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In this current mode of thankfulness, I thought it might be fun to meditate on the little things God has done that make our lives so delightful. Yes, “in this world we will have trouble,” but we will also have moments when we take in His creation of breathtaking beauty that He formed for our mutual delight. We will have moments when we observe a lightning bug or a flock of geese with their unerring navigational skills or a drop of water under a microscope, and experience genuine awe.
Read MoreIt is a long story, but I am writing my Thanksgiving blog in mid-July because of a publishing deadline. I tried to wait until a bunch of wonderful things happened to me so I would be inspired to spontaneously give thanks and write a really upbeat blog. I wanted to be so bursting with thanksgiving that you would catch the overflow of my gratitude and the words would capture that type of joy when you just can’t stop saying, “Thank you, Lord!” I wanted this blog to be about a series of love touches God was giving to me so we could share as believers that wonderful camaraderie of saying together, “Look what the Lord did for me!” July has not been that kind of month.
Read MoreBut seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33
Communication has changed so much since I was a child growing up in Texas in the ‘50s. If a phone call were very important to my mother, she would be sure not to accept any other calls all day as she waited for that special call.
Read MoreI read a passage recently that knocked me back for a moment. It went against a lifetime of habit, indoctrination, and mindset. Read this and see if anything in it shocks you the way it shocked me:
Read MoreI wish the times of walking closely in tandem with the Lord would carry over continuously year after year, day after day for me. I wish that once I learned a lesson through His Word and through the Holy Spirit teaching me that I would never have weak moments when I lapse into old impulses, old ways of thinking, or old fears.
Read MoreI will also praise You with a harp, Even Your truth, O my God; To You I will sing praises with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel. Psalm 71:22
What if someone were jealous of you to the point of reading wrong motives into everything you did? What if this person, your declared enemy, asked you to serve him or her in many ways? And how would you feel after you did every act of service requested in a sacrificial and generous way, but your enemy hated you even more for fulfilling the requests? What would be your response?
Read MoreI thought it might be good to take a day just for adoration. Let’s pause a moment and contemplate how glorious, how holy, and how lovely our Father is, our Lord is, and the Holy Spirit is. This blessed Trinity has been blessing us since before we were born, and a pause to praise them is more than due. I invite you to share your praise or a verse that expresses praise, awe, or wonder at Who He is.
Read MoreThis week’s blog gives you a glimpse into the lives of four mighty women of God and how they prepare for the battle against sin in different ways.
I Peter 4:12 is a very strategic verse for fighting sin:
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.
I Peter 4:1, tells us that Christ Himself suffered in the flesh and that we should prepare by arming ourselves with (His) same way of thinking. The second part of this verse links changing our thinking to ceasing from sin. I have had four wise women in my life who have had four very different approaches to arming themselves against temptation. All of these approaches are effective and worthy of emulating.
Read MoreOil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel. Proverbs 27:9
Previously, we looked at how a true friend gives us honest counsel and acts as an accountability partner. But God had so much more in mind for us when He created this wonderful gift called friendship. I often think how generously and compassionately God was thinking the day He came up with the idea of friendship and decided we should have this blessing among all the other blessings He gives us.
It was God’s idea that we should have a friend.
Read MoreFaithful are the wounds of a friend. Proverbs 27:6a
It is really hard to detect your own sin in its early stages. Sure, it is easy to see it when it blows up and becomes really ugly or when it results in consequences, which all sin eventually does. But how can we be more honest with ourselves when the first tendency toward sin begins to grow in our sin-sick hearts?
Read MoreWhen I was flailing around in sin and had no clue who God is, I think it would have made me want to know him more if someone had told me that God has a sense of humor. I thought of God as someone remote, living on a high and lofty mountain peak, and I never thought that a valley-dwelling sinner like me could ever relate to Him. I could conceive of a God who would spare me from His wrath or even pity me, but I could never have conceived of a God I could have a relationship with, a real and personal relationship. As I said, I think it would have helped.
Read MoreA passage that helps me develop a Godlier-view of circumstances is Philippians 2:1-9.
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
Read MoreI read an article in which a lady mentioned “chatting with God.” This brought to my mind the subject of prayer.
How personal is God to you when praying?
Read More“For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.”
Psalm 84:11
Read MoreIs stillness possible in this world of chaos, busyness, and division? We Christians are on a journey here on earth and, without a doubt, are affected by the demands of it. Our lives are filled with challenges beyond our ability to solve on our own. We need help! Ahh, and help is available.
Read MoreWe don’t mean to sin. If I were to ask a large group of Christians if they would want to know they would never sin again, I believe they all would say, “Oh, yes, I want that very much.”
Read More“I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought your precepts.” Psalm 119:45
One thought from the Bible can always make me smile, relax, and say “ahhh.” It is when I think about “The Wide Place.”
Read MoreAssailed. Tossed about. Worn and weary from the world. Have you ever felt something like that? It is comforting to me to know we are in good company.
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