I was a very curious child and therefore quite the challenge to my mother. Mom says that I was disciplined more by the time I was five years old than all four of my brothers were their entire lives combined. Sometimes she would find herself sitting at the kitchen table crying when my dad would come home from work, “There must be something wrong with me,” she would tell him. “All I do is discipline that child.” But after hearing what I had done, my dad would put his arm around her and say, “Sounds to me like she needed it.“…

I am an instruction reader. Yes, I’m that nerdy person who pulls all the parts out of the box, sorts them and lays them out (I especially like it when they are numbered or color-coded) and then unfolds the instruction sheet before rolling up my sleeves and getting to work. There’s nothing worse than getting to the end of a project only to discover that you have parts left over. Instructions help us do things right the first time…

Corrie Ten Boom once said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” I remember a time when my girls were little. We had been going to a new church and they made friends with the pastor’s kids. One Saturday afternoon the pastor asked if the girls could join their family to see the circus in a nearby town. The girls were very excited for the opportunity…

In the heavenly courtroom, before God the Father who is holy and just, stands your advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous. Night and day Satan accuses you before God. God the Father cannot look upon your sin for He knows that your sin would return a guilty verdict every single time, so he appointed an advocate who would represent you before his throne.

Jesus instructs us in his sermon on the mount to be compassionate. Compassion is not just feeling sorry for someone. Compassion is an aching in the heart that feels the pain of those who are hurting. Compassion is much more than sympathy, Compassion takes things one step further. Compassion begs the question, how can I alleviate their distress? What can I do to help?…

We’ve all heard the phrase, “No pain, no gain.” The truth is we all have more strength and capacity to endure than we think we do. Nobody wants to find out what their capacity to endure is because we know it involves stretching us beyond our comfort…

If ever there was time in history that we need to hear and understand these words, it is now. Accept each other. Jesus was all about accepting others who were not like him. Jesus loved the outcasts of society and showed them acceptance, leaving us an example to follow. Some of the outcasts Jesus loved were…

One day you will stand before God. Most of us haven’t given much thought to that day. Mercy Me wrote a song about it called, “I Can Only Imagine.” The song asks the questions, “Will I stand in Your presence or to my knees will I fall? Will I sing hallelujah? Will I be able to speak at all?”…

Paul was a church-persecutor turned evangelist. The community of believers had heard about Paul. Can you imagine how the early church must have reacted following Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus? “Paul? You mean, Saul of Tarsus? That rascal who violently persecutes the church calls himself a Christian? Are you kidding me?” But Paul’s conversion couldn’t have been more sincere. Paul wasn’t a people-pleaser when he was a church-persecutor and he wasn’t a people-pleaser when he became a servant of Christ…

For forty days and nights Jesus had gone without food and he had become very hungry. About that time the devil shows up with an idea. “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” Jesus was the Son of God and he certainly could have turned the stones to bread. But Satan was asking Jesus to use his power and authority to serve himself rather than to depend on the Father for His provision. Jesus was being tested, but instead of turning stones to bread, Jesus quotes scripture….

When my oldest daughter was about three years old, my brother came for a visit. The three of us headed off to town, but we needed to make a quick stop at the gas station. We all got out of the car. My daughter was hanging out with her uncle while I paid for the gas. When I turned around my brother was leaned up against a wall with his hand on his hip and one foot crossed in front of the other. I looked over and saw my daughter leaning next to him in exactly the same position. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. ..

There is so much noise in the world right now, so many things to have an opinion about. But is my opinion really what people want to hear? Will the noise I make make a difference? The last thing I want to do is add to the noise. What if, instead of adding to the noise, we truly begin to love one another?…

There is but one word for love in the English language. Although varied in meaning and intent, we use this same English word when we say, “I love your shoes,” “I love pizza,” or “I love you.” Unlike the English, there are four different Greek words for love, the language that 1 John was written in. To say that God is love goes far beyond the kind of love that signifies friendship or the love between siblings or even brothers and sisters in Christ…

When my girls were little, my husband liked to toss them up in the air (just a little) and catch them. They would squeal with delight each time they became airborne and then caught safely by the hands of their father. It’s the ultimate picture of trust. My girls didn’t have to question whether or not daddy would catch them. They knew. Daddy always catches you. You can trust him with all your heart…

When I think of the word pursue, I think about a car chase. More specifically I think about a police car chasing a runaway would-be criminal. The police officer is committed to the pursuit and will stop at practically nothing to ensure the safety of the citizens he or she has sworn to protect…

When I was a kid, there was a rule we all lived by. This rule was so sacred that it was practically unspoken. Everyone just knew. If we strayed from this one rule, Mom would always be quick to remind us. The rule was “It’s not fun if everyone’s not having fun.” It might be fun for you to tease your brother, but if it’s not fun for your brother then you’re in big trouble. Don’t be concerned only for your own good but for the good of others. Don’t do something just because you can…

I have lived in five states and have moved over thirty times in my life. It seems the only thing that has been constant throughout my life is change. (This may explain why I have a hard time getting rid of things.) Isaiah speaks of something else that can be a constant throughout our lifetime and that is our relationship with God…