1 Peter 1:6-7 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Continue Reading…
Romans 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Ever experience an “Eeyore” day? Sometimes I feel like I could give Winnie the Pooh’s lovable friend Continue Reading…
Luke 24:21 “But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” Easter is coming! We live in a world jam packed with fears and anxieties. So much tragic news bombards our airwaves that I think many folks are losing the capacity to even recognize good news. And Easter Continue Reading…
Romans 8:24-25 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. I was preparing to go to church when my 5-year-old grandson came into the Continue Reading…
Jonah 4:9 “…. I’m so angry I wish I were dead.” Self-Pity. There’s nothing attractive about it. Like quicksand, it draws us in and pulls us down, down, down until we drown in SELF. Self-pity accepts no responsibility for our beleaguered state of mind and soothes our bruised egos Continue Reading…
Psalm 13: How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? Who knew perseverance was such a virtue? One we would be in so much need of. The difficulties of 2020 have caused us to step up our capacity for enduring. But how Continue Reading…
Psalm 31:24 “Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.” How’s your hope tank these days? A little depleted? I think the coronavirus has left us all feeling more vulnerable and less secure than we were when life was normal. When was that? Decades ago? The Continue Reading…
1 Thessalonians 3:2-3 “We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials.” The waiting time—that interminable period between crying out to God and receiving an answer—poses one Continue Reading…
Job 16:19-20 “Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God” No matter how dark life becomes, within each person flickers a light of hope that cannot be extinguished…unless we let it. No one knew trouble more than Job. Continue Reading…
2 Chronicles 34:31 “The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book.” [NIV] Disheartened. Discouraged. Demoralized. Any of Continue Reading…