Here is where I breathe You deep inside my heart,Here is where You make me strong and make me more like You.Here is where You pour Your love like a river over me,Here is where my heart finds more of You. Here is where I come to You, Lord, With all that I am, You […]
“Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.” 1 Peter 2:16 When you think of “freedom,” what do you think of? Emancipation from slavery? Getting out of jail? Leaving work? Moving out of the house? Freedom is associated with all of
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” — Proverbs 3:5-6 Thought What do you use for your life’s compass? No matter how insightful, wise, experienced, or knowledgeable we may be, only
“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”2 Corinthians 10:4 I could no longer live the lie I had pursued for over 40 years. At age 14, I supposedly gave my heart to Jesus, but the ensuing decades proved otherwise. I enjoyed the “perks”
We sat on the beach watching the waves crash in and wash out. As they splashed against the rocks there was an amazing spray of ocean droplets, shining like diamonds in the afternoon sun. Later that evening we sat on the same beach. In the semi-darkness of the full moon night we could faintly
“Encourage each other” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “How are you?” is how we often begin our conversations. It is part of the North American culture – we say it out of habit. But how often do we take the time to look in people’s eyes or discern facial expressions or body language or even read between
I grew up in an alcoholic home where both my parents drank and were verbally and physically abusive. There were not a lot words that brought life or encouragement. Maybe that is why I remember two moments so vividly. When I was in my early teens, a lady who was like a second mother to […]
Do you ever feel nearly burned out? Can’t really hum This Little Light of Mine with fervor at that moment? Yeah, I know the feeling. One of my duties at church is to make sure the candles on the altar are filled with liquid wax/oil so they do not burn out during the service. Because […]
Read: Matthew 11:28-30 What emotions come to mind when you hear the words burden and burnout? These terms make us sigh, don’t they? In this fast-paced, overworked world, most of us have felt the tiring numbness of carrying too much on our shoulders, in our schedules, and on our minds. Here are
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 (NLT) I have come to find that my efforts alone are worthless when it comes to achieving anything I set out to accomplish. […]
“Many of the people scolded him and told him to be quiet. But he shouted even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’” Mark 10:48 (GN) If you’re going to make a fresh start with faith in your life, you have to face your fears. Don’t let them control you! Fear has an […]
In the midst of my painDo not allow my living be in vain.For I must not kick and shoveI must be harmless as a dove.Yet I need Your wisdom from aboveFor the storms are raging and the watersThreaten to overtake me…the darkClouds are gathering…but in the midstOf it all I see a glimmer of light
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10 Recently I had to go for a CT scan and an MRI. Why do they make those tunnels so confining and loud? Even the open ones seem freaky. I’ve had these
“Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed even whom I have made” Isaiah 43: 1-7 The 2008 Beijing Olympics is history. The Bird’s Nest stadium is now quiet, it’s […]
Jesus was undiluted deity. No wonder no one argued when he declared, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). He has authority over everything. And he has it forever! Yet in spite of this lofty position, Jesus was willing for a time to forgo the privileges of
It was a move made more out of desperation than out of faith. The father was out of resources. His son had had severe convulsions since he was a small child. The man had heard that Jesus could heal. He made his way through the crowd that surrounded Jesus and called out for help. “If […]
“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinance, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both […]
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 Thought Be kind and compassionate — two qualities that seem to be in short supply. Maybe it’s because we hold up the wrong heroes. Unfortunately these two qualities are often
Know that God is: God is the eternal God. Everything there is in the heavens and on the earth—every planet, every plant, every person, and every creature had a first moment, a first day, or a first breath—and that “first” came from God. There has never been an eternal moment without God…from
“ Hannah became pregnant and in due time bore a son and named him Samuel [heard of God], Because, she said, I have asked him of the Lord.” 1 Samuel 1:20 (AMPC) I want to speak to those that have been following hard after God in obedience; you have been living by the Word of God, […]