When we think of the word “surrender”, the image of a soldier waving a white flag in a battle may come to mind. We might imagine two opponents exhausted from round after round, and finally one taps out. The definition of ‘surrender’ in these analogies is about one opponent submittingRead More →
“Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy.” Psalms 126:5 NLT Sometimes we come to a breaking point where we don’t have words to pray but only our tears. Life has trampled and bombarded us in such a way that it looks like there’s no light atRead More →
God created us to live from the inside out, which means whatever we think and whatever is living inside our hearts is going to manifest on the outside. Many of us forget this when the situations of life don’t work in our favor. We’re very quick to blame others, orRead More →
Romans 8:26 (NLT) “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.” Our Heavenly Father never intended Jesus Christ to accomplish His missionRead More →
As women who have been praying a while to meet the man we’re going to marry, we expect God to not only comply with our timetable, but to send us a man that perfectly fits our criteria. Some of us have fined tuned our lists to include the height, skin-tone,Read More →
“For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues. They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause. In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer. So they reward me evil for good, and hatredRead More →
Many of us say that we want whatever God wants for us, but is this really true? What happens when He reveals His plan and purpose for our lives, and it doesn’t match the vision we’ve been floating around in our heads? We think we found the man that GodRead More →
“Train up a child in the way he should go: And when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 (KJV) A good friend said her daughter that is in the fifth grade came home and told her that the teacher was teaching the class about theRead More →
Psalm 37:4(ESV) “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” In the Old Testament, God gives us the record of His servant, Abraham, who was destined to become our Father of believing. Abraham was fully persuaded that what God promised, He was willingRead More →
Roman 8:29-30(NLT) “29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gaveRead More →
Lisa had been driving around for the last two months without insurance. She let her boyfriend use her car one weekend, and he totaled it. Thankfully, he is okay, but Lisa is in quite the bind. Rent is due, her job is ten miles away from her apartment building andRead More →
Ephesians 4:30(NLT) “And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.” When we soak in the reality of what God tells us in Galatians 3:14(NIV), weRead More →
One of the major problems today is that too many of us try to control people and circumstances without learning the discipline of controlling ourselves. Our Master Jesus walked in the power of the Holy Spirit. He understood that the Source of his strength and power came from the SpiritRead More →
Proverbs 23:26(NLT) “O my son, give me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following my ways.” A skeleton is the remains of a human body once it is drained of all life. Skeletons remind us of death, and if we were to hide one in our closet, itRead More →
I really like what God tells us through the Apostle Paul in 2Corinthians 13:5(NLT), “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves.” The action steps behind this verse press us to look at ourselves through the lens of God’s Word. It will require courage and honesty, especiallyRead More →
Dante and Jackie decided to make a quick run to the store before Bible study one evening. Their plans for a random trip to the store turned into an opportunity that God planned so they could be a blessing. They asked a store clerk to point them in the rightRead More →
Hebrews 12:25(NLT) “25 Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks toRead More →
God rescued us through Jesus Christ because of His extraordinary love for us all. Romans 5:8 (ESV) declares, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He loves us with a burning love, and He wants all His children toRead More →
In Jeremiah 29:11(NLT), God told His people, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” God is our Heavenly Father, and in this verse, He tells us that theRead More →
Dante had been job seeking for about a month when he finally got a request for an interview. The interview was longer than expected, and after an hour or so, he felt pessimistic about things. The interviewer asked Dante, “how do you feel about losing?” Dante answered by saying thatRead More →
My friend, Jonah, has been trying to witness and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, but he feels that he’s not being taken seriously. One of the individuals that he’s been telling about the Lord Jesus Christ is very important to him, but Jonah feels that this person isn’t allowingRead More →
Jesus Christ said in Matthew 5:13(NLT), “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.” This is a verse of scripture that should make everyRead More →
Faith in God is the game-changer in this journey of life. Not having it will set us on a course of regression and devastation but having faith in our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ will keep us standing strong in the middle of the most difficult storms of life. InRead More →
Hebrews 11:1(NLT) teaches us that “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” Another helpful way of looking at it is to see faith as the title deed to the thing we are believing to receive. WithinRead More →
Life is all about relationships. God has set up all relationships as an instrument to strengthen our relationship with Him, and as we are strengthened, comforted, and encouraged by Him, we can then bless others through Jesus Christ. We are to become established and saturated in His love for usRead More →
None of us like to be told we’re doing something wrong, especially if we’re enjoying it. Everyone needs constructive criticism, and the biggest room in the world is the room to grow. Most of us realize this. We know growth is a necessary part of life, but we love ourRead More →
Joshua 1:8(NLT) “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.” In the Old Testament, after Moses died, Joshua took his place as the leaderRead More →
Marthea Duncan received the promotion she had been vying for since the day she started working for a prominent nonprofit. Her former boss was terminated for consistently missing the company’s fundraising goals. Marthea believed she could do a much better job, but already she had rubbed some of the otherRead More →
John 3:20-21(NLT) “20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.” Loving the light isRead More →
In this life experience on earth, God is teaching and training us to live fully in His nature. This means that some of our thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes must go. We must kick them to the curb because they are not helping us towards God’s goal. These thoughts, behaviors, andRead More →