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…
John 6:29 “Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’” “It’s easier to be depressed than to trust.” Have you ever been there? Discouragement takes over, pummels you to the ground and in an instant you’re down for the count. You don’t have Continue Reading…
Psalm 137:1-3 “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps” Discouragement. It stops us in our tracks. It locks us in limbo. It deafens us to hope. Israel was well acquainted with it. After four hundred years of cruel Continue Reading…
1 Kings 19:4 “He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’” Ever have one of those “un-days?” You feel un-loved, un-productive, un-inspired, un-necessary. Every good Continue Reading…