Surprised By God

Our Daily Bread is hosted by Les Lamborn

READ: Ephesians 3:14-21

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us. —Ephesians 3:20

After 10 years of renting in a charming location, we discovered that our landlord suddenly needed to sell the house. I asked God to change the circumstances and make it possible for my wife and me to stay in this place we’d made home, where we’d watched our children grow up. But God said no.

When it comes to my needs, I worry that I’m asking for the wrong thing or that I’m not worthy of the request I’m making. But God’s no doesn’t need to shake our faith when we’re grounded—surrounded I like to say—in His love. In Ephesians 3, Paul understood that those who know the love of Christ intimately (vv.16-17) can trust God to have a loving reason for saying no.

What Is a Kibbutz?

IFCJ

In Hebrew, kibbutz means “communal settlement,” and that describes some of what goes into these rural communities dotting the Israeli countryside.

First founded in 1909 by a group of young Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, the original kibbutzim (the plural of kibbutz) were guided by the Marxist principle “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” Members of a kibbutz shared meals, property, possessions, farming duties, and child-rearing responsibilities. They were dedicated to living off the land and being a strong, giving Jewish community.