On a scale of 1-10, how good are you at living in the moment? How often do you replay or fret about the past? How much time do you spend worrying about the future? There’s a phrase that Rev and I repeated often… “I don’t want to lose today because I’m clinging to yesterday or…
What does it take for you to live your self-worth? Every advertisement wants us to believe we’re not enough. You and I can’t look at our phones, open our laptops, or walk into any store without being bombarded with ads that tell us we need to purchase their products because without them we’re not ……
Are you tired? Do you feel like giving up? I’m here to tell you … don’t! Don’t give up! It’s easy for us to look around and wonder what in the world is going on. Inflation. Wars and rumors of war. Crime. Relationship failures. Illness. Debt. Loss. Failure. Weakness. Sin. And on and on and…
I don’t know about you, but I can be my own worst enemy. Why is it so much easier to think about wh0 I’m not rather than remembering God’s unchanging truth about who I am? You’d think that after years of living with this bad habit, I’d learn to consistently take my negative thoughts captive…
What is grace and what does it mean to embrace grace? Max Lucado wrote… God answers the mess of life with one word, “Grace.” I’ve often heard it said that grace is God’s “undeserved favor.” I typically share the following definitions for grace and mercy… And one more says… For Christians, grace is the free…
We love celebrating Jesus’ resurrection but there’s a part of us that wants to look away when it comes to the Lord’s suffering and death. We don’t want to see ourselves running away in fear with the disciples. We don’t want to see ourselves standing in the crowd shouting, “Crucify Him.” We don’t want to…
On Good Friday followers of Jesus focus their hearts and minds on Jesus’ suffering and death on a cross. In 1991, Pope John Paul II revised the 14 Stations of the Cross to align withevents as they were recorded in Scripture. So let’s pause today and… Walk the steps of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, through…
What do you do when life is painful? If you’re like me, you’re tempted to pull the covers over your head and hide. Wouldn’t we all prefer a life of comfort, peace, and contentment? The world wants us to believe peace and contentment are found in financial security, a successful career, and perfect relationships. The…
When life is hard and it feels like our prayers are bouncing off the ceiling the enemy of our souls plants his favorite seed of doubt… “Did God really say?” (Genesis 3:1) And behind those words are the subtle doubt enticing questions… Jeremiah wrote these words after the Babylonians attacked, tortured, killed, and captured God’s…
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve cried out … “Lord, I can’t do this. It’s too hard.” I can imagine that you’ve had times when you were grieving and prayed similar words through tears as well. I’m learning to walk through this season of grief and so thankful that the Lord is with…
What’s your purpose? It took me a long time to understand that I have just one primary purpose. Especially when I consider the definition of the word purpose… The reason something was made or created. The reason it exists. I used to believe that my purpose was to be a wife, a mom, a teacher, and…
You’ve heard the saying, “Pride comes before the fall.” And that’s what I thought it was … a saying our mothers told us to try to keep us humble. But as Rev would say, “That’s downright Biblical.” Solomon wrote… Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 What exactly is pride? What…
Do you like the “sound of silence”? Do you thrive in stillness? Years ago, I could easily spend time with the only sound being the thoughts rattling around in my head. But in recent years, it seems like I’m restless when it’s completely quiet. I used to need total darkness and quiet to sleep but…
As I sit quietly in my favorite chair, my Bible is on my lap and my journal is beside me. And in the stillness, I ask the Lord to speak to me … I want to listen to the Spirit and hear His voice. I thank Him for His promises and loving words of encouragement…
What is wisdom and where does it come from? Simply put … who or what is the source of wisdom? Solomon was blessed with God-given wisdom and inspired to write… “The Lord formed me [wisdom] from the beginning, before He created anything else.I was appointed in ages past, at the very first, before the earth began.when He marked off…
Jesus told His disciples… “And if you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Matthew 21:22 (CSB) Other translations say… “Whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” (NKJV)“You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.” (NLT)“Whatever you ask for in prayer, having faith and [really]…
Almost everyone goes into marriage believing they have found love that lasts forever. Sadly, that’s not always the case. Everyone has children believing their parent/child loving relationships will endure always. But we’ve all seen times when families fall apart and relationships fail. Marriage. Family. Friendship. Love is an attitude of the heart that requires the…
Christians have been told for years that forgiveness includes forgetting. Henry Ward Beecher said, “I can forgive, but I cannot forget,” is only another way of saying, “I will not forgive.” But… What is the truth from the Bible about the phrase “forgive and forget”? I decided to do some digging to find the Biblical…
Sin hurts! Our lives are hurt by our sins, the sins of others, and the general effects that sin has had on our world since that first sin in the Garden. Sin is a problem that requires help and change which the Bible tells us are found in the love and forgiveness that is given…
Pay attention! I can remember saying those words to my students and my children. Distractions and daydreams were frequent attention thieves that often required a reminder to focus on the things that had lasting value and needed to be remembered. Solomon wrote… My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words.Don’t lose…
What does it mean to “guard your heart”? Got Questions defines heart guarding like this… “Guarding our hearts is about protecting ourselves from external and internal factors. We must be mindful of the things we think about, the things we set our affection on, and the things we give our attention to.“ Why? Because what…
