Handle with Care Be careful what you ask for! I’m guessing you’ve heard the saying. If you’re a parent, you may have even uttered it. That saying reminds me of something similar a wise person once said to me: Be careful what you pray for. If you ask God for patience, He will certainly answer. … Continue reading Being Too Careful in What You Pray For
What is driving our choices and actions? Are we acting out of fear or out of love? 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. … Continue reading Praying Scripture – 11/13/2019
Sometimes we're on the mountaintop in our walk with God, facing an exhilarating view of how He is working in our lives and in His church. But sometimes we're in the fiery furnace. These [trials] have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by … Continue reading Praying Scripture – 11/6/2019
Sometimes life doesn't make sense. Sometimes we don't understand why God has allowed something to happen. Sometimes it's our everyday circumstances that trip us up in our walk with God. Sometimes it's the big theological questions that bring us up short. At times like this, I return again and again to Isaiah: 8 “For my thoughts … Continue reading Praying Scripture – 10/30/2019
As I continue reflecting on my last post, I keep going back to these verses from Hebrews: 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you … Continue reading Praying Scripture – 10/23/2019
With all the discord in the world around us and even within the church, I am reminded more and more of how Jesus says the world will know those who follow Him: By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:35 Will you join me in praying … Continue reading Praying Scripture – 10/16/2019
This week I am ever so conscious that I need God to illumine His word and to transform my heart. Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness;give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. Psalm 86:11 NIV Will you join me in praying this verse for each of us … Continue reading Praying Scripture – 10/9/2019
The knowledge that things will eventually change can keep us going, but it isn’t the same as experiencing the thrill of reaching the mountaintop or coming out of the trees and seeing an amazing panorama lying before you. Actually seeing this view reflects not only the words but the experience of the praise section of the laments.
Most of us have heard that the truth will set us free, but there's a condition: To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32 NIV Will you join … Continue reading Praying Scripture – 10/2/2019
We tend to focus on God’s goodness and faithfulness. We submit ourselves to His will. We often blame ourselves for our circumstances, focusing on our own sinfulness or the reality of life in a fallen world. That's not what the laments do. They don't just beg God to fix things. They blame God. They demand that He intervene.
Life Beyond #Blessed 