Here’s a quick lesson in reconciling: Most of you have some type of bank account, and every month you receive a statement from the bank showing the pluses and minuses for the month. Now whether you do it or not, the bank sends you that statement so you can reconcile your information with what they have on file. Reconciling is ...
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 ...
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 ...
Jesus spoke in parables. God spoke through stories. The point was to illustrate a truth. Stories and parables paint a picture of a principle. And as I was reading through Haggai this week, I saw an amazing illustration of our righteousness in Christ. To set it up, the Book of Haggai revolves around God’s command to rebuild His house. The ...
I recently had the opportunity to minister to a group of ladies at a women’s conference. I shared with them from 2 Corinthians 3:18, which says, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” I ...
This article first appeared on The Christian Broadcasting Network I liked to be liked, don’t you? I mean, seriously, who doesn’t? No one runs around hoping everyone hates them. It’s just not built in our DNA, no matter who you are. But I can also testify that wanting to be liked has probably been the greatest source of my regrets ...
This article first appeared on The Christian Broadcasting Network | Steve Jobs once said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.” I imagine the devil wishes he could’ve connected the dots better before he instigated the crucifixion of Jesus. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he said, “…we speak the wisdom of ...
This article first appeared on The Christian Broadcasting Network | I have such a love for music that I can’t just turn on one album at a time— I literally shuffle all my songs every day and listen to my collection like a radio station. The only difference between my shuffle playlist and a real radio station is that all ...
This article first appeared on The Inspired Woman Blog | Jesus gave us a command that had such power He immediately had to follow it with a warning. The command was: “…that you love one another” (John 15:17). Sounds simple enough, but it’s the most powerful instruction any of us could follow. It takes greater strength and self-discipline to love than it does to ...
I remember the first time I read Psalm 8 and the question David asked God: “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” Psalm 8:4 (NKJV) I thought it was the perfect question to ask of God. I had always struggled with self-worth. It was easy to see my shortcomings and therefore ...
This article first appeared on The Christian Broadcasting Network | We’re all guilty (some more than others). We post something to Facebook or Instagram and then we watch … will anyone like this? How many people will like? Will they comment? Or share it? Twitter is no different – only the question we ask ourselves – did anyone retweet it? Tag ...
How many of us have been afraid of the dark before? Either as a child, or as an adult walking across a parking lot late at night feeling a bit eeby-jeeby because you can’t see beyond the shadows? I’m going to guess it’s all of us at one point or another. But let’s flip it around… how many of us ...
Why is it that no matter how much we learn about God’s love for us, we struggle with our identity? Because who we are in Christ is the very target the enemy wants to muffle, disable, take-out, or at the least, wound. Every time I think about our enemy, the devil, I can’t help but picture an army at war. ...
At any stage of life, our enemy, the devil, loves using the weaknesses of our flesh as a weapon against us; much like the bully who grabs our wrist, swinging it toward our face, yelling, “Quit hitting yourself! Quit hitting yourself!” Satan targets our insecurities and then laughs at our self-destruction, which is why the Bible says we can fall ...
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). CONSIDER Once again, I’m reminded of the plague of insecurity that the devil contaminates believers with in hopes of getting them off track. I see it tormenting people of every gender, race, and age. And ...
But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. (James 1:14) CONSIDER THIS It’s easy to read this scripture and think of tempting desires such as adultery, pornography, addictions, and so forth. But let’s not get hasty in that assumption. Satan is the author of all temptations. In fact, the word enticed here ...
I don’t know if I’ve told you, but I love basketball. And I understand the game because I grew up in a community where the head coach made sure even the youngest Little Dribbler learned the fundamentals. His name was Dean Weese. I’m not exactly sure how many years he coached altogether, but I do remember being a part of his ...
While attending a ladies Bible Study group, I was intrigued by a comment by one of the women regarding a statement from Lisa Bevere’s book “Fight Like a Girl.” She said, “I like how she said ‘Favor with God is realized in secret’ because too many times Christians seem to want to show off our Christianity in public and forget that it starts in private.” ...