Jesus said: “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” Mark 12:29–30 If you’re like me, you want that. Oh, how you want that. But the truth is,…
Jesus said: “If you love me, obey my commandments.” John 14:15 Maybe, like me, you think … I love Jesus, I want to obey Him. The other day a couple of questions came to mind that I’d never thought about before… What are Jesus’ commandments? Are they different from the original 10 Commandments in the Old…
Welcome to Summer at Counting My Blessings! I’m taking a bit of a writing break so I can fill this space with fresh new content beginning in August. So, for the next eight weeks, I’ll be sharing the Summer Sizzle Blog Hop 2018 each Monday. And… A Countdown of my most popular posts here…
You and I were created to worship. God created us to worship Him but even those who say they don’t believe in God … worship something. We are hardwired to worship. So in this “hard questions” series – I’m asking… What is the right way to worship God? How does He really want me to…
Maybe you’re someone who reads the First Commandment, You must not have any other god but me. Exodus 20:3 and thinks… Whew, I believe in God as He is revealed in the Bible. I’m good on that one. That’s one commandment I don’t have to worry about. I’m not. I’ve had times when I’ve worried…
Are there many paths to God? With so many religions, how is a person supposed to know what to think? I promised we would look for answers to the hard questions and since we talked about the Bible last week … it seemed like addressing the 1st Commandment might be a good place to go…
I finished reading the Old Testament this week. Each time I work my way through the books of the Law, the historical books, the Psalms, and the prophets … I am overwhelmed with gratitude that the Lord of the universe wants us to know Him. Really KNOW Him! And now, I’m settling in and sitting…
Did you read Gretchen Fleming’s post last week? She started it… “Hi. My name is Gretchen and I’m a grudge-holding, fault finding, over-responsible, jealous, insecure, people-pleasing perfectionist. Oh, did I mention a know-it-all? I’m that too.” As I read her words, I found myself smiling at her honesty and nodding my head in agreement because…
It’s been years, but I can still picture them well. They were members of our small church in St. Louis. For my story today, I’m going to call them members A and B. Member A – A was a slightly built man with a wisp of silver hair. He had a huge smile and a…
I’ve studied the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah. And I have to admit, I feel bad for the prophets. I’ll bet they didn’t get invited to many parties! They spent their lives proclaiming God’s impending judgment on His people for their failure to trust God through obedience and love. The more I read and studied, the more…
I can’t even begin to tell you about the many nights I’ve spent with eyes wide open, worrying about everything. Rather than bore you with the details, I hope to bless you a truth I wish I’d not only learned but that I’d applied years ago. I was a chronic worrier which really isn’t surprising. Worry…
I’ve wrestled with this post for a while. It’s so much easier to write those feel-good grace-filled posts that remind us of God’s abundant goodness and mercy. And we’ll get to that, too … because that’s where we must land after we’ve come face to face with who we are without Him. But after…
Jesus replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” The second is equally important: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” No other commandment is greater than these.” Mark 12:30 What does it mean to love God with, “all your heart, all your soul, all…
I thought about sharing all my favorites from the week first but decided I’m too excited … so, I’m just going to spill my exciting news right away! It’s been on my heart the last several months to try to find a way to help bloggers connect and make friends. I hear from so many…
I always find it amusing when I see the word “believe” everywhere at this time of the year. Just believe – all by itself. It begs for answers. Believe in what? Believe in whom? When you and I “believe in” someone or something – we have faith in it. And having faith means we have…
Some days you and I wake up filled with joy and praise comes easy. Some days life is hard and our praise is wrapped in cries and pleas. Today I want to talk about the other days. Those “run-of-the-mill” mundane days full of routine and normalcy. Days of dirty bathrooms, piles of laundry, and carpooling…
I can’t believe we’re starting the second half of the Summer Sizzle Blog Hop already! I hope you’re enjoying it as much as I am! This ladies are awesome and sharing their posts with you is just blessing my socks off! This week I want to introduce you to my dear friend, Marva from Sun…
Some days trust comes easy other days, not so much! When the road ahead looks smooth I will effortlessly follow where God leads me without hesitation but when it gets rough my steps slow as anxiety rises. I want my trust to be big enough to handle even the bumpiest days . . . trust that keeps its…
It’s week two of the Summer Sizzle Blog Hop Series! Yay!! And I’m so excited to share a post from one of my favorite people. Alison Tiemeyer is wise beyond her years. I’ve always loved reading her posts as she inspires me in both my faith and in blogging. Then I met her in person!…
This is one of those posts that won’t make me the most popular blogger on the block. It’s just something I’ve been thinking about and feel the need to discuss here. I’m reading through a Chronological Version of the Bible this year and the last few months I’ve been working my way through the kings…
I wonder… Who Do You Think Should Decide Right and Wrong? If everyone says it’s okay … is it really okay? Is cultural holiness the bar for right and wrong? What is cultural holiness? “Many Christians have what we might call a “cultural holiness”. They adapt to the character and behavior pattern of Christians around them….
