Posted on by Lori Cartmell

Who Loves You?

Photo from Pxhere

How many times today has someone told you that they love you?

If you have a loving family, you’ll probably hear them express their love for you frequently.

But what if your family ties are a bit strained? What if you don’t have many close relationships at all, and consider yourself to be fairly alone in the world?

Then you probably don’t hear the words “I love you” nearly enough.

There’s a remedy for that:

Open a Bible.

The unfailing love of God is a soundtrack that reverberates through the Scriptures.

It’s easy to find verses in the New Testament that exemplify God’s love:

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
“This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” (1 John 4:10)
And of course: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

But what about the Old Testament?

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Posted on by Lori Cartmell · 2 Comments

If This Isn’t Love…

The love of God for us is one of those topics that you could spend a lifetime exploring.

As believers, we often focus on the Crucifixion of Jesus to demonstrate God’s love.

And rightly so: Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross to redeem us from our sins was the epitome of extravagant love.

“God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:8)

But I wonder if we give short shrift to the Incarnation.

The fact that God took on human form and walked among us for 33 years shows an astonishing level of love.

When Jesus came to earth, our story became His story. He chose to go through the same pain we do, and carry the same burdens we do.

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Posted on by Lori Cartmell

With God, You Get the Flower First!

Eastern Redbud Tree

Sometimes nature can be a bit unpredictable—things happen in an order we wouldn’t expect.

Normally, plants put forth leaves long before they produce flowers.

But some trees and shrubs flip the script, so to speak.

With certain plants, the normal sequence is reversed: the flowers come first, before the leaves have developed.

A good example is the beautiful redbud tree. It puts forth gorgeous pink flowers on its bare branches in early spring, when none of its leaves are yet in sight.

The forsythia shrub bears its bright yellow flowers in advance of its leaves, and the lovely magnolia presents its pink or white blooms before the green foliage appears. Some maples and oaks also exhibit this flower-first behaviour, although with less showy blossoms.

All of these plants give us a treat in springtime when we’re starved for colour. We get the flower first without having to wait for the leaves.

Why do some plants reverse the normal order of things?

Some trees are wind-pollinated, so put forth flowers before their bulky leaves get in the way. The same goes for flowers that need extra sunlight. Other plants produce a mass of conspicuous flowers first, unobscured by leaves, to better attract the attention of pollinating insects.

Did you know that God also flipped the script and gave us the flower first, so to speak?

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Posted on by Lori Cartmell

A Cruciform Life

There are some things that can only be seen if you take a bird’s-eye view.

It’s only when you look down from a great height that you realize that the artificial island of Palm Jumeirah in Dubai is designed to resemble a palm tree.

You only really get a sense of why the Pentagon was given its name when you view this building from above and see its five-sided shape.

Someone at ground level in Nazca, Peru, might completely miss the fact that the lines etched into the desert sands at their feet actually form massive shapes of animals and plants. The full designs can only be seen from up high.

Similarly, it might not be obvious to you when entering certain churches that the outline of the building itself forms a cross when viewed from above.

Many European cathedrals feature a cross-shaped floor plan. The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is prime example of a cruciform building.

I like to think that when God looks down at these buildings from above, it pleases Him to see a cross reflected back at Him.

Here’s a question for you:

When God looks down from above at your life, does He see the Cross reflected in how you live? How “cruciform” is your life?

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Posted on by Lori Cartmell

The Best Worst Day

Image by Dorothée QUENNESSON from Pixabay

There are some dates in history which stand out for being associated with awful events. Each year, when the calendar rolls around to these dates, we shudder in horror when we recall what happened.

Here are a few “worst days in history” that come to mind:

September 11th, 2001: the deadly World Trade Centre terrorist attacks in New York.

August 6, 1945: the dropping of a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

June 28, 1914: the day Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated, igniting the horrific First World War which killed tens of millions.

December 26, 2004: the Boxing Day tsunami which killed hundreds of thousands.

Some horrible dates in history have specific terms associated with them, such as:

December 7, 1941: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a date which President Roosevelt said would “live in infamy.”

October 29, 1929: called “Black Tuesday,” the worst day of a stock market crash which would send the world spiralling into the Great Depression.

What term is associated with the horrible day Jesus Christ was crucified?

“Good.” It’s called Good Friday.

But why?

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Posted on by Lori Cartmell

Your Spiritual Resumé

If you had to write a resumé for God’s consideration, what would you list on it?

