We are celebrating the coming of the Christ Child as Emmanuel, the With-Us God. Since the week before Christmas, I have been encouraging visitors to our home to acknowledge what they need, what their hearts need, and offer it to Jesus, taking in exchange a star with a specific promise Read more
O LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in Your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. Do not bring Your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before You… my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed. Let the morning bring Read more
Seems like a silly question. I mean, really…He never changes, right? It’s true, but He also is living, not a static entity, and that means He is responsive. Scripture tells us that His heart breaks, He rejoices over repentant sinners, He has wrath which is not always being poured out Read more
Wow…thanks…and Ow… This morning I encountered this startling statement from Psalm 138: “I will …praise Your Name for Your love and faithfulness, for You have exalted above all things Your Name and Your word.” That’s a pretty strong statement about where He has placed the value of His word: exalted Read more
“No discipline is joyful.”* Oh, how I hated this verse as a child! Hearing it was supposed to make me feel better about feeling bad about something that was being done to make me be better! It is challenging enough to give thanks for the hard things God brings into Read more
Recently an old friend asked for the words of an old song. I had to dredge my memory for the words, since my only partial copy of them is 90 miles away! Searching the dusty vaults of my mind, I found them, still vital and vivid, but perhaps requiring a Read more
If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, 10 no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you Read more
Good morning, Papa-God, My heart is heavy, my body weary and pained, my mind restless. I need You, Your peace. You know the source of my trouble. I know the circumstances (at least in part) but, You alone know the end from the beginning, and You know the true root Read more
Not neat and tidy. Nope. This following-Jesus stuff is messy! Questions come up that don’t have any neat solutions. Or even straight-forward ones. Conflicts arise for which there is no resolution. Depression hits and won’t let up. Disease and death still affect and afflict us, cheating and robbing us of Read more
God makes a stunning commitment to Samuel: He did not let a single word from Samuel’s mouth “fall to the ground.” Reading this yesterday, my response was to pray, “Let none of my words ‘fall to the ground,’ but keep my aware of them so that they will bear fruit, Read more