• Blessings,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial

    A “Good” New Thing

    It’s a new year. How can it be 2024? Wasn’t it just yesterday we turned the calendar to 2023? Maybe, for you, it was a really long year. At my age, every year is fast! (Smile) Yours might have lasted too long and you are glad to turn the calendar to a new year.  Hard, or not so hard, I love turning to new things and anticipating new things. I recently read Isaiah 43:19 as we entered 2024.  This is Isaiah’s prophecy about Israel’s ultimate restoration after continued rebelliousness of the people. Part of the prophecy to Israel was about the hard times they would face as a part of…

  • Pandemic,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial,  What I'm Reading

    Do You Need Courage?

    Who knew, when Jennifer Rothschild began writing her Bible study Take Courage, on the Old Testament book of Haggai, how desperately we would need the messages of encouragement for tough times that Haggai preached! No one knew we’d be in the middle of a global pandemic, or that we would have such turmoil in our nation! But God certainly did. Perhaps you have faced difficulty, opposition and discouragement that causes you to question your purpose, especially as you reflect the 12 months we have just lived through. Maybe situations have not turned out like you thought they would, or how you wanted them to. Maybe you are desperately needing encouragement…