The Fish Tank

"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 a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 We Christians like this verse; like A LOT. We have it written all over the place. We hang this verse up in our home and tattoo it to our bodies. Jeremiah 29:11 is everyone's life verse. I mean, who doesn't want to rest in knowing the God has a plan for our life; especially when that plan includes safety and prosperity. Even if I didn't believe in God, I would hold onto this verse. What if, however, we have been misinterpreting this verse all these years? This life, the here and the now, we like it. Well, some of us probably want to throw this life in the trash like a rough draft and have a do-over. But, for the most part, we hold onto this life for dear life. It is all we know. It can be scary to think of anything else. Because of this, we go all in even when the cards we are dealt are bad. Thi...

I am a rule follower. I believe that if you don't follow the rules, you deserve the consequences. I was the "you cheated" and the "you're out because you didn't follow the rules" kid. I am a justice seeker thru and thru. Because of this, it can be very hard for me when someone doesn't get what they deserve. I can get worked up when people wrong others but aren't held accountable. "You shall have no other gods before me." Exodus 20:3 God just freed the Israelites from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. He was reminding them not to revert back to their old ways now that they were given new life. The Israelites struggled with idols. They had a longing for something physical to worship. These idols continuously tripped them up. We have an idol. Just like the Israelites, we have something that keeps tripping us up. Our idol is causing division among us. It is tearing apart friendships and families. This idol is causing us to lose sight o...