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His Salvation…My Worship
When I first accepted Christ as my Savior, I really didn’t understand all it encompassed. But at that point, I took all I understood about Jesus and said, Yes! to Him. It wasn’t until I was personally discipled several years later I really learned how to grow as I read His Word myself and got to see who He really is. His attributes were more than I earlier imagined. The apostle Paul grew quickly after His salvation. If you want a full dive into the doctrine of salvation, just read through the book of Romans he wrote. Perhaps because Jesus had so radically turned Paul’s life around—from persecutor of Christians…
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Hope…Earthly or Eternal?
Do you hope it will rain this week like we do? We were drenched all spring, and are now totally dry! Do you have a hard relationship you hope to fully restore? Do you hope you get a big raise soon? Do you hope the doctor’s diagnosis will change when you return for follow up? All of these are good things to hope for. We should hope, and pray, for these things. But, the reality is, we may or may not get what we hope for. For a believer, hope takes on a deeper level of meaning. Complete hope is fulfilled in eternity. Nothing good will be held back. Every…
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Obedience and Legacy
Have you ever followed someone who disappointed you? If you’ve lived long enough, it has probably happened more than once. Leaders are human and make mistakes. Hebrews 13:7 tells us to, Remember your leaders who have spoken God’s word to you. As you carefully observe the outcome of their lives, imitate their faith.” We only follow as they are following Christ. Watching their lives helps us discern this. Paul also mentions several times, follow (or imitate) me as I follow (or imitate) Christ. Has anyone ever followed you into disobedience? If anyone can say no to this, I need to meet you! My disobedience can influence others into disobedience. Obedience…
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From Garden to Garden
In finishing up my current D-group with a special celebration, we discussed the end of the Bible as we read through Revelation. I’m not surprised anymore by new things God reveals through reading His Word over and over. Sometimes it’s something completely new to me, or understood at a deeper level. Other times, it’s a timely reminder of something I already knew. That’s what happened as I read Revelation 21-22 this time. My thoughts turned to the idea of “garden to garden.” What was revealed through John’s revelation was an indescribable new heaven and earth. Similar to the newness the original garden was to Adam and Eve, the new garden…
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Texas Legacy Tour Part 3: Life’s Influencers
Do you have a mentor, someone who influenced your life spiritually, that you cannot imagine not having in your life? This is part 3 of our Texas Legacy Tour, so read the previous posts to catch up! One sweet part of the trip was the opportunity to see some amazing people we’d known, served alongside, raised kids with, and matured spiritually with from the time we married until we left Texas for Tennessee. Mentally I began making a list of women who touched my life. Some are with the Lord, others still living. Going all the way back to my first years of marriage, I remembered a woman who showed…
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Texas Legacy Tour Part 2: Tearing It Down
As I begin part two of this Texas Legacy Tour Series, I can’t help but reflect back on the biggest shock I had.(Please read to Part 1 if you haven’t read.) I grew up in Houston and lived in a home from 6th grade until I married at 19. Eleven years ago, I was in Houston for a convention and drove out to the location. Thinking it might be less than I remembered, or run down, I was pleasantly surprised that it looked as good, maybe even better than when I lived in it! They even got grass to grow in a shady spot my dad never been able to…
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Texas Legacy Tour Part 1: The Trip Begins
Perhaps it’s my age, although I’m not old! It’s a state of mind more than chronological years! But I think back over my life a lot these days. One of the items on my retirement bucket list got checked off last week. I wanted to make a trip back to Texas where we had a lot of history. My husband was born and raised in Texas and I grew up there. We met, fell in love and married in Texas. Our parents were born and are buried there. It’s also where we spent the first 25 years of our married life, became parents and raised our daughters. It’s also where…
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Who Said It Would Be Easy?
When my husband and I surrendered to ministry, our lives became harder than ever before. Everything started breaking, including cars, furniture and appliances—big stuff on a very limited budget. We began to question whether or not God really called us to full time ministry. Shouldn’t it be easy to follow Jesus, especially since we were committing our family and vocations to His work? We only have to read the book of Job to answer “no” to the title question. In reading Disappointment With God by Philip Yancey I was stunned as he reminded us God never told Job what was happening behind the scenes. Job never knew about the bet…
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Running My Race
If life is a race, how are you doing? If you are alive, you are still somewhere on the racetrack heading toward the finish line. What lane are you running in? Sometimes I do not like my lane. I really would like to run in her lane. I like her lane better. Why can’t I just run her race? Have you ever felt that way too? God planned our lives, unique to us, designed exactly for who He created us to be, before we were even born. Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of…
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What I Fear
What are your greatest fears? It’s not often I’ve feared for my life but several memories remind me I’ve had a few. Traveling home from Belize with one of my 10 year old twins as we flew through a terrible storm was terrifying. I was not sure we would make it safely back to Houston. Once in a hotel while traveling for work, someone tried to enter my room. Coming out of a dead sleep I instinctively screamed at the top of my lungs, “Get out!” Last December, there was this ride…and I love big, fast rides. Not this one! For the first time I got off vowing “Never, ever,…
