discipleship
Be Exalted!
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth! Read more…
Faith
How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long Read more…
discipleship
Hope
(A shared journal entry) O Papa-God, so many things and people to pray for! The girls in my small group – those who come and those who don’t. My failures in following up with those girls. The young men I disciple to lead worship. My failure to contact a potential Read more…
Christmas
What Do You Need?
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…
Christmas
Mourning into Dancing
Last week, I wrote of needing comfort in all my wrecked places. This week, I can say, He has turned my mourning into dancing…literally! Friday, I had a regular checkup at my primary care provider, and in the name of full disclosure, had to check the boxes on the form Read more…
Failure
Agreeing with David
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…
Jesus says...
How Are You Today, God?
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…
discipleship
Thankful: Challenged for the Future
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…
Feelings
Thankful: Acknowledging the Present
“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…
Family
Thankful: Remembering the Past
Many years we have kept a thankful journal during the month of November. Some years we have kept a continuous thankful list. Other years, just those around the Thanksgiving table recorded gratitude. Re-reading some of them recently brought some tears and some giggles. Stick figures drawn by those too young Read more…