In Your presence is fullness of joy. — Psalm 16:11 NASB “I need a leaf blower. But for people.” I chuckled when I saw that line on a tea towel — and I think Warren Wiersbe might have laughed too. “People” represent one of four joy stealers the Bible scholar identifies in his commentary on…
The Grace of Your Story
I have been incredibly privileged. I grew up a pastor’s kid at a huge church in Houston, Texas. I was raised in a Christian home by two incredibly loving parents who worked very hard to provide everything we could possibly need. I have two beautiful sisters and a big brother whom I adore. We weren’t…
Jesus In First Place… Over Everything
Happy Advent season to you. I want to share with you for a few minutes a message God has put on my heart. I was talking with someone the other day and I asked her how she was, and she said to me, “the holidays are historically a difficult season for me,” and I…
Jesus Over Everything: Putting God First
Sign up here! He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. — Colossians 1:17 NIV WELCOME Leader, read aloud to the group. Today we’re talking about something beautiful and powerful: what it means to live a Jesus over everything kind of life. We’ll explore the mindsets that often keep us…
Walking in the Spirit
When we pray for the Spirit’s help… we will simply fall down at the Lord’s feet in our weakness. There we will find the victory and power that comes from His love. — Andrew Murray, Experiencing the Holy Spirit The holy spirit is a person, not an atmosphere. He creates an atmosphere, and He fills an…
Hope Is Built on God’s Promises
The writer of the book of Hebrews concluded that faith is the substance of our hope. He said, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. — Hebrews 11:1 Our faith will never exceed our level of hope, the very substance of that faith. Faith is our ability…
Why Jesus’ Unconditional Love Toward Women Is Good News
Jesus saw the woman caught in adultery as a beloved daughter, His creation, someone to be nurtured and enabled, someone for whom He was willing to die, someone for whom He had a vital purpose and destiny. He entered a male-dominated culture that devalued women, and to the consternation of the powerful men around Him,…
Jesus Piled on Mercies
He embraced His chosen child, Israel; He remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high. It’s exactly what He promised, beginning with Abraham and right up to now. — Luke 1:54–55 (MSG) Soon after Mary received a visit from the angel telling her she would give birth to Jesus, the Son of God, she…
Soldier’s Marching Orders
Second Timothy 2:3 says, “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” A soldier has to know his instructions. Orders are rules of play. King Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). We can learn the rules of play, if we read in the Bible…
Hope Heals Our Broken Dreams
For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. — Romans 15:4 POWER VERSES 1 Peter 1:3; Romans 5:5 We were out of options the day the sheriff’s car pulled into our driveway. After a series of unfortunate events, things…