Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV) A new day dawned. Silence prevailed. Jesus was gone, He had died by the will of the people. He had died a…
Category: Love
He Is With HIM, Part VII
“About three in the afternoon, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me.’” Matthew 27:47 (NIV) Excruciating pain pulsated with each weakened beat of His heart. His back ached against the coarse cross. Splinters dug into His skin with every move. His hands, sides and feet burned…
He Is With HIM, Part II
“Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” John 12:15 NIV Six days until His reunion with His Father. It’s time to enter Jerusalem, a place where Jesus is a marked man. Religious rulers didn’t like how this man riled the people and called the…
He Hears, Always
“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you.” Jeremiah 29:12 NIV “No one is listening to me,” shouted the petite teenage-girl, turning and dashing out the door, abandoning both the conversation and the home she dearly loved. The past few months had seemed like eternity,…
Grace Of A Father
“If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will you Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:11 NIV Today is a day we in Western culture set aside to honor and celebrate fathers. Many good fathers have…
Servant Leadership, Part II
“My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism.” James 2:1 I turned in the crowded convention hall to find another young mom trying to escape the current of the crowd. I smiled politely, distractedly, ready to turn and follow my own agenda when the tears in her eyes caught my…
Fighting Forgiveness
“I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better than they ever dreamed of.” John 10:10 The Message The plate was passed as a reflective silence descended upon us all. My mind focused on the prayer just offered by our speaker. To offer my life as a sacrifice. A living sacrifice….
Day For Grace
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” Matthew 25:40 NIV I stumbled into the kitchen, weary from tending to a sick daughter most of the night before. Searching the cupboard I sleepily began the…
Every Good Gift
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17(NIV) Above you see a picture of my favorite Christmas present: a stuffed Olaf. It was given to me by my favorite seven-year-old in the whole, wide, world, my…
Shut In and Remembered
Genesis 8:1 “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.” It was January in Michigan, cold, dark, and stormy. The young foreigner felt the weather matched her disposition: cold, dark, and…