It’s been a hard year for so many of us. Our list of reasons to be unsettled and unhappy seem to linger week after week after week. Isolation and loneliness are simply not what God intended for us and for some reason it feels even harder at Christmastime when we typically look forward to our…
Have you ever doubted God’s love or His willingness to care for you? Maybe you had a heart’s desire prayer that He didn’t answer as you’d hoped. Maybe one of His followers broke your heart or betrayed you and you blamed God. Maybe life’s circumstances have you in a pit of despair and you feel…
Many of us are feeling sad and lonely this year. It’s been hard to wear masks and isolate ourselves from those we love and care about. I don’t think we ever imagined this virus would still be keeping us apart all these many months later. We’re being asked to forgo our traditional holiday celebrations and…
I wonder if it isn’t hard for people to admit their need for a Savior. We are taught from little on to be self-sufficient . . . to find ways to fix what’s wrong and succeed on our own. We are always on the look for ways to supply and satisfy ourselves. How often do…
Jesus and His inner circle had just descended from the mountain of Transfiguration. And talk about a mountain top experience! Can you imagine witnessing Jesus in His GLORY standing and talking with Moses and Elijah? It’s hard to envision, isn’t it? The next verses are easier to for me to get my brain around as…
I hate chaos and confusion. So, I have to admit this has been a hard year for me. It’s been a time when mixed messages have been used to mislead and manipulate . . . and I have found myself feeling discouraged and disheartened. The source of chaos and confusion is the enemy of our…
Okay, I’ll admit it, I wasn’t feeling very thankful. In my defense, I was pregnant and my raging hormones were definitely affecting my attitude. It seems silly in retrospect, but there I was standing in our closet grumbling to myself as I moved Rev’s suit jackets and dress pants from wire hangers back to the…
Do you need hope? It can be hard to feel hopeful when we’re exhausted from carrying life’s burdens. Then we look around and the world is overwhelmed by problems and confusion. I don’t know about you, but I have times when it’s hard for me to look past my momentary feelings and view the future…
It’s almost that time of year again when families will gather together for the holidays. The time when personality clashes, opinions, behaviors, and attitudes put a strain on the relationship between parents and their adult children. We all want to have ongoing great relationships with our adult children but they don’t always happen easily. But…
Jesus is the greatest gift God has ever given to His creation. Through Jesus the lost are found, the broken are made whole, and the bound are set free. He is able to transform lives, heal broken hearts, and give people a purpose full of hope and promise. The Scripture from Genesis through Revelation gives…
For many of us in America, our Thanksgiving celebration is rich with traditions we enjoy with family and friends. We gather together and dine on must-have recipes that get gobbled up (pun not intended) way too quickly. What if we’re missing some of the best and most important parts of celebrating Thanksgiving out of hurried…
I began praying the P.R.A.Y. – Prayer Model years ago. P – Praise and Thanks Begin each prayer thanking God for who He is and for all He has done and that He continues to do in you and in the world around you. R – Repent Pause and intentionally confess your flaws and failures…
I began intentionally blessing counting more than a dozen years ago. Not because I was overwhelmed with gratitude and joy but because I was overwhelmed by sadness. I realized that if I didn’t start intentionally noticing the good things God was doing in my life I might drown in sorrow. Living each day miserable and…
Not long ago as I was scrolling through Pinterest notifications, I noticed a comment critical of the 35,000 Christian sects and denominations. I don’t know if the commenter had the facts right or not but I do know there are plenty of things about which self-proclaimed Christians disagree. You and I can see evidence of…
I don’t know about you but I have days when my less than ideal attitude can cause me to fall into the comparison trap. I start focusing on what’s wrong in me and around me and before I know it I’m measuring my life against an impossible “ideal.” I know that’s not God’s plan for…
How is it possible for a group of people to attend the very same event or hear the very same message and share completely different accounts of what they saw or heard? How can something be the truth one day but the exact opposite be cited as truth the next? I have absolutely no patience…
The American Worldview Inventory 2020 (AWVI) is an annual survey that estimates how many adults have a biblical worldview. (AWVI 2020 was undertaken in January 2020 among a nationally representative sample of 2,000 adults.) In the latest findings from the American Worldview Inventory 2020 is that a majority of people who describe themselves as Christian…
You’ve probably seen the quote before. “Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” ~Ian MacLaren Everyone carries the burden of emotional baggage. Baggage that can so easily turn into fear, anxiety, frustration, anger, or overwhelming sadness. Everyone gets out of bed each morning with a need for enough strength and courage to…
I began my cycle of fear and worry as a very young child and I worked hard to perfect my skills for way too many years. Rather than bore you with the ugly details, I hope to bless you with a truth I wish I’d learned and applied years ago. You see, I had a terrible…
Have you ever had a time when you were so overwhelmed by life’s circumstances that although you wanted to pray . . . you just couldn’t find the words. All you could think about was that you wanted and needed to talk with God about what was going on but your emotions were so powerful…
It seems that so many of the people I talk with lately are overwhelmed with feelings of frustration and discouragement. They feel like they’ve been praying for months or longer and their waiting never seems to end. And that’s just addressing the current year’s problems. Many of us have things we’ve prayed about for years…
