Today is the 20th Friday of 2018 – I can’t believe how fast this year is passing… I started thinking about my resolutions and goals … how this year was going to be different. How I would deliberately and consistently do my best to balance work, play, and rest. I started the year wanting 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…
Recently, I read a Gallup Poll Article – Record Few Americans Believe Bible Is Literal Word of God “Fewer than one in four Americans (24%) now believe the Bible is “the actual word of God, and is to be taken literally, word for word,” similar to the 26% who view it as “a book of…
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…
I need God’s forgiveness! No matter how hard I try, I mess up the obedience and love part of my life every single day! I don’t obey God the way He wants me to. I don’t even obey Him the way I want to. I tell Him how much I love Him but with all my heart, soul,…
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 had no idea how many of you, like me, struggle to live one day at a time. Trusting and following God’s will for today without dwelling on the past or the future may be one of our greatest challenges. Truthfully, I shouldn’t have been surprised! I don’t know anyone over the age of five…
I recently wrote the following about my faith: If I’m wrong and there is no God, if Jesus isn’t the Way, Truth, and Life … I wouldn’t change a thing. My life has been full of hope, unexpected joy, impossible to understand peace, indescribable strength when I needed it most, and miraculous healing. I’m blessed. My life is…
One of our pastors recently asked us — “What do you think heaven will be like?” What do you think? There are a few things we know from Scripture about The New Heaven and the New Earth. He [Jesus] will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like His own, using…
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…
How can you and I know God’s will? I mean, what is His will exactly? Even when you and I want to follow God’s will for us … the world gives us mixed messages. Goodness, I think even the different church denominations and non-denominations send out mixed messages when it comes to God’s will. So,…
I’m guessing you’re like me and that you share my struggle. You have the voice in your head that remembers and repeats every hurt-filled accusation. And a mirror that faithfully points out every little imperfection. You know the whispers of lost friendships that want you to believe you’re just not worth it. And you count every…
Who would have thought that a 17th Century monk, faithfully working in the kitchen in a small monastery with an unwavering attitude of devotion could touch the hearts and minds of countless believers for generations? The next time you question whether or not anything you’re doing matters … stop and remember Brother Lawrence. After spending…
It’s hard to surrender! One of the hardest things to do in life is to be able to say… “Lord, not my will but Yours be done.” In fact, I’ve had more than a few times when I’ve gone into and through circumstances both kicking and screaming! Surrender is a word that used to terrify…
If you’d known me growing up you would have seen a girl who could comfortably play the piano and organ in front of large groups of people, who could stand in front of groups and give presentations with little or no fear, and who thrived on memorizing lines and performing in plays and musicals. If…
I started reading Exodus this week. Wow, those people make me uncomfortable! I think it’s because I so often see myself in their less than cooperative words and behaviors. After I ask God to forgive me for being so much like them … I can settle in to learn from them. Here are just a…
I always believed God blessed good behavior and in many ways, He does, but the truth is you and I are not perfect … our behavior will never be good enough. So, most of us would probably admit — life is hard! Add to any personal problems you and I experience, our lives are also…
