When I think of those most undeserving of Grace, I think of several people. The one that comes to my mind almost immediately is the thief on the cross. He has been such an encouragement to me through the years since I became a Christian because I struggle to rest in that Grace we were both given so freely.

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All grief is complicated. Whether your loved one was loyal and steadfast or not someone you could depend on, loss is complicated by memories, things left undone or unsaid, our degree of dependence on the loved one, or a million other things that come to bear on any relationship. When someone is taken from this earth permanently, a bright light is shined on our relationship. The sweet parts are that much sweeter for the loss; the sad parts are infinitely sadder, especially if they are unresolved.

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For nine years, my house was on the market and did not sell. Neighbors, realtors, and friends said it made no sense. They told me that the homes in my community that were smaller, not as updated, or as attractively staged were selling quickly, but mine just did not. Every year, I would put it on the market and after a while take it down again as it was clear it was not God’s will it would sell that year.

Friends and family were concerned. I had had several falls due to a neurological issue, and my townhome was four stories. I was at peace because I sensed this was God’s will but very disappointed. The very fact that everyone thought my home would sell the first day on the market and that it did not,

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Dear friends, could we take a moment out of our busy lives just to think about Heaven? Can we allow ourselves again the childlike wonder and joy at the thought that we will one day live in a place so wondrous that Jesus did not even attempt to explain it to Nicodemus, a great teacher of Israel? Instead, Jesus said, “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (John 3:12) Heaven is just indescribably wonderful.

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Sports writers are not the top athletes who can carry a ball down a field or court and score. Their job is to observe and report. As I write about spiritual maturity, make no mistake that I am not reporting as an expert who has mastered these qualities. In fact, these qualities are ones the Lord is working on in me, so they loom large in my heart and mind as I deeply long to grow. These words from “It Is Well with My Soul” express it best: “That Christ has regarded my helpless estate.” I am helpless to change myself or to mature and grow in Him, but I have every confidence He can change me. His blood can change who I am. With that in mind, let’s prayerfully look at these areas that mark the life of a spiritually mature Christian.

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If you Google Joseph, most entries say simply, “Joseph (carpenter.)” But the Lord has been impressing upon me that he was so much more. I am not the first to wonder about this man who serves such an important but low-key part in the Christmas story. Because so little is written about him, however, I am left with many questions. What was the man like whom God entrusted with the day-to-day fathering of our Lord and Savior? What qualities enabled Joseph to embrace so humbly the unexpected role of fatherhood? I do not profess to have these answers, but looking at Joseph’s life this morning has inspired me to make my life more like his in 2021.

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You hear a lot this time of year about “comfort and joy,” but the emphasis is very much on the “joy” part. This may be the year to be most grateful for the comfort our Savior brought when He came down from Heaven and gave us a pathway out of sin and misery.

The first thing to sit and really think about today is the name He allowed Himself to be called. Here is what He told Paul to share with you in 2 Corinthians 1:3:

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My physical therapist as well as a young friend of mine and several others around me are so excited about Thanksgiving they can barely contain themselves. I know, however, that not everyone is experiencing this natural overflow of thanks and gratitude this year. Here are a few heart exercises to “Turn your eyes upon Jesus” and “Look full in His wonderful face.”

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I was just thinking how many great men of God got their breakthrough moments in prison.

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I thought today might be a good day just to think about how much God loves you. To take a moment to pause and just breathe in His love and complete acceptance of you; His desire for your love and to love you continually. To think about His unwavering devotion to blessing you, proven by everything He has said and every action and every decision regarding you—it is all pure love toward you and nothing else.

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Isn’t it amazing how the Lord sends you to just the Scripture you need at just the time you need it?

I was revisiting Jonah today, and that short book of the Bible, written almost three thousand years ago, is the perfect book to guide my heart right now in the midst of the political wrangling going on about the election, the Supreme Court, and a host of other divisive issues.

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Einstein once said that coincidences were God’s way of staying anonymous. I don’t know about that, but I do know that Christians are blessed often by things that the world would call a coincidence. You may call them God touches or God winks, but we have all had them. I experienced one today.

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Search me, oh God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there us any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24)

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In a week when stories of riots, looting, divisiveness, and senseless killings abound, are you ready for a true story of beauty and light?

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When I think of missionaries, I think of my niece who went to Africa and lived far from home and discipled total strangers from a different culture. Imagine my surprise recently when I felt the Lord was moving my heart to be more of a missionary.

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Have you felt as I have felt lately, that there are too many opinions about almost everything? As I study the Scriptures, I don’t see that our opinions are required or even encouraged. I can tell you that the Lord has told me more than once in my life that He has no interest in my weighing in on issues.

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Here is what I know to be true about God’s love for ALL His children. That word “ALL” is key to understanding God’s heart.

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I learned about racism in 1959. Both of my parents taught me to abhor racial predjudice, but they taught me in ways as different as they were from each other.

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