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Hold Tight to God’s Love
There are periods within every trial and tribulation that weigh more heavily on us than other times. It can feel as though we’re trapped with nowhere to turn. This is a period that can really cause us to suffer emotionally and mentally, and the solution for times like this will always be to take our…
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Craving You
Dear Heavenly Father, You have delivered many of us from a multitude of dark and negative issues, and we still carry idols with us into our deliverance. I personally know individuals that have moved to a different area, job, relationship, or place of worship; and remnants of the same issues will pop up in their…
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Every Day Belongs to God
When I was younger, I struggled with anxiety. I would bite my nails when it was time to take an exam or whenever I encountered a stressful situation. If it looked as though my parents were going to find out I had done something I knew they wouldn’t approve of, forget about it; I’d be…
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Recharging Our Batteries
Dear Heavenly Father, In Genesis 2:2(NLT), You tell us, “On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work.” Your Word also tells us that You are Spirit, therefore, You don’t need rest in the physical sense. We need rest for our physical bodies to continue to…
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Something to Drink Anyone?
A few young Christians that I know were talking amongst themselves about a fellow student. They’re all in college, and they are quite familiar with my views on how dependent they all are on social media. I recognize that social media has been a wonderful tool to spread…
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The Blessing of Abundance
Dear Heavenly Father, I was taught something today about Your law of Giving equals Receiving, and it really blew my mind. Your precious Son told us in Luke 6:38(NLT), “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into…
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He Will See You Through
Psalms 34:8(NLT) tells us, “Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!” The psalmist, King David, wrote these beautiful words at a time when his life was filled with peril. It’s easy to imagine someone praising God when circumstances are good, but it takes it…
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Who is Without Sin?
A few years back, a colleague took a short leave of absence because she had a difficult time with her parent’s divorce. She was in her early thirties at the time, and very successful professionally, but hearing the news that her father cheated was more than she could process. Her father had been her world,…
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One out of Ten Got it Right
Dear Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ tells us in Luke 17:11-19 about the ten lepers that were healed from the disease of leprosy. None of us can truly understand the impact in earlier biblical periods of having this disease. Those who had it were looked upon as utter outcasts. They were isolated and not allowed to…
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It Is Better to Give Than to Receive
Dear Heavenly Father, Acts 20:35 tells us the amazingly wise words of Your Son, Jesus Christ. He said it is better to give than to receive. Father, this is a very basic lesson You’re teaching us, but we still don’t have it firmly in our consciousness. You have charged us with the call to feed…
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All Lives Matter to God
When I was younger, I was filled with questions about how God did things. I used to think He couldn’t possibly know me by name, there was just too many people living in the world for this. I grew up in a tight-knit Christian community, and my family taught me and my siblings strong morals…
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Trust in God!
Dear Heavenly Father, Your Son said in John 10:10(NKJV), “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” You sent Your Son to earth to make a more than abundant life available to Your…
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Pressing-in to God
Dear Heavenly Father, You said in Acts 2:17(NLT), “‘In the last days…I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.” The ‘last days’ refers to the period after the ascension of Jesus Christ. He promised to…
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Taking the Time to Rest
Are you the type of woman that will place the needs of everybody else before your own? Are you juggling so many balls that you can’t remember the last time you did something really good for yourself? Do you want life to slow down for a minute so you can take a breather and try…
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Struggling with Low Self-esteem
Dear Heavenly Father, Many of us are struggling with low self-esteem, and it is causing us to indulge behaviors and attitudes that prevent our happiness and success. Some of us stay in relationships with men who are abusive and don’t honor us. Others of us have friends that take advantage and don’t truly appreciate who…
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The Last Will Be the First!
Just a few weeks ago, many folks had their eyes glued to the men’s college basketball tournaments. There were work pools everywhere, and people were confident they knew which team would come out on top. It was a historic game with one of the most unbelievable and unexpected upsets in college basketball history. Never before…
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He Will Turn Things Around!
Dear Heavenly Father, Sometimes, we feel overwhelmingly sad about the situations and circumstances we face. These sad feelings can come on us very quickly and make us feel as if we’ve been hit by a ton of bricks. They can turn into a dark cloud that seems to loom over us everywhere we go and…
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When Everything Isn’t Gravy
I was born and raised in the deep south, where most of the days were sunny and warm. I moved to the north after graduating high school and had no idea the weather could change so quickly and drastically, at the drop of a dime. The winters are long, and the summers are short. This…
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Replacing Jealousy with Gratitude
Dear Heavenly Father, A friend of mine has been dating a guy that seemed like a very nice person. He is a Christian and after hearing him pray one night, like my other girlfriends, I was very moved by his humility. I personally became excited for my friend, because from all appearances, this new man…
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The Good Work He’s Planned for Us
Ephesians 2:10(NLT) “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Years ago, I met an older woman with whom I forged a great friendship; she was like a grandmother to me. She was outside cutting her grass…
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Please Help Me Remain Obedient to Your Will
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for placing people in my life that know Your Word and can offer me Godly encouragement and wisdom when I need it most. Recently, I had a very informative conversation with a close family member. Her counsel was so spot on and razor-sharp that it cut through all my reservations…
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The Privilege of Loving You
“38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed,…
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You Won’t Find Him in the Noise
This past week was pivotal in my relationship with God. I decided that I could no longer continue to give the world so much of my time during the weekdays. Human-beings are creatures of habit, and we sometimes let social media, or the television consume way too much of our time because we’ve adapted these…
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Throwing Pearls to Those Who Can’t Catch Them!
Dear Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ said in Matthew 7:6(NLT), “Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.” When I first heard this verse, I was a little taken aback because it kinda’ compares unholy folks to swine.…
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The Lord is My Strength and My Shield
Psalm 28:7(NLT) says, “The LORD is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.” This is one of a few scriptures that Karen knew, but she held tightly to it. Her life had not been…
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An Attentive Listener
Dear Heavenly Father, Please help us to listen more intently to Your Word. The world is a very unpredictable and chaotic place. To navigate through it, we need Your divine direction through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and You tell us that we also need to be careful about HOW we hear. Jesus Christ…
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Clinging to You!
Dear Heavenly Father, Through the Apostle Paul, in 1Timothy 6:12 (NLT), You tells us, “Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.” Your Word tells us that faith is a fight. It is a…
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Pray So God’s Love Can Bless You
Jesus Christ said in John 16:33(NLT), “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” As we examine what is happening all around us, we can see that even though this…
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That Your Joy May Be Full
Dear Heavenly Father, One of my mentors told me about a class she took when she reached a desperate point in her life. She has been a believer for many years, but said she was still a very sad person. She knew it wasn’t Your Will for her to feel this way, so she prayed…
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He Will Exceed Your Expectations
The man you think you’ll marry, when everything is said and done, will most likely look completely different than the vision you hold in your head. This is often true with the perfect job, the ideal house or the car you’ll have. Proverbs 19:21(NLT) says, “You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will…