What does it mean that God works all things for good in our lives? Everyone has times when life feels anything but “good.” And yet, this verse gets quoted often as one of God’s promises. How can God be working for good when our circumstances are miserable? Paul wrote… We know that God makes all…
Rev and I were born just four days apart. This week, I will celebrate our birthdays without him for the first time in fifty-five years. Firsts are hard! It’s been eight and a half months and they say the first year is the hardest. I know about the stages of grief. I’ve read books and…
How well do you handle change? Changes come in all shapes and sizes. We grow, learn, mature, relocate, age, win, and lose. Some changes are exciting and others knock us off our feet. But one thing is certain … change is inevitable! When Rev and I were married we moved to St. Louis, an 11-hour…
The Bible tells us that we can find freedom in Jesus but have you ever wondered what that means and how it feels? 1. What does it really mean to have freedom in Jesus? The kind of freedom Jesus gives flows out of God’s love… This is how God loved the world: He gave His…
How’s it going? Do you need patience? How do you define what it means to be patient? Augustine said… “Patience is the companion of wisdom.” The Dictionary defines it as: 1. The bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.2. The ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with a delay.3. Quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care;…
How do you know when to confront someone who hurt you? You can’t believe… You’re upset. And yes, you’re angry too. So, now what? Should you confront them or not? Jesus said… “If your fellow believer sins against you, go and tell him in private what he did wrong. If he listens to you, you…
Occasionally, the Lord has used a dream to plant His voice of truth in my heart. I want to tell you about a dream where He reminded me of my need to trust and follow His will. Like many others, this dream took me back to high school… I was getting ready to perform in…
When we talk about God’s heart, we typically talk about His grace, mercy, and perfect love. We don’t like to consider the things that break His heart. When I traveled to Bolivia with a group blogging for World Vision, I learned the following quote… “Let my heart be broken for the things that break the…
What is the greatest problem in the world today? What do you believe? What do you think? I did a little research and found the following list of the world’s greatest problems. It’s a list that may or may not include the things that concern you. It can feel like today’s problems are worse than ever but…
The Bible says“God is love.” 1 John 4:16 But what exactly does that mean? Do you ever wonder how God shows His love? It’s important! The Bible says we should, “love others the way God loves us;” so, we need to know how God loves us if we want to love like Him. We know He…
When you need strength to act in faith, you need confidence in the One you believe is true and trustworthy. It breaks my heart when I get a comment from someone who tries to convince me that the Bible is fictional and anyone who believes its “fables” is foolish. I typically reply by telling them…
Are you living intentionally every day? Rev and I often shared the saying: “I want to LIVE every day ’til I die.” We felt that if God gave us a day, by His grace and with His help, we wanted to embrace it and live it purposefully. I used to tie my purpose to my…
What does it mean to you to “let God be God?” Years ago, there was a season when Rev served as a full-time pastor and a full-time fund-raising and stewardship consultant besides being an actively involved husband and father. Needless to say, he found himself working extremely long hours. One afternoon, an older church member…
Do you feel like there’s an intentional effort to cause conflict in families, between friends and neighbors, political parties, races, and even genders? If so, I have a question for you… How do you manage conflict? Some people seem to thrive on it and others want to avoid it completely. It can come out of…
What do you do when your heart hurts? My instinctual reaction is to curl up in a corner and feel sorry for myself. But Jesus offers us a much better way to handle the burden of heartache… “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you…
God hears your cries! You can count on Him! I’ve shared this story in the past, so please bear with me if you’ve heard it before… I remember the birth of our first child as if it happened yesterday. She was born on her due date, following a mercifully manageable and unmedicated labor and delivery….
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…
Do you know what it means to be righteous? The Urban Dictionary defines it as: The American Heritage Dictionary says it means: And finally, the Biblical defines righteousness as: Psalm 111 says… How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! All who delight in Him should ponder them.Everything He does reveals His glory and majesty. His righteousness never…
Are you worn out? Are you exhausted by the busyness and stressors of life? Have you considered making some changes but don’t know where to begin? Because even though you’re running on fumes … people depend on you. There’s no quitting or giving up; so, you keep doing what you need to do no matter…
The dictionary defines wisdom as having insight, knowledge, and good judgment. Author Patience Johnson wrote: “Wisdom is knowing the right thing to do and doing it at the right time to get the desired result. It is also the correct application of knowledge.” But what is Godly wisdom? The Bible says… The fear of the Lord is…
Some days I get up thinking about the big picture of life wondering what God wants me to do with however many years I have left. But most of the time, I want to just get through today. We all know the verse. Maybe you even know the song. This is the day the Lord has made. We will…
