I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good for them. I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me. Jeremiah 32:40 It sounds perfect, doesn’t it? David Jeremiah wrote the following about worship… “Since the days of our first parents in…
I wish I’d read this quote years ago… “Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.” Anne Frank She certainly shared a lot of wisdom for her young age … and for someone who never lived long…
There’s a saying out there that the average person has about 50,000 thoughts per day. Some say that number is too high. But many neuroscientists who have investigated the issue believe that most people have about 35 thoughts per minute, or one thought every other second. So assuming you take time for sleep … most…
Do you trust God’s goodness? We say God is good, but do we really believe it? I recently shared this on social media… After you have suffered a little while, [God] will restore, support, and strengthen you. 1 Peter 5:10 And an individual responded by saying … “a load of nonsense.” I don’t think you…
How humble are you? It sounds like a trick question doesn’t it? The truth is … the measure of our humility will always be in direct proportion to what we believe to be the truths about God. Simply put – greater God equals lesser me and that translates into humility. So, to inspire myself toward…
Do you ever feel frustrated with yourself when you read… 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 I don’t know about you, but…
I tend to think of praise and worship as synonyms … which can too often mean that I hear the sounds of music when I imagine doing either one. But… Praise is simply defined as: an expression of warm approval or admiration. Worship is defined as: the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for…
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. James 1:2 This is how Jesus’ half brother, James, began his letter to Christian Jews who had scattered to other parts of the Mediterranean world because of persecution. Can you imagine? Other translations say… Consider it nothing…
Even if you are not personally suffering at the moment … you can’t turn on the news or scroll through social media without seeing it all around you. So many of us are feeling the heaviness of suffering … either our own or the empathetic burden we carry for one another. But God… Oh, how…
The other night, I realized how badly I need some good news … whisperings of hope. My heart is heavy from all the sadness and the constant drip drip drip of gloom and doom forecasts of the future. Martin Luther wrote.. “Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.” It’s funny. I…
I have to admit, I’m confused and nothing makes sense! Almost every news report, ad, tweet, and post seems to have an agenda. It’s hard to know what to believe when contradicting points of view all claim to be “fact-based” truth. One thing I know for sure is that nothing feels normal and no one…
15 years ago today, I was curled up at the foot of our bed … I cried until my tears ran dry. I pleaded and prayed … asking God to change hearts and change the situation. I hoped with faith that it would be days, weeks, even months, but not years. I longed for the…
If you feel like something is missing right now, you’re not alone. I think most of us feel like we’re experiencing an unending cycle of missing out. We’re missing… time with loved ones. going to school. going to work and having a steady income. weddings, graduations, birthdays, and group celebrations. coffee and visiting with friends….
Are you satisfied? Especially right now, when we’re not doing so many of the things we’re used to doing. No matter how hard we try … we just can’t seem to find satisfaction. So, I wonder… Are you satisfied? The dictionary defines being satisfied as being content or having peace. Does that help? Are you…
It’s hard to think about the reality of Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross. I’ll never forget the first time I watched the movie, The Passion of the Christ. I’d read the Bible and knew the account well but it was always easier to imagine the scene through cleaned up artwork and Sunday School…
Anne Graham Lotz wrote… Why did Jesus have to die? If there was any other way to offer us forgiveness of sin, to reconcile us to God, to give us eternal life, and to open Heaven for us when we die, God would have found it. He never would have sent Jesus to die on the…
I sometimes try to picture how it must have looked… The Philistines camped on one side and the Israelites on the other. The enemy army had a giant—Goliath … the Bible describes him like this: He was over nine feet tall! He wore a bronze helmet and his bronze coat of mail weighed 125 pounds…
It only took one terrifyingly turbulent flight to convince me that staying on the ground was better than being in the air. So much better that it took years before I was willing to go anywhere that required air travel. But flying was just one of my many fears. As a child, I was afraid of…
What do you do when life is uncertain and you are struggling with feelings of vulnerability? It’s interesting to be living at a time of collective uncertainty. But the truth is … everyone experiences that vulnerable feeling from time to time. I can’t tell you how often I’ve thought about the words spoken by the…
How would you define the word “truth?” I always hate when the dictionary defines a word by using a variation of the word. Truth is: the quality or state of being true. that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality. a fact or belief that is accepted as truth. Of course, that…
It’s hard, isn’t it? Delving into the unknown. Waiting and wondering. At the moment, it’s hitting us all. People all over the world are watching and listening … uncertain about what the future will bring. It’s really no different than usual. It’s just that this time we have a common subject. But every day, all…
