Devotional (Page 19)

Lately, the feeling of a heavy heart has invaded my whole world.  I have been walking through this season with my bible in hand and eyes seeking what God has planned for the next steps.  Although this last month something has changed. I feel like God has called me to ministry to not just be the person who always has a smile and joy on my face, but also a person who is ok with showing pain at times.  The…

Lord, I will give you honor. You brought me out of deep trouble. You didn’t give my enemies the joy of seeing me die. 2 Lord my God, I called out to you for help. And you healed me. 3 Lord, you brought me up from the place of the dead. You kept me from going down into the pit. 4 Sing the praises of the Lord, you who are faithful to him. Praise him, because his name is holy. 5 His anger lasts for only…

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again rejoice!”  Philippians 4:4 (NLT) This past Sunday I shared this passage of scripture. This time of pandemic disease can be a stressful time.  It is easy to worry about many things. When the Apostle Paul says, “Always be full of joy in the Lord,” he doesn’t say only be joyful in good times. Even when times are tough, The Bible teaches we can be joyful if we follow…

      I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.       Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. (Psalm 27:13-14) The path I take to the church from my house passes the community roller-skating rink. I noticed a couple of weeks back they changed their reader board to simply say #STILLWAITING. There’s a lot wrapped up in that hash tag, but it has…

I have been reflecting on the days since the stay-at-home guidelines began. I went back and started to count the days and realized we are at 116 days since the official word to stay-at-home started.  There are some other things we are able to do now other than stay-at-home, but these last 116 days have been like none other in my lifetime and many of our lifetimes. As I began to think about the emotions I have felt during this…

And If we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him.” 1 John 5:15 As we approach this July 4th weekend and we remember our nation’s independence, we will continue to look at the characteristics of God that we receive from Him. God’s faithfulness to us as we walk with Him is a characteristic that we can count on. Let me ask you a question: Do you ever…

“By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn’t see, and acted on what he was told …. As a result, Noah became intimate with God.” Hebrews 11:7 (The Message) We can have hope for tomorrow because God is worth our trust. Imagine this scene: One day God comes to Noah and says, “I’m disappointed in human beings. In the entire world, no one but you thinks about me. But…

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” Lamentations 3:22–24 (NRSV)   There’s an old chorus that is running through my head as I type this, the song lyrics are these verses from Lamentations 3 set to music. The refrain begins, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.” In…

As the world keeps moving around us and we go from one tragedy in our world to the next, it can seem to be overwhelming.  This stress and sense of being overwhelmed can get so bad that we not only have spiritual aches, but it can affect us physically as well.  When I was a child and I would hear an older person saying “they died of a broken heart”, my mind could simply not understand the words. I never…

May we always and only see others through the lens of Christ’s love.  The view is completely different depending on which pair of glasses we use for our view.  Below is an article that was written by the Board of General Superintendents in the Church of the Nazarene.  As I read it, I felt it was important for everyone to ‘hear the heart’ of those who help guide us as a denomination.  I value these words from Peter: “Peace to…

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”                                                              Philippians 4:6 (NLT) When faced with the reality of a situation that is overwhelming, the best thing you can do is focus on God. The disciples, in Matthew 8, knew that Jesus could do something about the storm that threatened their lives as they were tossed on the sea. Their answer to the overwhelming storm was to ask Jesus…

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  (Matthew 11:28-30) In our Zoom youth gathering the past couple of weeks we’ve been looking at the twenty-third Psalm. This has caused me to reflect on the biblical notion of rest. In this…