Category Archives: Best of Drew

Best of Drew

God is the Author

God is the author.  God is the author of life, DNA, faith and the Bible.  In Genesis chapter one, the Bible says that “God created the earth and the heavens.  In Hebrews chapter twelve Jesus, the son of God is the author of faith.  In Hebrews 12 it says “…looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,”.   DNA is the code used my almost all living plants, animals and man to decide how a biological system should be constructed protein by protein. God as a biological software engineer designed DNA.

Lake Pend Oreille at Sandpoint, Idaho - Sunset

Lake Pend Oreille at Sandpoint, Idaho – Sunset

Ephesians – the Grand Canyon of the Bible

Someone has called the book of Ephesians the Grand Canyon of the Bible because of the vivid pictures, descriptions, and talk about God and Christ, coupled with applications for our Christian lives.

The book of Ephesians and Romans both lay out the basic doctrines of the Christian life. Ephesians is short — just 6 chapters; Romans is longer.

Ephesians is divided into two sections: part 1 and part 2. The first part, chapters one through three, is all about what God has done for us in Christ, so that He could get all the glory. The second part, chapters four through six, is about how Christ enables us to apply what God has done to our daily lives.  So the first section is doctrine, the second is application. The first section is all about what is in the enchilada (doctrine), and the second section is how to eat and enjoy the enchilada for lunch (application).

Tel Arad, Israel

Tel Arad, Israel, about 40 miles South of Jerusalem

There are two great prayers in Ephesians (and one mention of prayer).

Eph 1:16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; 17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

Eph 3:14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

Eph 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Tel Arad, Israel

Tel Arad, Israel

Tel Arad, Israel is about 40 miles South of Jerusalem.

Prayer Can Be Simple

Prayer can just be simple, not complex and not formal. God is real, He is a living person and can be talked to with short simple words any time and in any place. He is not limited by His schedule, but He is limited by our schedule. Just talk to Him and make your concerns and requests known in any words you feel to use. We sometimes wait for a good time to pray, but anytime is always great.

Little Spokane River and Reflections

Little Spokane River and Reflections

Hope Propels Us

Yes, when we have hope, it makes us go faster.  Hope propels us.  Think about how much hope the Bible gives us.  In the Bible God wins, the enemy, Satan looses.  Men and Women  created in the image of God have the opportunity to serve God and fulfill their  destiny.  Psalm 43:5  Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him,  who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Spokane River

Spokane River

There is not a time we cannot hope in God. God is our hope. No matter how bad the situation is, we can always hope in God.   God can fix even the impossible. Our hope in God is not in vain; in time God will help us.

Spokane Clouds

Spokane Clouds

Death Connects Us to Eternity

When people die it helps us connect with eternity, especially when its someone we know, love and respect.  Experiencing the death of someone we care about causes  us to think about eternity.  

The Bible is the book most qualified to tell us about eternity.

What Happens When Someone Dies

There is a day on our calendar when we are appointed to die. The day is printed in invisible ink, but God can see it. God knows the day. He gives life and He takes life. We try to extend life with diets, exercise, and doctors, but life and death is in the hand of God.  The day of our birth and death is set by God, not me. The fact is that all of us are born, we die and we all pay taxes. None of us choose when we are born and when we die. Everybody faces God.  After death we all face God to determine eternity. Some for eternal rewards some for eternal punishment.Ok, So what happens when I die?  When we die, we at some point will face God to give an account for our life.

1. For the believer it is to inherit eternal life.
2. For the un-believer it is to receive eternal punishment.

Here are some verses from the Bible on death and what what happens after we die. As a main point and side point, the Bible is the book most qualified to tell us about eternity.

John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
Daniel 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame, to everlasting contempt.
John 3:36  He that believes on the Son has life eternal, and he that is not subject to the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him.
Psalms 39:5 Behold, thou hast made my days as hand- breadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before thee; verily, every man, even the high placed, is altogether vanity.

When we die, we at some point, will face God to give an account for our life.

1. For Believers, there is the Judgment Seat of Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
Romans 14:10 But thou, why judgest thou thy brother? or again, thou, why dost thou make little of thy brother? for we shall all be placed before the judgment- seat of God.

The judgment seat of Christ does not determine our eternal destiny; that issue is decided the moment we receive Christ. Knowing that in the future we will stand before Jesus Christ and face a personal review of our lives should always motivate us to love the Lord, grow in the Lord, obey the Lord, live righteously and live faithfully in the present.

