God – BeanSpired Editions

A beach lies in deep shadow, with distant houses silhouetted against the beginnings of a sunrise. A patch of orange and gold in the middle of the horizon heralds the rising sun. The dim blue sky above is full of gauzy clouds, with some denser, darker clouds low on the horizon to the right. Dark waves break on the shore to the right, their crests glowing in the dawn.

Disability & Rare Disease, God, Gospel

Loved Beyond Fear

February 28, 2023March 7, 2023 Megan Bean

Because we're loved in the midst of our frailty, we can live well in the midst of our frailty.

A planner lies open on a granite countertop. The month shown is February 2023.

God, Tough Times

When God’s Timing Seems Terrible

January 27, 2023February 1, 2023 Megan Bean

In the face of loss, where and how can we find the providence of a loving, sovereign God?

A Bible lies open in the seat of a power wheelchair in an outdoor setting. Fallen leaves in the grass indicate it's autumn.

Disability & Rare Disease, God

When the Bible Meets Disability

October 28, 2022February 1, 2023 Megan Bean

How we view disability and treat those who live with it matter. And, as with every other life topic or ethical question, our best guide is the Bible . . . All our best intentions and attempts at inclusion will miss the mark unless they grow from and by biblical truths.

The green heart-shaped leaves of an Eastern Redbud tree fill most of the photo. The closest are mere inches from the camera. Some leaves are in sunlight, others in full or partial shade. A few bits of blue sky show though the canopy of leaves. The leafy branches cast shadows on the grass below.

God

A Love That’s Easily Pleased

July 29, 2022February 1, 2023 Megan Bean

When we truly, deeply love someone, we’re easily pleased with their gifts. They could give us a rock and we’d treasure it—because it’s from them. If their heart’s in it, our heart responds. I wondered: How pleased am I with what God gives me? What does that say about our relationship? And how does He respond to what I offer Him?

A white plastic basket sits on the ground in the aisle a barn. The basket has two rectangular compartments and a handle running along the divider between them. Its compartments are filled with various brightly-colored brushes and tools used to groom horses. The floor of the barn aisle is covered with rather dirty rubber mats. Shade and morning sunlight streak the ground. Under a board fence in the background are the plants and dirt of a paddock.

Donkey Devos, God, Life

Waiting for Perfection

June 13, 2022February 1, 2023 Megan Bean

If God wants our sanctification so badly, why doesn't He just skim off our old selves and slip on the new in an instant? Why make us endure the wait?

The fallen, pale pink blossoms of a Japanese Flowering Cherry tree litter the sun-dappled ground under the tree.

God, Holidays & Seasons, Tough Times

When Good Things End

April 28, 2022February 1, 2023 Megan Bean

Trusting God’s purposes is hard enough when bad things invade our lives. But what about when good things leave? When instead of facing an enemy, we face simply...emptiness?

A brilliant sunrise fills the sky over the dark treetops of a forest. Clouds ranging from gold to orange to dark pink and purple spread across a pale blue sky. The horizon where the sun is about to come up is almost white.

Donkey Devos, God

Not Like Us

March 31, 2022February 1, 2023 Megan Bean

He might be above and beyond us in just about every way. But He also draws close to us in all His holy otherness.

Old fallen maple leaves cover the ground, almost completely obscuring the grass. The leaves are dry and brown, with pale undersides.

God, Life

Coming Unburied

February 25, 2022February 1, 2023 Megan Bean

What do you do with the stuff that can't and won't stay buried, yet is still undeniably not what you wanted in your life?

A furry gray donkey with a white nose and belly and a dark stripe down its shoulder stands in a snowy pasture. It turns its head toward the camera and pricks its ears. The pasture in which it stands is long and narrow, with wire mesh fences, and slopes downhill toward a forest. The forest consists of pine and bare deciduous trees. Through their branches the sky shows a bright cloudless blue. Some trees off-screen to the right streak the snow with shadows.

Donkey Devos, God, Holidays & Seasons, Tough Times

Finding God When Things Look Bleak

January 25, 2022February 1, 2023 Megan Bean

We may not always be sure what to make of what God sends us. But we can always trust and know the One who sends it.

A furry brown and black donkey eats pelleted feed out of a bright blue pan on the ground.

Donkey Devos, God, Life

What It Takes to ‘Taste and See’

June 21, 2021June 2, 2022 Megan Bean

A life following Jesus isn't an easy life. But it's the best possible life we could ever live. And it takes us to the best place we could ever be: the heart of God, the very definition of goodness. You’d think we’d rush to taste that goodness. What kind of healthy human doesn’t want to experience inner peace, to be truly and faithfully loved, to live with a sense that they and their lives matter? Yet we hold back....afraid the sweetness holds poison. Convinced the fruit we’ve been told is scrumptious will turn out sour or bland. Suspicious that the goodness is all taste and no nourishment for our famished souls.