This article first appeared on The Christian Broadcasting Network | Have you ever had the thought, “What’s the point?” “What am I doing here?” “Is what I’m doing even making a difference?” I have to imagine you said yes. Who hasn’t wrestled with those thoughts? We can look back in time and find such questions being asked over two thousand ...
With flashlight in hand, I carefully made my way down the uneven dirt path. As I walked, I prayed. I poured my heart out to God in the stillness of the night. It was cold, yet my heart was warmed by His abiding presence. “O God, you have placed a dream in my heart that I cannot run from…” As ...
You may or may not have heard this story before, but I want to look at two men who both did something honorable. Remember, righteousness isn’t only what Christ has done for us, but what we now do for Him. Righteousness is an action as well as a position. In the Second Book of Samuel, we find that King David ...
In my humble opinion, I believe there’s an attack on identity like never before. It may be more prominent in the United States, but I believe it’s world-wide. It’s an outright attack on people made in the image of God. For example, June is recognized as PRIDE month. First instituted by President Clinton in 1999 in response to riots in ...
This article first appeared on The Christian Broadcasting Network Funny story: my stepdad doesn’t like tomatoes but he planted 120 tomato plants this year. He’s not a farmer. He’s a retired plumber. He doesn’t grow anything else but tomatoes. Why? First because his wife loved them and ate at least 2 a day before she passed away. But secondly, because ...
When my husband and I first married, he had to get used to an extended family— not because he married into mine, but because my side of the family had multiples. My parents were divorced and remarried, so not only did our kids get extra gifts at birthdays and holidays, but we also had extra family get-togethers versus his family ...
When you think about it, emotions are an interesting attribute of our human make-up. And yet, God saw it fit to equip us with these feelings that influence our behavior. Emotions cause us to laugh, cry, yell, and sigh. They produce giggles, sobs, joy, and peace. And if we’re honest, some emotions are attached to sin– and yet God uses ...
As you know, in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the Bible describes how Jesus went from place to place ministering to people. For example, in Matthew 9:35, the Bible says, “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among ...
“But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:27). The first time I studied this, I thought “What did Jesus mean? His disciples died a long time ago and we are still waiting to see the kingdom of God (right?)” Not quite. I lacked revelation. ...
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscious seared with a hot iron…” (1 Timothy 4:1-2). The Passion Translation of this says: “…at the end of this age, many will depart from the true faith one ...
This article first appeared on The Christian Broadcasting Network My husband has always been one to get up early. But me, I would always say I wasn’t a morning or a night person — I was a day person. However, when God impressed on my heart to write a book, we had three small children at the time and since ...
It’s my birthday week and I adopted this birthday scripture a few years ago: “Now also when I am old and gray-headed, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come” (Psalms 71:18). When I was a little girl, my mom was a junior high math teacher. I remember vividly being at the mall ...
"What happens a lot of times is that believers get taken up with natural things, and that's where they dwell. Therefore they don't take advantage of what already belongs to them as they should. They don't take time to be nourished by the Vine by communing with Jesus Christ and His Word." --Kenneth E. Hagin At the first of this ...
Solomon wasn’t wrong. He just didn’t know Christ. I woke up thinking about Ecclesiastes (a little nudge in the spirit to go read it). And in just the first few chapters, it’s obvious Solomon’s observations of the world and his own life are truthfully said– there is no hope without Christ. “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, ...
Have you seen the movie, The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise? It’s been on TV a couple of times recently and as I watched it again, I was reminded why I like it so much. Honestly, I’m a true story buff and this one is no exception. I’m not going to spoil the movie and tell you everything that happened, ...
I recently saw someone at church I hadn’t seen in a long time. As soon as we had a chance to greet one another, I made a bee line to him to say hi and give him a hug. He was obviously uncomfortable and a little shy of looking anyone in the eyes, but he hugged me back as others ...
It’s so easy to get in a routine and forget that faith still pleases God. For example, I recently woke up early to write my blog but accidentally dozed back off for 45 minutes. Although the extra rest was nice, the problem was my schedule wasn’t going to be very lenient and I lost some valuable time. But in my ...
The only thing worse than your past is a future that’s bound by the past. In three short words, Jesus gave us a visual of this when He said, “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32). Another translation says, “Don’t forget the example of Lot’s wife and what happened to her when she turned back” (TPT). If you don’t know the story, ...