When you develop your relationship with the Holy Spirit and maintain a steady diet of God’s Word, the Lord will speak things to your heart. For example, I was praying and thanking God for a new day (one I desperately needed after feeling unnecessary pressure from the previous one) when this scripture rose up in my spirit: The blessing of the ...
Have you ever noticed how certain words will resonate with you, while others don’t? I think it’s different for everyone because of our upbringing, experiences, maturity, education, geography, etc. But as a Christian, I’ve noticed this with God’s Word too. For example, one person will cling to Jeremiah 29:11 (For I know the thoughts I think toward you… thoughts of ...
In 2010, we learned first-hand the importance of knowing and praying God’s Word over your situation. In fact, I believe it’s what saved our son’s life. When he was given a 50/50 chance of survival after receiving 2nd and 3rd degree burns while trapped in an upside-down truck, it was God’s Word that rescued us all. First, His Word was ...
“Is it about me? Or is it about them?” “Or is it about me being transparent to help them?” This was part of my conversation with the Lord this morning. As a writer, I want to help people. And because of that, I’m very aware of trends in writing and blogging and what the industry says is popular or necessary ...
This morning, as I sat and prayed, an old song came bubbling up out of my spirit: When I think about the Lord, how He saved me, how He raised me, how He filled me up with the Holy Ghost, How He healed me to the uttermost When I think about the Lord, how He lifted me up and turned ...
You and I control our peace. No one else… One morning, while on a pre-dawn walk with my husband, I felt a little grumpy. Mainly because it was early! I had been trying to find the perfect time to exercise because I know I need it, but my schedule (by my choice) limited my options. So as we started out, I ...
I was an 80’s girl. As a senior in high school, I chanted with my peers, “We’re gonna party like it’s 1999” and in 1987, future years like “1999” and “2000” seemed like a time-warp to the space age. But here we are, beginning 2018, and those space-age years are nothing more than history now. Thankfully, my understanding changed quite ...
One of my desires is to run my race with joy. Regardless of good intentions, it’s easy to slip into grumbling and complaining without even realizing it. We fuss about the finances or lack of time to accomplish our goals. Then we justify our complaining by trying to cover it up with “faith” and “prayer” when in reality we’re only ...
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 ...
I am a contributing writer for The Inspired Woman, a ministry based in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. It is a group of women in ministry who share personal, practical, and ministry-related ideas, devotionals, and more. One of our contributors, Kim Dillingham, shared her thoughts on Halloween and I loved how she answered this question: Is it Ghoulish or Godly? Kim said: ...
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.” ...
“For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). This may be one of the most questioned scriptures of all time. In fact, at a particular event I speak at regularly, a question about this passage was asked during Q&A more than any other. What did Jesus mean? Let’s start by looking at the words individually, and then the ...
Part 1 | Part 2 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation…” So how did we become new? Continuing from my last post, I want to explain what it means to be “In-Christed”–which is a biblical idea referring to the fact that we have been engrafted into Christ. Paul said in Romans 11:17-18, “Some ...
It makes sense that when we face a trial of any kind (relationships, finances, health, etc), we pray more earnestly, we read our Bible more searching scripture for direction and hope, and we let go of less important things like checking our social media accounts every hour. But here’s my question: when we get the breakthrough, then what? It’s so ...
“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:4-5). If you want to frustrate Hell, let your light shine! Recently, I was in our sanctuary with my husband and our daughter-in-love (who works as our Administrative Assistant) making preparations for a ...
Yesterday, while in my front yard, I noticed one of my new flowering plants was opening several of its buds and beginning to bloom more fully than the others. I was delighted because, although I was raised around those who are very good with plants, gardening is not my expertise. I had planted four of these particular flowers in a ...
I am out of routine, and I don’t like it. (Great way to start a blog, huh?) But seriously I am, by nature, a routine-kind-of-girl. And when my routine is out of sync I try to evaluate my weaknesses in this area and look for ways to be stretched and improved. But this isn’t always fun or easy. For example, ...
Purpose, destiny, whatever you want to call it, we all have one. But what most people don’t realize is that we play a bigger role in that than we realize. Psalm 119:109 says, “My life is continually in my hand, yet I do not forget Your law.” Other translations read: “I always take my life into my own hands, but I ...