Lessons
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The Changing Landscape
Each morning while at the beach, my hero husband goes down early to claim our spot on the beach. Each day, where he puts our chairs changes a little. We’ve watched the changes as the surf has gone from calm to strong. When we first got here, the beach was level at the shore. Easy to roll our beach buggy onto. But as the waves got choppier, we began to see a “cliff” form at the shoreline. We talked about how it will be harder to be beachfront with that drop off. I love watching thees shoreline changes each day. One morning the attribute of God I was focusing on was…
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Waiting with Patience?
I’m not necessarily a patient person. I applaud those who are. Tending to work fast on most anything, I am a “get’er done” kind of gal. Waiting in line, waiting on answers, and well…just waiting in general, is REALLY hard! This year the Lord directed me to memorize Romans 8. My verses for this week are 24-25. The context is how we were saved through our hope in Christ and now we eagerly wait for our full redemption when Jesus returns and makes all things new. Read back a few verses in your Bible, or better yet, the entire chapter to get a better look at the context. My post…
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The Timeliness of God’s Word
Sometimes it seems the Lord is silent, but other times He just floods you with common thoughts as you are facing challenges. He did that (again) recently. I was finishing up the the two connected studies. Seven Realities for Experiencing God by Richard and Henry Blackaby and Experiencing God, upon which Seven Realities is based, also by the Blackabys and Claude King. I’ve spent weeks being reminded of how God speaks and calls us to work with Him, as well as making adjustments it takes to obey! In facing a tough relationship circumstance, I’ve been asking God to show me how to obey in the situation. I’ve also been walking…
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My Pillar
What guides your thoughts and actions? To whom do you look for wisdom? We can rely on friends and family, and those in our life group, for solid advice, but none have the wisdom that only God provides as we look to Him primarily for daily direction. As I was reading the book of Exodus, I arrived at the passage that includes instructions to the Israelites to follow the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. That way they would know which way they were to travel. As I focused on this passage, I was reminded of the Pillar we have today to guide us…
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The World We Live In
I’ve watched from a distance the culture of anger we see all around us today. Painful as that is, seeing it in the community where I live brings it close to home and breaks my heart. Especially when Christians are angry and violent for a “christian” reason. Seeking justice, but in an un-Christlike manner. A hateful and even threatening manner. But it’s a picture of what we’ve all witnessed across the nation. A hint of truth, a huge dose of untruth, then attacks on social media platforms that are aimed at destroying people. Watching attacks on people they don’t know at all. They believe lies they see or hear from…
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Mysterious Purpose
Why does it sometimes take pain to push us to grow deeper in Christ? If I could answer I’d be really brilliant. I can’t even explain it to myself in a way that totally makes sense because I could never fully explain God’s ways. Why? Because He’s so much wiser than I am and well, you know…He’s so much more in every way than we are. But we do not have to understand Him or fully explain Him to know Him! As I’ve continued reading chronologically, I am studying Job and although he was a righteous man, the devil was allowed to test him by destroying what was important to…
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A “Don’t Worry” Reminder
At the end of 2022, I got a call from my doctor’s office about needing some follow-up scans to ones I’d had a few days prior. Not a call you want to get right before Christmas…or anytime really. Unfortunately, they couldn’t schedule the scans until after the first week of January. My first thought was, “I have to go through the holidays with this on my mind? Wondering if there is an unexpected something that will change my life in 2023.” Yes, I would have to go through Christmas and New Year’s celebrations without knowing if something was wrong. Then, I remembered another time, years ago, when I got a…
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More First of the Year Thoughts
How are you are at memorizing scripture? I remember when Beth Moore wrote the study, James: Mercy Triumphs. She challenged those who did the study to take the plunge and memorize, along with her, the entire book of James! I was in my late 50’s and thought, “there is NO way.” Well, there IS a way. Because I like an impossible challenge occasionally, I decided to try it. It took over a year to get it, but it happened. So don’t say you are “too old!” Since then, I have continued to memorize chunks of scripture. I was challenged, at the beginning of 2023, by the last part of my…
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Looking Ahead
Do we intentionally make faith more difficult than it is? Sometimes I wonder? As I’ve thought about 2023 and looked ahead as to how I need to grow and make changes, I’ve been drawn back to the “simplicity”, or rather maybe I should say, the single focus, of our faith that leads us to change and growth. In Exodus and Deuteronomy we find God’s 10 commandments given to Moses and all of Israel. The first command, if we get it right, makes all the others possible. Do not have other gods besides me. Exodus 20:3 Sometimes I think I focus on all the others and forget how foundational this really…
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Marriage Thoughts Part 2
Be sure to read back to see part 1 before reading this second post. This continues my encouragement to a young bride, things I wish I’d known when I married. 3. Remember, your first ministry is your family. Serve your spouse without grumbling when you’d rather do something else! This is still something I am praying to achieve: being grateful I have to close his dresser drawers AGAIN for the 5th time today. Doing it is one thing, doing it with gratefulness instead of resentment is another! If you have children, they too are your first ministry, but do not place your children ahead of your spouse. One day, Lord…
