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Be of Good Cheer
John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Background: John wrote this book to prove that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Chapter sixteen takes place the night before Jesus Christ’s crucifixion when He is preparing the disciples for His immediate, yet brief, departure. Verse 33 is the triumphant conclusion of this chapter as Jesus gave the disciples His farewell. Jesus did not sugarcoat the reality that we will have tribulation. The Greek word for tribulation has the idea of stress or pressing.…
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Power, Love, and a Sound Mind
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Background: When Paul wrote the epistle or letter we know as 2 Timothy, his life had drastically changed. Abandoned by his friends, he writes what is known to be his last letter to Timothy. It was a more personal letter to encourage his young colleague, his “son” in the faith, who is facing challenges to remain fearless in the suffering and faithful in the ministry. One of the top struggles for men and women is fear. It is not surprising that the most repeated command in…
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Order My Steps
The ladies ministry at our church has a challenge this year at our winter event in January of memorizing a verse selection each month. I am writing devotionals for each one, so I wanted to share here. Those who attended our event received each month’s verse on a card. I had designed them specifically for the event but will share with you too! Psalm 119:133 “Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.” Background: The book of Psalms is an “irreplaceable devotional guide, prayer book, and hymnal of the people of God” (W. Wiersbe). Psalm 119 is the longest psalm (and chapter of…
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Hurry, Hurry, Hurry…Wait.
Hurry, hurry, hurry! With it being a Monday morning as I post this, I wonder how many of us are thinking about allllll we have to do this week? Our culture and probably every other first world country lives such busy lives. So much to do, no time to do everything. It especially seems spending time with the Lord each day gets written at the bottom of the list often not getting done. My recent Bible study in Acts 24 reminded me that as humans we have always found time to do what we make a priority in our lives. Paul had been taken as a prisoner, and Felix, the governor…
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To Every Thing There is a Season
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 My family, close friends, and church family know about this season of life I am going through, but I wanted to share with the rest of my friends. It was hard at first to tell people because you really don’t know what you will face when you are diagnosed with cancer. So I know to some of you, this is a surprise or you had no clue. Well, that is because I have not given any clues, only answering occasional comments made on Facebook when asked by those who have heard. Cancer…
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Hearts Still in Egypt
“And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” Exodus 17:3 Could you imagine being in a leadership position where you led a group through trials and troubles and even extricated them from slavery, but they did not want to follow your lead any longer? And as a slap in the face, they want to GO BACK to their former slave owners. This was what the Israelite people declared to Moses. Why? Why would someone choose to live in bondage? Because…
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Countdown of Gratitude
Did you miss the daily countdown in November with quotes and Bible verses on gratitude? You can find it on Facebook or Instagram. They are all pinned for you to save on Pinterest too. Or check out below! 💕
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The Golden Calf
Over the years I have had the opportunity to visit several countries in which I learned a bit about the various people groups and their religions. I have visited Hindu temples in England and India as well as a mosque and Buddhist temple and catholic churches in Chile, Mexico, and Costa Rica. My glimpse into the way other religions worship and endeavor to get to heaven was revealed in their worship by offering burning candles and incense, rice, fruit, and other things to various gods, saints, and prophets. It saddens me when we have the Truth, so returning home to America which was founded on the Christian faith brings me…
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“Easy” Church
During the last few months many of us have been relegated to “doing church” at home whether we have the convenience of watching our pastoral staff online or our family puts together our own time of worship and teaching of God’s Word. In our area we have slowly been able to start back to in-person services with acceptable physical distancing and sanitizing. My church has offered two morning service times to divide up the congregation so we can spread out as deemed necessary. When you have had to miss gathering with fellow believers for weeks, it has been exciting and revitalizing and brought peace and refreshment to my soul with…