Spiritual Growth
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“The Ministry of the Unnoticed”
What did you think when you read this title? It’s not mine. Credit for this title goes to Oswald Chambers. I’ve been reading his devotional, My Utmost for His Highest each night this year…again! When I read the title at the end of the day on August 21, I kind of hesitated, wondering if I really wanted to read this! But I did, and am so glad. I included it here for you to read as well. Notice especially the middle paragraph and this sentence: “If I wonder if I am being of any use to God, I instantly lose the beauty and the freshness of the touch of the…
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Does God Really See Me?
How alone do you feel right now? Isolated completely? Perhaps isolated in a crowd? Do you wonder if anyone really even notices you are in the crowd? I tend to enjoy alone time at this stage of life. This desire to pull away from people and “cocoon” began when my work/ministry life began to become so fast paced and began to involve lots of people…groups small and large. My cocoon time became a cherished respite to be quiet and to recharge for the next busy rush of life. But too much isolation would bring great loneliness and unhealthy living. Then there are times we are in the middle of a…
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From Unbelief to Pillar
When you think of a pillar, what’s your first thought? Strong? Holding up something? Foundational? Been there a long time? All of these are accurate pictures of a pillar. Various shapes and types of pillars are used in buildings. Now, think of a person as a pillar. One who holds up something. Again, we see lots of different things and ways people are pillars. What about you? What are you holding up? What do you support? Are you like everyone else you know? Or an individual God has shaped to hold up His values and truth, different from any other Christ-follower to bring His glory to your part of the…
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Grand Girl’s Camp Crisis & God’s Provision
If you have read this blog for long, you’ve been introduced to my daughters, Amanda Dugger and Alycia Neighbours. Alycia has written several blog posts for me, and today you will read another one. Our family lived alongside Alycia through the stories you are about to read, one 8 years ago, and the other this summer. She has such a powerful way of showing how God works in and through each situation and I know you will be blessed by today’s post: Yesterday (heck this whole past week) has been a bear. This time of year is always hard as we approach the anniversary of when my late husband took…
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Wilderness Temptations
After 7 months in the Old Testament, my D-Group just moved into the New Testament using NT260. I read this week, once again, about Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness right after His baptism and His pubic ministry began. I began to try to put the temptations the devil used with Jesus into current application for my life. The enemy continually seeks to pull our focus from what God has called and commanded us to be and do for Him. Perhaps you can relate to one or more of these that I identify with. You can find this series of temptations in Luke 4:1-13 (also found in Matthew 4:1-11, in a…
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Opposition to Building Walls
Has God ever given you an assignment that you were so excited about you shared the idea with others so they could be excited too? Even join in on the work of the assignment? Did it go so smooth and problem-less? Or did you hit some snags? Yeah, it happened to Nehemiah too. After the Babylonian captivity, the temple had been rebuilt (also with opposition to the work) and now the wall around Jerusalem was also being repaired. As I was reading chapter 4 in my chronological Bible plan recently, I was reminded once again that God’s work will be opposed. The enemy is always watching for ways he can…
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Prayer, Not Outrage
I’m somewhat on a roll on this issue of praying for revival and restoration rather than responding with frustration or even anger at the lost world around us. Feel free to read the two previous posts here and here. As I’ve committed to pray an hour each week for revival (2 Chronicles 7:13-15) for myself, believers and the lost, I’ve wondered about how to focus my time. In my chronological Bible reading plan, I’d already read through Daniel and Ezra, then today read Nehemiah. So, I chose three prayers from the Old Testament, each focused on restoration for the people of God…the place to begin as we admit our own…
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Humility and God’s Hand
Having recently read the book of Ezra again, I was struck especially by two things. How God’s hand was on Ezra as He taught truth and Ezra’s humble prayer for the Israelites and himself. Since I am a teacher at heart, Ezra 7:10 has always been special to me: “Now Ezra had determined in his heart to study the law of the Lord, obey it, and teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.“ Ezra was returning with the second wave of Israelites, who had been given permission by Persian King Cyrus, to go back to their city, Jerusalem. The temple had been rebuilt but the worship was still not right.…
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I Blew It…And Yet
On a recent Sunday morning, my husband and I left our house at 7:30 a.m. to attend worship. Normally there is little traffic at that hour. At the stop light to get out of our neighborhood we saw emergency lights and a couple of police officers stopping traffic. I knew we had a race that Sunday, actually a triathlon, but had no idea that every single way out of our subdivision would be blocked…for 30 solid minutes! The longer we sat there, the madder I got. How could they expect us to just sit there and not move until every single biker went by in front of us and then…
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Corrie’s Legacy
When have you read something an author wrote (besides the Bible) that just gripped your heart and maybe even made you cry? Perhaps you watch how someone loves Jesus and you just want to know and love Him that deeply. I believe God doesn’t give us these testimonies to condemn us, but to challenge us to grow in our walk with Him. That has been my response to my re-reading of The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom. If you have not heard of or read this book, please get a copy! Although I sometimes dislike reading about the painful past of wars in history, and I especially hate what…
