bathsheba. 

Photograph by Debby Hudson via Unsplash. Used with permission. 

Some Sunday Readings

 

Happy New Year. Choose Your Kingdom – Ray Majoran at Glimpse of Infinity.

 

New Year Snow – poem by Andrew Roycroft at New Grub Street. 

The Monk Bringing Orthodox Christianity to an Island at the Edge of the World – Huw Paige at The Free Press.

Not a broken hallelujah

After 2 Samuel 11:1-27 

He was not where

he should have been;

he stayed home instead

of leading his army. 

He observed what 

he should not have seen,

the wife of another,

the wife of a soldier

at war. He desired

what he should not have

wanted, another man’s

wife, her husband away

in battle. He took what

was not his, no matter

how dazzled he was.

He dishonored another

man’s wife, he dishonored

the man, he dishonored

himself, he dishonored

his God. It was all

broken, but it was never

a hallelujah.

 

Photograph by Mahdi Bafande via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

The Resurrection of Our Deeds – Randy Alcorn at Eternal Perspective Ministries.

 

When Our Hearts Turn Cold in the Winter of Suffering – Lara d’Entremont at A Mother Held.

 

Fearlessly Walking with God – Brian Sudlow at The Imaginative Conservative.

 

What if Everything We Thought about the “Nones” Was Wrong? – Tripp Fuller at Process This.

 

The Long Walk Home – Kirsten Black at Faithful Paradox.