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Loving the Word
Have you ever hunted for something a long time before finding it? Did you rejoice and appreciate what you found? God impressed this upon me during my month at the beach last fall. Here’s how He spoke. Shells were few on the Gulf Coast shore last year. Since this is my favorite thing to do at the beach, I continued to hunt and hope. Thinking a beautiful shell would be in the very next wave. Even though I came away almost empty each time, I continued to look. Isn’t that how it is sometimes when we read God’s Word? During some seasons we just seem to come up empty, but…
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What’s Your Story?
Anyone ever ask you “what’s your story”? Someone who really wants to know you? How did you answer?…Honestly? Or did you hide behind a mask of who you thought they wanted to hear? Often, we just say lighthearted surface-y type of things about ourself. Maybe we even hide big parts of our lives that are embarrassing, shameful or sinful. We don’t want others to know those parts…because if they do, they won’t think well of us. There are parts of my life that aren’t fun or flowery. They were harder than I ever thought possible to live through. They were hard enough to cause doubt that God could ever bring…
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Perfect, Broken or Perfectly Shaped?
How often do you hear someone say (or perhaps you have said it), “I’m broken and unusable.” Or “I can’t be forgiven for what I’ve done.” Or perhaps, “I know God has forgiven me, but I know He can’t use me after what I’ve done.” Maybe even you have thought these things. As I’ve mentioned, I LOVE beach time. And I love what God teaches me when I’m at the shore. One of the sweetest messages He’s given me relates to how I look for big, perfect, whole shells. Perhaps like this shell I found. It was big and perfect. I wanted to find more! Then I came across this one…
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Free of Me, More of Thee
This year the Lord has given me a word for 2018. I don’t always get a word. Often I get a song whose theme is something God knows I will need that year. This year I not only got a word, I got a song to go along with it. My song is Frontiers. My word is SELFLESS. I believe God is wanting me to move from selfish to selfless as I serve Him and interact with others. Why is it to easy to put “me first”? About the time I got that word I was reading a book by Sharon Hodde Miller. Free of Me is a introspective look inside and…
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Go It Alone
Have you ever felt alone in obeying something God called you to do? Did others look at you as though you were losing your mind when you shared that assignment with them? There are times God leads us to lead others into an assignment but sometimes He will lead us there alone. God speaks loudly to me when I am spending time at the beach. Maybe because I am listening more closely, or that I’m anticipating His voice more (and that should be EVERY day I do that!). A recent lesson from last fall was about how sometimes and at times even as a leader of others, God will call…
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A Grace Disguised
While at the beach recently I read Jerry Sitser’s book,A Grace Disguised . This is a transparent journey with a man who lost his daughter, wife and mother in a tragic car wreck. It was a head on with someone driving under the influence. Jerry must then figure out how to seek God in the midst of trying to be both mother and father to his three other young children. As the subtitle says, Jerry shares “how the soul grows through loss”. While he never seeks to compare his loss to anyone else’s, he shares the struggle of finding a good God in the midst of such pain. The main focus of…
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3 Lessons from Jonah
Did you know there are at least 2 documented cases (Baxter, Explore the Book) of men swallowed by sharks or whales who lived to tell about it? Jesus’ words in Matthew 12:39-40 prove to us that the story of Jonah is more than a fairy tale! What can we learn from his life and experience? Jonah’s life was interrupted by God’s assignment to him to tell the city of Nineveh to repent. When we read the book of Jonah we see what happens to a man whose life was interrupted. What would yours be? Do you like interruptions? I don’t. But that means I am not open to divine intervention.…
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Beach Blessings Big and Small
Every time I go to the beach, God uses the time to teach me principles about who He is and how He works. In fact, because He is so faithful to do this, I have begun looking forward to each trip in part, for what He will teach me, and what He will allow me to teach others. I anticipate He will teach and I am ready to learn. One of my favorite things to do at the beach is look for seashells. I LOVE shells and our home attests to that! I comb the shore for daily treasures. Because the shells were not so plentiful or as large on…
