Life places many demands on us: the demands of navigating our careers, marriages, parenting, dating lives, friendships, self care and service, to name a few. The demands aren’t bad things, they are simply the way life works. The reality is that we all have our responsibilities. Our demands require us to have energy, positivity, and…
Stay Awake!
Don’t Lose That Loving Feeling Carole’s Story Maintaining the fire of revival in my life has required effort. My pride still seems to be the “water” that threatens to put out the fire within me. But the close-up look at the pride in my life when I saw the Lord has made it easier to…
Healthy Comfort for the Grieving
Meaning to be friendly, I asked, “How was Christmas?” If I had been thinking, I would have realized what a weighty question I was asking. Michael had lost his wife about 8 months before. His answer was honest: “It just didn’t feel like Christmas.” And I was at a loss for words. Of course it…
At the Bottom of the Pool, God said “Be grateful.”
Seriously? It happened one morning when my life had sprinted past whatever control I thought I had on anything resembling a schedule. This was during a time when I would cringe if anyone asked me to speak about “balance in life”. I had showered and slipped from the darkness of my bedroom minutes before. In…
A Good Name
A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches; loving favor rather than silver and gold. — Proverbs 22:1. I had certainly come across this verse before I met Truett Cathy, Chick-fil-A’s founder. However, as I sat in his office in December 1980 for what turned out to be my last interview before…
Anxious for Nothing: Cling to Christ
The phrase “fruitless and fret filled” describes too many of us. We don’t want it to. We long to follow Paul’s admonition: Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. — Philipians 4:8 NLT With a…
What Made Jesus Mad?
We’ve got a magnet on our kitchen refrigerator that says, “If Momma ain’t happy… ain’t nobody happy.” It’s funny because we all know it’s true. If the person in charge is upset, we should pay attention. I want to make one for the church that says, “If Jesus ain’t happy…” We learn more about a…
Signs of Being Spirit-Filled
Editor’s note: Today, we celebrate Pentecost! Holy Spirit fire! If the commemoration of Pentecost is new to you or you just want to remember the falling of the Holy Spirit on Christ’s first followers in Jerusalem, read Acts 2:1-4 and then continue to read how lives were changed when God the Holy Spirit was released…
What’s Keeping Us from Dreaming?
He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. – Ephesians 1:4 What could cause us to miss God’s plans? I think a lot of us are afraid. We’ve got hang-ups, and some of us have deep needs that we don’t even have words for.…
The Power of Unity
There is no such thing as an autonomous Christian who stands alone with no need for others and no obligation to anyone. To be called a Christian, by definition, means being a part of Christ’s body, the church. Every Christian must be in fellowship with other believers and is counseled by Scripture to do so.…