For me, turning on Christmas music before Thanksgiving isn’t about the season as much as what it produces. My husband teasingly rolls his eyes, but I literally smile from ear to ear listening to the melodies of old and new songs of the season. So much so, that I recently put in my earphones and did my entire two hours ...
10,000 Reasons is the title of a song by Matt Redman. And I love it because in a world full of 10 million excuses, it’s good to be reminded that we have more than 10,000 reasons to praise and thank God. The Psalmist said: Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, ...
“Righteousness exalts a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). The definition of righteousness in this passage describes blameless conduct and integrity. It insinuates that the justice, right actions, and right attitudes that God has and desires would be in His people also. God is our divine Creator and we are called to imitate Him in ...
When I say the word dimensions, what do you think of? Without looking it up, my first thought was a memory of my grandmother measuring out a pattern for a new sewing project. And then I thought about needing a new podcast desk in my office and how I had to measure the space to make sure I bought one ...
This article first appeared on The Christian Broadcasting Network One thing that makes Jesus so endearing is His mercy. I know it’s what drew me to Him and captivated my heart. As undeserving as I felt, I needed the mercy He offered. I was lost for a long time, and then Jesus found me— just like the man at the ...
I think you would agree the Bible has some pretty big words, but if we’ll look deeper, they are BIG in context too. One of those words is justification. The dictionary gives three basic definitions. One is simply the act of justifying; meaning an explanation that defends you or a circumstance. A second definition is found in the world of ...
We once had to remove some trees on our property. One in particular was on our back porch, and although it was beautiful in its own right, it dropped no less than a million acorns, leaves, and bird-droppings year-round. It made it difficult for us to enjoy that space so my husband decided to remove the circle of bricks and ...
We used to live in a house that had a cranky screen door. The spring was loose so every time you’d attempt to close it, the door would creak and slam startling everyone in the house. After awhile, we got a new screen door with full glass and a self-adjusting spring. It was much nicer and very quiet to close. ...
God sends a lot of people across my path and one thing I hear myself saying repeatedly is: “Despite what your head is telling you, listen to your heart. God will always lead you in peace.” Finding peace is the key to finding your way through a noisy world. There are thousands of voices you could follow, but there’s only One ...
My greatest desire is to help people grow spiritually– to find the same freedoms I have found in Christ. But the hardest thing I’ve ever learned in ministry is, I can’t make people believe. And I get it. I had a hard time believing too. I couldn’t understand how God could forgive me or love me– especially realizing He knew ...
When my Grandma passed away, I read the verse in 2 Peter which says, “Dear friends, don’t overlook this one fact: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day” (2 Peter 3:8). As I meditated on this verse, I thought to myself, “I could live one hundred more years and walk ...
When I was in my early twenties, and recently saved, I was bombarded with negative thoughts and emotions. And being a new Christian, I didn’t realize for some time that God had actually equipped me to resist the onslaught of the enemy whose only goal was to keep me ignorant and weak. But over time, I gained knowledge of the ...
“But you, dear friends, remember what was predicted by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They told you, ‘In the end time there will be scoffers living according to their own ungodly desires.’ These people create divisions and are worldly, not having the Spirit” (Jude 1:17-19). There has been a lot of offense and controversy this week over some ...
During a special ministry meeting, where the theme was “Prepare for Success,” one of the words shared by our guest speaker was frazzled. I had a good idea what frazzled meant. In fact, there have been many times I probably could have volunteered for the picture in the dictionary, but the definition I heard that night has continued to open my eyes. She said it ...
This article first appeared on The Christian Broadcasting Network | Our family has always enjoyedd the fun and refreshment of water slides and lazy rivers. At most water parks, there are also one or two spots where large buckets hang overhead filling little by little with water. The closer the bucket gets to being full, the larger the crowd grows ...
This was a question I received recently. Without knowing anything else, the question alone broke my heart because I was reminded how I once felt when I believed the same thing. I was young in my faith (but old enough to have extreme guilt) when God rescued me from the heavy weight that daily rested upon my heart. I didn’t ...
This article first appeared on The Christian Broadcasting Network | The Mighty Angel with the Little Book” — that’s the subtitle in my Bible in Revelation, chapter 10. It’s catchy enough to be a movie title but it’s not fictitious. It’s prophecy. John saw what he described as an “extremely powerful angel coming out of heaven, robed in a cloud. There ...
Worries, fear, cares, anxiety– are all weapons of the enemy against God’s children. They are means of gaining advantage over you. But God’s Word (His instructions to us) lay out in detail how to resist these attacks and walk away as the victor that you have been made to be in Christ. 1 Peter 5:6-9 says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under ...