Trial
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Peace Over the Storms
Normally, by now, during our extended time at the beach each fall, I’ve had a number of “beach lessons”. Until today (September 14, the day I began this post), this year I’d not had what I consider a beach lesson, although I’ve had lots of balcony Jesus time. This morning, this was the scene I watched as tropical storm Sally was about to become hurricane Sally. This is the third coastal hurricane we’ve experienced, but it’s not something we ever look forward to by any means! Waves were crashing and, yet, I felt safe sitting on the 16th floor balcony of our condo looking down at the churning water. All…
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The Enemy is Alive and Well…But Defeated!
Even though I am continually aware of the influence of the enemy, along with his temptations, in our world today and I even understand that this is expected, more so as Christ’s return draws nearer…but once in a while, I’ve just had enough! After one evening’s disturbing end that included a crisis, my wakeful night included anger at the enemy…again…and continual prayers for his demise! He’s just so mean and my loathing for him just gets stronger each time I see him at work! The next morning, the Lord, reminded me…again…the devil’s work is temporary and his eternal demise will come one day. It hasn’t been long since I finished…
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Overwhelmed, But Praying
You know, some days right now, after receiving another bit of news from a friend or loved one that is painful, sometimes I just want to give up. Right now the things I have on my intercessory prayer list include: a friend who has been in COVID ICU for 7 weeks, a friend whose 50 year marriage is in trouble, a child custody battle, job losses of those I care about, a friend whose husband just died suddenly, family grand-pet having to be put down, a friend with incurable cancer. And then add COVID pandemic, church reopening, politics and other issues in our country, the need for a huge movement…
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Are You Listening???
Do you ever wonder if God hears our cry for Him to do something? Perhap’s it’s been a long season of praying and not seeing any answers. Do you think, maybe He’s not listening, maybe He doesn’t know, maybe He doesn’t want to fix this? I think the real problem isn’t whether or not He hears us, but whether or not, we hear Him. Too often, I just miss His answers, or maybe I’m just not intentionally looking for them. And I too often look only for answers as I want them to appear! Daily we see people listening intently through ear buds of one kind of another. We put…
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4 Pandemic Lessons
I recently spoke virtually to women’s leaders in Baptist Convention of New York sharing some of the things I have learned during the pandemic. I limited it to only 4 of those many lessons and wanted to share them with you today in this post. Since December, I’ve been reminded of a post by Noe Garcia on Jeremiah 29:11. He shared how that verse is a follow up to the message that Israel would be in captivity a long time, and while there, the Lord told them through the prophet Jeremiah to settle in, marry and have children, grow crops and be fruitful. I actually wrote on this in January…
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Behind the Clouds
Years ago I was captivated by how God got my attention one morning as I drove to work in downtown Nashville. Reading Adore by Sara Hagerty I was brought back to that morning as she shared her own cloud story that led her to “adore”. No doubt I’ve written about this experience somewhere in the past, but I couldn’t help but relive, and write about, that morning again after Sara’s reminder! It was such a tough season for many reasons: my mom’s declining mental abilities, heavy work and travel load, family crises all piled up. This was also the week of our annual LifeWay Women’s Leadership Forum, our largest training…
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Living in the Not Yet
Today I read Psalm 47 which seemed to connect so much with my New Testament reading of Revelation: God reigns over the nations;God is seated on his holy throne.The nobles of the peoples have assembledwith the people of the God of Abraham.For the leaders of the earth belong to God;he is greatly exalted. Psalm 47:8-11 What a comfort and hope this message is…one day this will be reality! It really WILL! Having just finished Revelation with my D-Group, (I wrote last week’s post on The Hope of Revelation) I see how very timely it’s message is for where our world is today. News continues to show pain, chaos, fear, and…
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The Hope of Revelation
My D-Group had finally made it to the book of Revelation! To get here, we are using Foundations F260 for the Old Testament, then we stopped and began Foundations NT260 for the New Testament. We began in January 2019 and have arrived at our last few weeks together as a group. One of the hardest books to understand is Revelation, so I am SO grateful this plan ends with the Gospel of Matthew! Very refreshing after trying to understand a very difficult book in the Bible. In preparation for our weekly meeting, and for my own deeper understanding, I’ve read numerous commentaries with my daily reading. But one book that…
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What Are You Standing On?
Have you ever built a sand castle…for a day? Perhaps as a child you spent endless hours creating a beautiful castle only to find the next day the tide has demolished it completely. Such is the way of houses built on sand! As an adult, if you have undertaken the task of building a home, you certainly wouldn’t choose a foundation of sand, but one of something much stronger, so that your home would sustain torrential storms without collapsing. I am in the process of memorizing the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6 & 7 with my D-Group. It has been challenging, but so rewarding, for all 4 of…
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What’s Your “Go To”?
What is your first “go to” when you struggle? We’ve seen recently what some people go to when they are upset or angry. Violence and hatred brings even more harm to an already unjust situation. But maybe you go to something less harmful like chocolate? Isolation? Running away? Despair? A friend? Usually we all default to something when things do not seem right in our world. As a Type A perfectionist-leaning woman, I think my big default is trying to control the situation. But God has shown me over the years that I am NOT in control even when I think I am, but I can fully trust that in…
