When my ninth grader asked for help on his essay, I got more than I bargained.
His book: Ecclesiastes.
His thesis: everything is meaningless.
How to Help a Suffering Friend
Job suffered more than anyone I know. I know he gets everything back in the end, but he walked a long, hard road. And his friends became part of the problem. I don’t want to be a friend like that.
As I read Job’s story, I discovered some ways to be a better friend — especially to someone suffering.
Three Lessons from the Golden Calf
Have you ever had a long wait? Maybe like the one I had today.
What I thought would be a quick, 15-minute appointment turned into three hours with one roadblock after another.
Five Reasons the Tabernacle Still Matters
Kids ask good questions.
My husband gave me and our two teen boys a chronological Bible for Christmas. As we plod through Exodus, my 13-year-old asks, “What does all this have to with my life today?”
Engaging the Enemy
It’s a key word in parenting. I even used it when reviewing a list of do’s and don’ts to teenage drivers—don’t speed, watch out for the other driver and, finally, be home on time!
Trusting God’s Power
Paul wrote of God’s incomparably great power for us who believe. He also knew how to consistently draw upon it. One of those occasions occurred in the metropolitan city of Ephesus, a city famous for housing the popular goddess, Artemis. Cultic followers spent large amounts of money on images of Artemis. As Paul taught of the one true God, people began to follow God, and the idol craftsmen began to feel the financial pinch.
Prayer Requests—Cut & Paste or Forward?
I remember receiving chain letters as a young girl. The letter instructed me to mail additional copies to ten friends and add my own name to the bottom of the list—or something like that. The goal was to eventually receive letters from people all over the country. I always complied but, to my knowledge, never received any letters in return. Today news, prayer requests and other helpful information arrive via email, texts or other forms of social media. I often forward, cut-and-paste or even screen capture specific information to pass onward.
Life in Nonsensical Times
Memes have invaded my family’s communications and social media. We laugh at the whimsical ways they point out extreme behaviors and nonsensical situations all around us. Memes seem to help us acknowledge the absurdities we see as biblical morality and ethics deteriorate at an ever-increasing pace.
Life in the City
I’m a small-town girl. My hometown’s population hovered around eight thousand. My English teacher played the piano at church, the fire station displayed it’s life-sized nativity scene and the water tower emblem proclaimed “In God We Trust.” My mother taught school in a nearby community of three hundred citizens, and each year’s senior class consisted of ten graduates. Imagine combining my life experiences with a husband’s who grew up in Chicago! After years of marriage, we still share new tales with one another of growing up in our respective communities.
Calm My Fear
As I write this devotion, I am praying the words of our scripture fervently. Our family is facing a situation about which I have many questions, but I am trusting God to calm my fears.
Mold Me and Make Me
Have you ever watched a potter work, as Jeremiah did in today’s passage? It is amazing to see something lovely begin to take shape from a lump of clay. In this passage God was showing the prophet that the nation of Israel—as well as every person from the beginning of time—was to be shaped by His hand. We are all lumps of human clay waiting for the touch of the master Potter.
Surrender All to Him
Often we are amazed by a believer’s perseverance in adversity and their confidence in God’s promises. Such people demonstrate a spiritual fullness that many of us long to have. A closer look reveals that they have followed Jesus’ example and surrendered all to God.
A Fresh Encounter with God
We live in busy times. For many Christians attending church is an item on their checklist. They feel that by attending church weekly, they have fulfilled their “spiritual duty.” We live in a world where believers are not excited about the Lord’s work and have lost their compassion for the unsaved. This has caused many believers to live in a worldly and sinful way.
New Year, New Gift
This week marks the beginning of a new year. This year is a gift. How will you use it?
Utmost Anxiety
Our first grandchild, barely over a year old, had somehow broken a front tooth. We could not figure out how it happened because his tooth had barely come through the surface of his gums when our daughter discovered it.
Mind Boggling
I could not believe my eyes and ears! On a popular cooking show contestants competed for a top chef prize. Their cooking determined who got to continue preparing dishes on the show or who went home empty handed.
Afflicted/Blessed
Afflicted – not a word I like. It makes me think of the lepers mentioned in the Bible. They were so afflicted that no one would have anything to do with them. I do not want to be afflicted, but at times I am. Sin brings me to affliction, an affliction which can distance me from God.
Smart Bulbs
My husband travelling so much has turned into one of the toughest things about his new job. My fear of coming home alone in the dark made me almost not want to go out at night. Also, lying in bed and listening to the weird night noises made my fear escalate as well.
Hidden, Not Hidden
Have you ever hidden something and forgotten where you put it? Not only did you conceal it from others, but also yourself. How frustrating! Not so with God’s word. When memorizing and cherishing his word in our hearts, accessing it effortlessly brings quite the opposite. It brings victory and peace.
The Blind Man’s Christmas Story
“…One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” (John 9:25)
The blind man tells the story of Christmas. He was born in darkness and remained in darkness… until Jesus came to him. In his hopeless state, the blind man couldn’t come to Jesus, so Jesus came to him.