Baskets filled with candy and tiny treasures. Head-to-toe new outfits. And the fragrance of flowers and festive music fills our church sanctuaries. We love to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, but it’s hard to look at all He endured before… He used His servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid…
Is your church welcoming of people who appear rough around the edges? How well do the members extend God’s love to everyone? I’ve visited churches where individuals won’t make eye contact, and I’m generally clean and put together for Sunday services. One of the things I love about my current faith family is that so…
Do you have a list of challenging Bible verses you wish had not been included? Today’s verses fall into that category for me. I remember hearing them many years ago and thinking I don’t know how this can be true. I don’t even want to think about it. What are they? They begin with these…
Imagine yourself standing before a judge. You committed a crime against Him. You know you’re guilty. He knows you’re guilty. As He raises His gavel to pronounce judgment, He looks at you and says… Not Guilty!
Today’s verses are challenging in that they invite us to examine God’s righteous anger. Less than halfway into the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans, he wrote… God shows His anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because He…
When the Bible says God hardened hearts, what is it saying? Does God intentionally prevent some people from knowing, loving, and trusting Him? Even after all Jesus’ miracles and promises, John wrote… But despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of the people still did not believe in Him. But the people couldn’t…
I don’t believe it was the way I was raised … it just seemed to evolve with time. I knew God and that my eternal salvation was secure through Jesus’ sacrifice and the gift of faith in His amazing grace… But for some reason, I thought my here and now was influenced by God’s favor…
What is sin? We typically think of sin as not obeying God’s Commandments, but James added… Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. James 4:17 It’s challenging when culture’s view of what we ought to do differs from what God’s Word tells us to do. I…
What is grace and what does it mean to embrace grace? Max Lucado wrote… God answers the mess of life with one word, “Grace.” I’ve often heard it said that grace is God’s “undeserved favor.” I typically share the following definitions for grace and mercy… And one more says… For Christians, grace is the free…
Hi Friends, it is hard for me to find the words right now … Rev’s struggle with ALS is over and he is safely in the arms of Jesus. I am so very thankful for the lasting love I have shared with this wonderful man. I write my posts in advance, so you will still…
It’s hard to believe we’re only a few days away from the end of the year. I don’t know about you, but I feel like 2023 has flown by; it seems like just a moment ago that I invited you to join me in studying the Book of Psalms and experience a “powerful life-changing friendship…
I love God’s timing and the assurance that His love endures forever. When I decided to write through the Book of Psalms this year, I had no idea Psalm 136 would be the one that would fall during the week of Thanksgiving. It’s possible you grew up responsively reading this Psalm at a Thanksgiving worship…
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever. Psalm 118:1 That is TRUTH but the enemy constantly lies and tells us that God is holding out on us and that we can’t trust His love. We live in a world where love can be selfish … where the recipient dictates the…
You’re devastated. You’ve received bad news and your world has been turned upside down. And now, the enemy is tempting you to question your faith and doubt God’s love by whispering, “Where’s your God now? He must not really love you. If He loved you, He wouldn’t have allowed this to happen.” His questions swirl…
God promised a Savior before Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden and He repeatedly told His people about the coming Messiah throughout all the generations of the Old Testament. God promised a Messiah and God keeps His promises. He sent Jesus but the people had waited for so long that many didn’t recognize…
Children want their parents to hold them, comfort them, and protect them. God’s children also want His presence, protection, and provision and He is the perfect loving Father.
God’s forgiveness is a free gift given to sinners when they humbly repent through faith in Christ Jesus. It is a gift that we can celebrate with joy.
Guilt. Shame. Blame. You know . . . those things the enemy uses to discourage you. There’s nothing he loves more than to remind us of our past failures. His goal is to get us to nod in agreement and live defeated. Why? Because when we are discouraged and defeated . . . focused on…
It’s a simple truth that love amplifies our vulnerability. Sometimes love gives us feelings of bliss and euphoria, and sometimes our love fails and it hurts . . . a lot. Most of us know what it feels like to experience a broken heart. I do. My heart has been broken. Maybe yours has been…
I love trees! There is just something about watching trees reach higher into the heavens each and every year. I love the bright green and occasional blossoms of spring, the rich deep green of summer, and the reds, oranges, and yellows that paint the leaves in the fall. And I’m always a little sad to…
I’ll never forget the moment I realized that I wasn’t an observer of Eve picking and taking a bite out of that piece of fruit that brought sin upon us all . . . I was guilty. I was Eve. You see, I’d remembered a specific moment when the enemy had tempted me to doubt…
