-
·
Bigger Fights and Even Bigger Victories
Dear Heavenly Father, You tell us in 1Peter 5:8(NLT), “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” Many of us have not heeded Your warning in 1Peter 5:8 and have succumbed to the enemy’s tricks. We didn’t recognize his attempts to…
-
·
What Comes After the Rest?
One of life’s most fundamental pieces of wisdom is that if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re not able to prepare for the destination. Every person that is living and that has ever lived is on a spiritual journey. Jesus Christ tells us in John 4:24 that God is Spirit. God created everything that…
-
·
Like A City on A Hilltop
My sister lives in an area close to where we grew up. While talking with her the other day, she mentioned bumping into one of my high-school classmates, and she asked about me. This classmate knew that I had moved away some years ago and wanted to know how I was doing, since we hadn’t…
-
·
When God is Well Pleased
Dear Heavenly Father, You want us to have the same mind that Jesus Christ had when He walked upon this earth. You have given us wonderful ministers to equip us so that we can measure up to the full stature of Christ. We should believe as he believed, live as he lived, and give as…
-
·
Are You Creating A Space for Love to Land?
“I’m thirty-two, and I’m the only one in my group of girlfriends that’s still single.” This statement, or something like it, is one many of us have heard from at least one of our single friends. Now more than ever, we’re being told that loneliness is an epidemic, and some have bought into this hook,…
-
·
No Excuses
Dear Heavenly Father, Through the Apostle Paul, in Hebrews 4:1(NLT), You tell us, “God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it.” Prior to this pandemic, the world was moving so fast that it didn’t know how to catch up…
-
·
Dealing with Sadness and Uncertainty
The famous writer and poet, Shakespeare said, “To thine own self be true.” It speaks to me now just as much as it did when I first read it in high school. I’m old enough to have learned some serious lessons from life’s mistakes and its triumphs. One of the important lessons that is evident…
-
·
Time to Get Close to You
Dear Heavenly Father, In Old Testament times, Psalm 60:2 says that You allowed the earth to tremble and break, and only You can heal it. Today, in our time, the world is shaking, and many people are afraid. One of the laws of physics is that for every action in nature there is a reaction.…
-
·
I Say YES!
Dear Heavenly Father, Many people that call themselves Christians are not really following Christ. Some consider it just a label, and they wear it because their other family and friends have become believers. Others have some sort of personal agenda, and they are looking to profit from the Christian community. There are many shallow spiritual…
-
·
Is God Punishing Our Sin?
1John 4:1(NLT) tells us, “Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.” One of the statements I’ve made many times over the years is regarding the importance…
-
·
The Guidance of Your Word
Dear Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ said in Matthew 4:4(NKJV), “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” No matter what he faced, Your Son always came back to Your Word. Your Word is life to us, because it is alive. As…
-
·
Lids Ripped Off Our Little Boxes
In Mark 11:24(NIV), Jesus Christ says, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” This is an extraordinarily wonderful truth! Our Great Big Powerful God has made it very plain that we have access to Him. So much so that when we…
-
·
The Right List
Dear Heavenly Father There are so many things that I want to accomplish in my life. Like many of your sons and daughters, sometimes it feels like I’m taking one step forward and two steps backwards. The demands on my time are increasing, and my resources don’t seem to be keeping pace. This can be…
-
·
Where Do We Go from Here?
Wherever we are in our spiritual walk with the Father through Jesus Christ, He’s calling us to go further—to become more deeply rooted in Christ. God wants us to do this so that we become spiritually stronger, and so that the vision He holds for us becomes clearer. This is so important because some of…
-
·
A New Dimension in Prayer
It should never escape the minds and hearts of any believer that prayer to God is meant to be an expression of our total lives in Christ. The habit pattern for many of us, though, is to portion off our lives into categories. We label most of it as stuff we can handle, and other…
-
·
Deeper Gratitude and Adoration for God
Dear Heavenly Father, Isaiah 26:3(NLT) says, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” There have been many days that I have allowed situations to cause my thoughts to stray away from Your Word. You warn us not to look on the prosperity of the…
-
·
God Will Show You What He Can Do!
Proverbs 19:21(NLT) says, “You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.” Making many plans is what we humans do. We’re constantly making decisions and choices that we think will lead us where we want to go. God tells us in Proverbs 19:21 that we can certainly do this, but we must always…
-
·
Take It By Faith!
Dear Heavenly Father, In Ephesians 2:10, You call the creation of humanity Your masterpiece. You tell us that we are Your finest work, and You created us as brand new creations in Christ Jesus. You want us to do the good things that You planned for us, and You planned these good things long before…
-
·
What Matters Most
Dear Heavenly Father, In 1Corinthians 12:28(NLT), You tell us, “Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church: first are apostles, second are prophets, third are teachers, then those who do miracles, those who have the gift of healing, those who can help others, those who have the gift of leadership, those…
-
·
Can’t Nobody Do Ya’ Like Jesus!
Charlotte called her dad a very mean dry alcoholic. When they were children, before he got sober, he would whip her and her other siblings frequently for no reason. She said when she asked him why he was punishing her, he said if he whipped one, he had to whip them all. They were terrified…
-
·
Truly Walking in Freedom
We have big problems these days, and it’s not just on a micro level, but on a macro one. We’re seeing the enemy’s plots on a very large scale and his tactic of divisiveness and lies is more transparent than ever. But society is revealing to us that there are very few people with their…
-
·
A Light in Dark Places
Dear Heavenly Father, There are times when I feel lost, abandoned, cheated, lied to, and underestimated. I feel sometimes You don’t hear my heart crying from confusion. I know that’s not the case, but in that moment of sadness and depression, my emotions feel more real than the reality that You’re always with me. We…
-
·
Your Call
Dear Heavenly Father I heard a great teacher say something that was so spot on, and it spoke to my spirit in a new way. He said, “The only way God can use you is if we are willing vessels”. I know that You do not use people in a sense of usurping their free-will…
-
·
Like a Tree Planted by the Waters
Dear Heavenly Father, You tell us in Hebrews 4:12-13 (MSG), “God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word. We can’t get away…
-
·
God Chose Us!
Dear Heavenly Father, The Old Testament prophecy that is written again in Acts 2:17(NLT) says, “‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘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.” This prophecy is being fulfilled in…
-
·
Motivated by God’s Love
Dear Heavenly Father, Regarding Saul, the King of Israel who was handsome, well-built, and tall, You told Samuel in 1Samuel 16:7(NLT), “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”…
-
·
Windows and Doors Knocked Out
Dear Heavenly Father, Sometimes we forget that one of our missions in life should be to learn the spiritual lessons that You have designed for us. Through the Apostle Paul, You tell us in Romans 5:3-5(NLT), “3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us…
-
·
Decluttering Emotionally
This year went by in a whisper, and with another new year approaching, we need to take a little inventory. We need to access what worked for us in the past year and what didn’t, so we can make some changes. Resolutions are the go-to in order to get this done and start everything off…
-
·
Consistent in Our Commitment to God
Dear Heavenly Father, I’ve been thinking about this word consistency. It is defined as conforming to the application of something with steadiness, regularity, and stability. When I think about this word, I am reminded of what You told us in 2Timothy 1:7, that You didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but You’ve given us…
-
·
You Make Our Lives a Thing of Beauty
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for giving us the Gift of Holy Spirit. Thank You that He dwells on the inside of us, where he can help us most. Because of the Holy Spirit, we can walk in Your power and love in a greater way. In Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost, the…