Okay…I’ve got Jesus. You told me that I needed him, so now I have Him.
I’ve…
“been saved.”
“crossed the line of faith.”
“become a Christian.”
“become a believer.”
“been born again.”
But…WHAT DO I DO WITH HIM?
Read moreWHAT DO I DO WITH JESUS?
PANDEMIC…If I Would Have Known
IF I WOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT A PANDEMIC WAS COMING, I WOULD HAVE…
Have you ever thought about that statement? If I would have only known, I would have…
Yep, this pandemic (and I could use a few unacceptable adjectives here) took all of us off guard. But just for fun, let’s try to finish this statement together. If I would have known that a pandemic was coming, I would have…
- … gathered my grown children and moved them back into my house in January of 2020 so I could quarantine with someone other than my husband.
- … stocked up on all the essentials like toilet paper, Lysol and ice cream!
- … bought stock in some random company called Zoom.
- …bought a large supply of stretchy pants and xl t shirts.
- …gone on a crash diet immediately following Christmas.
- …shaved my head to watch my hair grow for 8 months.
NOT TODAY GOD
Do you ever have those days when you wish God would go away?
Just writing that statement sounds so ludicrous. I would never want to admit to anyone or myself that I wanted God to go away. Making that statement makes me feel like a lightning rod just waiting to be struck. But let’s admit to one another, there are those days when we feel so defeated and beaten down that there is nothing left in us to reach out to God. Or those days when we are so angry and hurt that we can’t even begin to imagine how or where God fits into this picture.
Read moreDon’t Throw It Away
Don’t throw away your confident trust!
“Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he had promised.” Hebrews 10:36
The context of the book of Hebrews was set post-Jesus. The resurrected Jesus had now ascended into heaven and it was up to the disciples of Jesus to carry on His story…His good news. In this day, the Roman Empire was persecuting the people because of their belief in Jesus. To switch from Judaism to Christianity required a life sacrifice. It not only meant separation from their families, but separation from the protection of the Roman government. They could lose their life for this sacrifice. The writer of Hebrews pleaded with the Jewish people to not return to the Mosaic Law, but to press on and persevere for the sake of the good news of Jesus…there was a better way!
Read moreON THIS NIGHT…Where is God?
Exodus 14: 19,20
“Then the angel of God, who had been leading the people of Israel, moved to the rear of the camp. The pillar of cloud also moved from the front and stood behind them. The cloud settled between the Egyptian and Israelite camps. As darkness fell, the cloud turned to fire, lighting up the night. But the Egyptians and Israelites did not approach each other all night.”
Have there been times in your life when you have asked yourself the question, “Where is God?” Those moments when you look for Him and He is not where you thought that He was? In these moments, we feel abandoned by God.
There are many times in my life when I have cried out, “God, where are You?”
As a young girl, our home was not what everyone thought it was. We lived the façade of life while chaos ensued behind our four walls. Feeling the pain inside, I would often climb onto my bicycle and peddle further and further from my house to find some peace from the chaos. I was not able to decipher the pain, so the only thing I knew to do was to escape…
Where was God?
As my health continued to worsen after battling for 13 years, the seizures were now relentless occurring twice a week leaving my body tired and lifeless. We had prayed for healing but saw no signs of it. The lesion in my brain was quickly taking away my quality of life. As we pulled into the parking garage of Mayo Clinic, my heart dropped into my stomach fearing we would not get the
answers we longed to find…
Where was God?
When my marriage crashed, I felt the darkness of being alone. People in my world bombarded me with guilt and shame. As I felt every layer of their shame, I found myself alone wandering on a trail close to our home. I felt weighed down by their shame with no desire to live. I screamed out to God in my pain. But, …
Where was God?
Read moreON THIS NIGHT…Stand Still
Exodus 14:13,14
“But Moses told the people, ‘Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”
As the day’s past, Maria and her family traveled with over a million other Israelites escaping the slavery in Egypt. This was not an easy journey as they felt exhaustion with each passing day. There was arguing amongst the nations of Israel, but God had put their leader, a man named Moses, in front to guide them through this journey. Every day was filled with dust from the desert floor and turmoil in their hearts. Day after day, moment after moment the Israelites questioned their pursuit of freedom.
Read moreON THIS NIGHT…
Exodus 12:40-42
“The people of Israel had lived in Egypt for 430 years. In fact, it was on the last day of the 430th year that all the Lord’s forces left the land. ON THIS NIGHT the Lord kept his promise to bring his people out of the land of Egypt. So this night belongs to him, and it must be commemorated on every year by all the Israelites, from generation to generation.”
“Momma, what is happening? Why are all of these boxes here? Is tonight the night we get to escape this place that makes you so sad?” Little Maria looked expectantly at her mom as she watched her mom reach for another box.
“Yes, sweet Maria…it will be ON THIS NIGHT that we will leave this god forsaken place.” Maria’s mom responded as her heart was filled with fearful anticipation. As her thoughts bombarded her mind of what was ahead for her family, she reminded herself that the God she worshipped was the God of victory, the God who was sovereign.
Read moreFRIENDSHIPS…a blessing and a curse
Based out of Jeremiah 17:5-8
Friendships…let’s be honest girls…they can be a blessing and they can be a curse. Sometimes both at the same time!
God has built us for community with one another, no doubt. The Bible talks about the importance of friendships in our lives.
“Two are better than one”… Ecclesiastes 4:9
“A friend who sticks closer than a brother (or sister)”… Proverbs 18:24
“A friend loves at all times”… Proverbs 17:17
But we live in a culture that bases our worth on how many and how deep our friendships are.
Read moreAll The Tears
Based on Psalms 56
Have you ever thought about a tear?
You know…the wet salty substance that forms in your eyes. Have you ever thought about why pain produces water in your eyes? Why does pain from our hearts flow like water? Could it be that God is aware that our hearts could not contain the vast amount of pain we would experience in this world? So He provided a way for broken hearts to find relief…tears. Once that pressure valve gets activated, the tears start flowing. These tears then cascade down our cheeks with unyielding demand.
One day as I was cleaning the kitchen, the ringer on my phone went off. I looked down and saw a message from a friend.
“Can you talk?”
“Sure, what’s up?”
The next text from her read, “Can we meet somewhere?”
Read moreI’ve Got You Covered
taken from II Corinthians 4:8,9
Do you remember playing hide and seek when you were a child? Or maybe you play it with your children?
When I was a kid, I have vivid memories of playing hide and seek while at church. Yes, at church!
I grew up as preacher’s kid…P.K. as some would call it and when you grow up as a preacher’s kid, you spend countless hours at the church building waiting on your parents who are typically in meetings with other parents. As we got bored as kids, we would find something to do in our boredom that would not get us in too much trouble. Often, the game of hide and seek became the game of choice. Like the typical game of hide and seek, someone would count while the others would hide. I hated being the “seeker”, the one who counted because I was much better at hiding. I had plenty of practice, so I knew all the best hiding places. But there was one particular church that my dad pastored that had an amazing place to hide. It was a hidden storage space located behind the choir loft. There was a set of stairs in behind the auditorium that most people did not know where they led. But I did! They led to a secret attic with one of the best places to hide and some other creepy things that the church felt they needed to keep.
One, two, three…the “seeker” would start counting and off the rest of us would go. We would scatter fast. I would pretend that I was heading a certain direction, but once the coast was clear I would take off to the secret hiding place…behind the choir loft.
Read more
THE WALK 