What’s your purpose? Every person on earth is a unique individual created by God for His plans and purposes. So, when you and I are confused about the what or why of our purpose . . . God knows. That’s why it’s important for each of us to go to Him prayerfully asking for His…
You and I were created for praise and worship. We will worship someone or something and that is never more clear than it is at Christmas time. Between gifts and gatherings, specials featuring celebrities, and celebratory indulging . . . we can be tempted to worship the creation more than we worship the Creator. But God’s Word…
Both David and his son, Solomon wrote: Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. Psalm 111:10 and Proverbs 9:10 Solomon also wrote that the “fear of the Lord” led to: True Knowledge (Proverbs 1:7) Understanding (Proverbs 2) Life (Proverbs 19:23) And Luke wrote in the Book of Acts: The church had peace . . . and it became stronger as…
It’s long been called the “love chapter,” one that has been shared at countless weddings over the years… Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about…
What do you think of when you hear the words “praise and worship”? Is it something you do on the weekend or the music you sing along to at home or in the car. What if it’s more basic than that? What if praise is simply the expression of worship and worship is… Well, let’s…
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 had an AHA moment not too long ago … I realized Christians often get something wrong. At least, I know I occasionally get it wrong. What’s it? Obedience. We get obedience wrong when our motives are wrong. (Wait, don’t leave now. I promise, it’s a good thing to obey anyway but we’ll talk about…
Culture looks at love as a feeling. But the Bible describes it as so much more than the way we feel. Jesus had some things to say about love … both God’s and ours.
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…
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…
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…
Some days I get up and I’ll admit, I’m thinking big picture wondering what God wants me to do with however many years I have left? But most of the time, I just want to get through today. This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 Rejoice, be glad,…
Family! Marriage. Parenting. It seems the closer the relationship the more complicated the living. From the moment we walk down the aisle and say our “I dos” the challenges of balancing expectations and reality put stressors on the love we’ve just declared to our families and friends. That’s why I’m thrilled to share this post…
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…
When I started my month-long study of worship, I wanted to know the what, why, when, and who of worship. Not why people gather together in churches on weekends or their preferred style of music but why you and I worship, what does worship look like in a believer’s life, and when followers of Jesus worship. So, here’s…
I had one of those moments recently when I realized Christians are wrong when… We say it right, but do it wrong. What’s it? Obedience. Why do you obey God? Okay, maybe a better question is why do you try to obey God? To please Him? To earn His favor? To look good at church?…
