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…
I spent several days recently studying the book of Job. I have to admit that I can’t get my brain around his story. Many can relate to having some kind of loss and heartbreak but losing everything … family, possessions and financial security, and health all in a few short days. Just thinking about it…
It’s hard to believe we’re about to start the last quarter of the year. And it’s been a crazy one for many of us. I never have been very good at setting goals and consistently planning my days to work toward those goals. I can have good intentions but I fall short when it comes…
It’s so easy to get caught up in the dailiness of life. I get busy just doing and living and somehow forget to fill moments with thankfulness and praise. Oh, I can be convincing when I talk about it in this space but the doing it, the consistently offering an attitude of thankfulness and praise…
Worry, anxiety, envy, anger, frustration, discouragement, self-pity, etc. It’s everywhere! And it’s hurting our mental health and our relationships. At the moment it seems worse than ever. The news is depressing and everywhere you look people are frustrated and discouraged. But the truth is, it’s always been this way. Negativity is just part of life….
When our daughter was a toddler she found the difference between today and tomorrow very confusing. We’ would say, “We are going to to do (something fun) tomorrow.” And she would always respond with delight and great enthusiasm. But the next morning when she got up she would ask, “Is it tomorrow?” Of course, we…
What do you do when you feel like God is the One who is allowing your pain and suffering? You’ve prayed to get well, to be free of pain, for a healed relationship . . . for the desire of your heart. The Bible says, “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.” Psalm 37:4…
Stop with me for a moment and think about the following two quotes: You’re a soul made by God, made for God, and made to need God—you were not made to be self-sufficient. ~Dallas Willard “[Jesus] is a portion that exactly and directly suits the condition of the soul. The desires of the soul, and the…
