Author: Dave Dishman (Page 190 of 480)

Recently I stood waiting as passengers boarded an airplane. One gentleman turned to me as he walked by and quietly remarked, did you know that God loves you today? I replied, Amen brother, then listened as he made the same comment to the flight attendant. The man planted seeds in his winsome way on a 7 am flight to Houston.

The gospel was planted in my life at a small church in the Ozarks. Members of the Campus Crusade for Christ chapter watered the seed at the University of Missouri. My fledging faith grew over the years through the writings of authors like CS Lewis and Timothy Keller.

We all embrace faith and grow through a variety of influences. Paul wrote to the Corinthian church about this process: I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.

It encourages me to keep in mind that no matter who plants or waters, God causes the growth. I need not experience any pressure in spiritual conversations. I can talk about my faith and encourage others to turn to faith, knowing that God controls the outcome.

Years ago in Campus Crusade I heard Bill Bright teach that success in evangelism involves sharing the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God. In other words, freely scatter seed and generously splash water. God causes the seed to germinate and grow wherever he wishes. True faith is not up to us. It involves divine intervention—it’s supernatural.

Amazingly, God cracks open seeds every day. People turn to the Lord in faith and begin a life of following him. Don’t be afraid to speak up and pour lessons from your faith journey into the mix.

1 Corinthians 3 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Markus Spiske

We enjoy fresh water in Colorado. The water I drink originates as snowfall in the Rocky Mountains, which starts melting in the spring and rushing through a series of rivers and pipelines. After a long journey, this mountain runoff flows through a water treatment facility and on to my house.

It’s easy to turn the tap and take all this for granted. I forget that numerous people over many years designed systems to transport water for me to guzzle on a hot day. This past year I helped provide water filters to folks in Guatemala lacking good water and suffering the consequences. When I take time to think, I’m grateful for clean water.

Isaiah preached a message to the people in Jerusalem who forgot the provider of their water:

You built a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the Old Pool, but you did not look to the one who made it, or have regard for the One who planned it long ago.

The recipients of this message wisely stored water. But they failed to acknowledge the Lord, who supplied the water they drank. Instead of celebrating God’s abundant goodness, they simply celebrated themselves.

Gratitude (or the lack thereof) exposes the state of my heart. Failing to thank the Lord and others who provide a good life for me reveals a selfish streak never far from the surface. Isaiah’s words remind me of the One who planned my life long ago.

Everything I have—family, friends, health, finances—comes from the hand of the Lord.

Even a glass of water.

Isaiah 22 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Jacek Dylag

I used to enjoy reading the opinion section of the newspaper. Letters to the editor expressed thoughts ranging from wise to outright crazy. Occasionally I sent one in myself, wise in my mind but likely crazy to others.

Today letters to the editor have gone nuclear, with frenzied opinions flaring across news channels and social media feeds like a combination of the covid virus and a cockroach infestation. So called experts and influencers declare their views as superior to all others. Half-truths masquerade as gospel.

Opinions echo from sea to shining sea, with few reflecting true wisdom. Paul shared these thoughts:

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?…For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Whatever I choose to take in and believe, it pays to check against the wisdom of the Lord—the Word of God. Because if what I hold to as wisdom fails the God test, then it’s not wisdom at all.

1 Corinthians 1 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Austin Distel

Few words shatter history. But when a couple of devoted followers of Jesus arrived at dawn to sit at the tomb where he lay, these women received a message crackling with life and power.

Instead of death, an open tomb and an angel greeted the women. The angel told them, I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here: he has risen, just as he said.

He has risen. Three words whose magnificent underlying reality shook the world. Over the centuries billions of people accompanied these women to follow the risen Jesus.

The words of the angel reverberate today, offering light in the darkness, and bringing hope to a desperate world.

He is risen.

He is risen indeed.

Matthew 28 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Bruno van der Kraan