You’d probably assume that you should list all the good, noble, and praiseworthy things you’ve done.

Your perfect church attendance, your faithful donations to Christian charities, and your decades of volunteering at the soup kitchen would certainly top the list on your spiritual resumé.

You’d also want to throw in your kindness to others, your endless good deeds, and the fact that people consider you a saint.

It probably wouldn’t hurt to mention your lack of even so much as a parking ticket on your driving record.

All this would surely carry weight with God, wouldn’t it? Your impressive list of virtuous accomplishments would undoubtedly factor into in His decision as to whether He would accept you or not.

Or would it?

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Posted on by Lori Cartmell

The Game is Rigged

In life, it’s easy to conclude that you’re getting the short end of the stick.

On social media, everyone seems to be having a better life than you are.

At the grocery store, each year you pay a bit more for the same item.

In the parking lot, the other guy inevitably gets the spot you were waiting for.

At the casino, the house always wins.

Even your bathroom scale seems to be part of the conspiracy against you: surely it’s rounding up?

But with God, this isn’t true. The game is rigged in your favour!

How so?

When we think of the scales of justice and mercy, we assume they’re evenly balanced. But God actually has his finger on the scale, so to speak. For those who believe in His Son, it’s tilted heavily toward mercy.

“The Lord isn't slow about keeping his promises, as some people think he is. In fact, God is patient, because he wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost.” (2 Peter 3:9)

God longs to be merciful (Isaiah 30:18). But at the same time He must judge sin.

How does He reconcile these two seemingly contradictory impulses?

At the Cross.

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Posted on by Lori Cartmell

Put On Some Heart-Shaped Glasses!

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

When we’re going through tough times, it’s easy to get discouraged.

We all worry about our health, our families, our finances, and the future. Believers aren’t immune to these anxieties.

When life is spinning out of control, we often feel overwhelmed. We wonder where God is in our difficulties.

What we need is a different perspective.

I’m not suggesting we put on rose-coloured glasses, but rather heart-shaped ones.

The beating heart of God resounds with love for His children.

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Posted on by Lori Cartmell

The Christmas Fruitcake Hack

Do you like Christmas fruitcake? Or do you just pretend to?

Some people look forward to making or receiving fruitcakes at this time of year. Other people dread the prospect of eating fruitcake yet again.

If you’ve been faking enjoyment of Christmas fruitcake all these years and would really rather not eat any more of it, I think I have a solution for you:

Make Christmas fruitcake cookies instead.

I hit upon this idea years ago and have never looked back. I liked some of the ingredients in fruitcake, but was never fond of the dense, molasses-y cake surrounding them.

With fruitcake cookies, however, you keep the best parts of fruitcake and add more butter. You also omit the ingredients that are unpalatable to you. The recipe is thereby transformed into something completely new. What results is a scrumptious cookie that is a crowd-pleaser whenever I serve it.

In the same way, isn’t that sort of what God does in our lives? When we become believers in Jesus, God keeps the best parts of us and adds the Holy Spirit. As we become more like Jesus, the unpalatable aspects of us are gradually left behind: our impatience, pride, lack of generosity, selfishness, etc.

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Posted on by Lori Cartmell

The Perfect Christmas?

Photo by Adam Clark on Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0

What’s your idea of the perfect Christmas? Many of us have images in our minds of what the ideal Yuletide should look like.

It usually involves a spectacular Christmas tree with enticing gifts piled beneath it. The house would be decorated with pine boughs and red bows inside, and the exterior decked out with lights. The day itself would feature a scrumptious dinner with all the fixings, and numerous home-baked desserts. Top it all off with a house full of family, friends and laughter.

There’s only one problem with this picture.

It’s awfully hard to live up to.

Perhaps you were laid off from your job just before Christmas. Or maybe you’re employed, but things are still really tight financially. You just can’t provide all the gifts that your children have been asking for, and you know they might be disappointed.

Or maybe someone in your family is going through a health crisis. It looks serious, and you’re all under a lot of stress as a result. It might be hard to feel “merry” this Christmas.

It could be that you have some fractured or broken relationships in your life. Maybe things are very tense with a certain family member. Or perhaps you’ve lost someone dear to you, and this will be the first Christmas without them. The holidays might be a lonely time for you.

There are a lot of reasons why the Christmas season might fall short of what we want it to be.

But when you think about it, the first Christmas was fraught with struggles, too. Mary and Joseph certainly didn’t have it easy.

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