Like most people, Christmas isn’t foreign to me. We’ve celebrated it in our home ever since I can remember. And that’s a funny thing to consider when I think about it– simply because I didn’t get saved until I was 21 years old. Yet, I celebrated Jesus every year in December before salvation. I had to look it up (that’s ...

If you asked me today what my favorite movie is, I’d have to say “I Can Only Imagine” — the true story of Bart Millard and the Christian band, Mercy Me. If you’ve seen it, you know his grandmother would always say things like, “Mercy me… Lord, have mercy.” It’s a great movie. I highly recommend it. But I’m thinking ...

Not all noise is audible. But even inaudible noise can be loud and distracting — especially when the goal is to quiet the soul. My morning routine is up early, about 5am, fix my cup of coffee and sit in my “quiet” place for time with God. That’s what I call it– my “quiet time.” It is honestly my favorite ...

Have you read Isaiah, chapter nine? It’s a little famous this time of year because of verse 6 which says, “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder, and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” But I want to ...

What is it about putting up a few twinkle lights and decorations that make us breathe a little slower and smile a little more? I remember growing up and driving to my grandma’s house. She had been a widow my entire life. She lived simply but her house was full of love (and good food). Going to grandma’s house was ...

There are certain phrases so common that almost anyone could fill-in-the-blank. For example, if I said, “If you can’t say anything nice…” you could finish that sentence with “…don’t say anything at all.” Or how about: “A picture is worth… a thousand words” or “Better late than… never.” I was thinking about this because when my heart whispers, “Bless the ...

As I was contemplating whether I should share something with someone or not, the Holy Spirit whispered to my heart: My grace in you helps you give grace to others. I immediately thought of 1 Peter 4:8, “And above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins.'” Love covers. Love doesn’t have ...

“For what the world says is wisdom is actually foolishness in God’s eyes. As it is written: The cleverness of the know-it-alls becomes the trap that ensnares them” (1 Corinthians 3:19 TPT). Has someone ever made a comment on something that made you question yourself? I imagine that has happened to all of us at one time or another. I ...

How many times has the grace of God appeared, as if out of nowhere, to help us? I can think of so many times when I sat in sheer gratitude for the love and grace of God in my life. I recently took a couple of trips to Colorado and being from West Texas where everything is flat, my eyes ...

As Christians, we know God has called us to reflect Him to the world and to each other in love, kindness, strength, peace, and so forth. We could say, it’s expected. Not that it’s always easy, but for the most part, we understand these expectations. So I understand that my decision to choose love, have patience, forgive others (and myself), ...

Are you a note-taker? Do you like to write in journals? I realize not everyone is, but I stumbled on something that made me pause and think, wow I think we’ve missed the real power of this. Let me explain. In Paul’s first letter to Timothy, his purpose was to encourage his young protege as he led one of the ...

We become what we believe about ourselves– not what others say, or even what God says, but what we say and believe about the person reflected in our mirror. Do you know the verse that explains this? Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” This isn’t a hard principle to understand. Even Jesus said, ...

Deeply or sincerely felt. As I read through a handful of prayer requests, I was reminded of a verse in the Book of James: “The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]” (James 5:16, AMPC). Heartfelt. I don’t know the origin of this word but its very descriptive, isn’t it? Just ...

I think a lot about the tug-of-war between our spirit and our soul. The Bible helps us understand that humans are made up of 3 major parts: body, soul, and spirit. Much like an egg that has a shell, a yolk, and egg white, each part is individual yet together make a whole. Our spirit, soul, and body make up ...

For all the mere moments we have before an audience, it is all the time alone with God that can add any substance to our message. Your audience might be your child, your spouse, a coworker, or a small group having coffee together. An audience is defined as gathered spectators or listeners. Who’s your audience?Better yet, what are they observing ...

Have you ever recognized a peculiar behavior in yourself and thought, “Where did that even come from?” I recently had a moment like that. I wasn’t raised in church so I don’t have a quote-unquote “religious” background. AND YET, my thoughts (mindset) can wander towards religious do’s and don’ts, and is God mad or disappointed in me, etc. Where does ...

I live in a community where a minimum of at least three languages are spoken fluently, and regularly. So on any given day, you might hear a conversation and have no idea what is being said. I think people sometimes feel this way about Christianity. Like, they hear us but don’t understand. And I think this can be just as ...

Agitating passions. Moral conflicts. I don’t know why these two phrases jumped off the page to me, other than they perfectly described what I was looking for help with. Agitating. Like a washing machine. The dictionary says it means to move or force into violent, irregular action. Or we could say, rolling something over and over to the point of ...