2. For un-believers, there is the Great White Throne.

The “Great White Throne” judgment described in Rev. 20:11–15 is for unbelievers. This final exam for all un-believers is a picture of God’s holy rule and requirements.

20:15 Only God’s elect, those whose names are written in the Book of Life, will escape the lake of fire. To be written in the book of life is to believe on Jesus for eternal life.

When people die it helps us connect with eternity.  When someone we care about dies, this helps us connect with eternity.

Prayer as Branches with the Vine

Prayer as Branches with the Vine – Jesus’ Instructions on Prayer in John 15

Grape Vines in Washington State

Grape Vines in Washington State

Wow, look at prayer, with Jesus as the vine, and we as the branches in John 15, chapters 14, 15, 16, and 17.  In these four chapters, Jesus was trying to comfort His disciples and at the same time get them to just abide in Him.  So right in the middle of that, in chapter 15,  Jesus was talking about abiding. He was talking about how we need to be like branches on a vine. He was the true vine. Some people say this describes kind of an organic, living and real relationship between Jesus and us, or between us and the Father.  Without getting into the rest of the context, there,  John 15:7 says, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” That seems kind of like a blank check where you can expect God to do anything you ask of Him. Some people look at that verse and they wonder why God doesn’t answer when they pray for something. There is a condition in this verse, though. It says, “If you abide in Me and My words aide in you”.  The “asking” is prayer.

Grape Vines in Eastern Washington

Grape Vines in Eastern Washington

Well, the first condition, there, is, “If you abide in Me… “ Without getting into the context,there, one way to abide is to stay in the Lord, to rest in the Lord, or to remain in the Lord.  So how does one abide in the Lord, it simply means to trust and rely on Him. I would even say it means to do the things God wants you to do, to obey the Lord.  He says, “If you abide in Me”.  Then He says, “And if My words abide in you”.  This passage in the book of John says, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you”, you can ask whatever you will and I will do it. What words is He talking about when Jesus says, “And My words abide in you”? I believe He is specifically talking about the word He is speaking. Oh, and by the way, what ever Jesus says is the Word of God. I believe it also has to include the words of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

Grape Vines in Eastern Washington

Grape Vines in Eastern Washington

The video this text is taken from is on  Drew’s YouTube channel.  This portion is at YouTube.

Why Man was Created by God

Sometimes it is hard to understand why God created man.

In the beginning there was the earth, plants, animals and there was man. What is all this for and why are we here?  These are some universal questions. In the beginning God had a purpose in mind for all things, but what is this purpose and what does this have to do with us? When we look at the beginning of the Bible, the first book of the Bible and the first chapter of the Bible the reason why God created man is laid out for us. It says, there, that God created man in His image and in His likeness, and He wanted man to have dominion over the fish, the cattle, the birds, over the whole earth and over the creeping things. In that passage the two key words are “image” and “dominion”. These two words describe the reason why God created you and created me—imagine and dominion.

God Created the Earth

God Created the Earth

Now what do these two words mean? An image is like a photograph. If I have a photograph of a tree, you see an image of the tree; you see the attributes of the tree. For instance, most trees are green, so you see green. You see the form of the branches, the shape of the leaves and so on. Well, in the same way, you and I were created in the image of God that we might express the attributes of God.  For instance, a tree is green, so a photograph of a tree expresses that attribute, the color green. You and I were created in the image of God. Now one attribute of God is love. Others include joy, peace, patience, honesty, telling the truth and so on.  These are all attributes of God.  When we express these attributes we express God’s nature, and this is why you and I were created.

So this is why God created man.

God Loves to Hear Prayer

God loves to hear prayer. He is a God who listens. Look at these verses on prayer in the Bible, God listens to every prayer.  Have this confidence that in every pray, whether it be small or large, whether it be well phrased, or just a bunch of broken words, God listens.  Sometimes what we think are the worst prayers, God just loves, since we are expressing our real feelings.

Psalms 66:19 But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer.

Psalms 66:20 Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His mercy from me!

Reflection during Idaho Sunset

Reflection during Idaho Sunset


James 5:16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly…

This  last verse in James eventually refers to Elijah who in a very unique situation needed a prayer to bring God in to vindicate Himself.   Elijah did pray and God did come in.

So never feel that God does not hear, He does hear and answer.   p.s.  answers do not always come how and when we expect them.