I’ve been thinking a lot lately about God’s love for me—mostly because I’ve realized I often have trouble receiving His love. Maybe you’re in a similar place. You’re a follower of Christ, but perhaps frustrations, disappointments, or the like have slowly (or quickly) caused you to question God’s love—not for the world as a whole but for you, personally and individually. The Scripture that’s been central to my thoughts lately is 1 John 4:16a: “And we…
I started writing a blog post the other day that quickly devolved into a list of everything that went wrong in 2020—not even counting the pandemic! Let’s just say I shelved that blog (you’re welcome). Instead, I want to focus on our amazing God: His promises, His faithfulness, His comfort, His presence in those of us who believe on Him. So here, in no particular order, are 12 Scriptures for 2021. As a preface to…
The other day, I was sitting in my car, feeling discontent about something. I admit this isn’t really unusual, as I can be the queen of discontent. I often focus on what I perceive as ‘wrong’ with my life rather than on God’s overwhelming goodness to me. We’ve probably all been there at some point. Our lives simply aren’t how we imagined they’d be. Maybe it’s something major—a relationship, a family challenge, a lost business venture. …
I read something a while back, and I don’t recall where I read it, who wrote it, or even the exact wording. But the gist was something like, “Let me never embrace as my own something Christ died to free me from.” This has really stuck with me. Scripture is full of chains shattered and shackles undone by the blood of Jesus and His Word. In fact, Jesus never met a bondage He didn’t break…
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matthew 6:21). So many questions in life really come down to this one question: Where is my heart? Do I chase after professional or personal accolades at the expense of my relationship with Christ? If so, my treasure is in achievement, and I will give my heart to the world. Do I idolize any relationship above my relationship with Jesus? If so, my treasure…
Zephaniah 3:17 is such a beautiful verse: “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.” So often when I read this verse, my mind latches onto the fact that God rejoices over us with joy and joys over us with singing, but I skip right over “he will rest in…
I never planned on bringing politics into this blog—if anything, I aimed to keep it out. After all, politics has been a large part of my career for almost 20 years, and it’s nice (or should I say absolutely essential :-)) to have something non-political in life, too! But recently, I—who in many ways have become incredibly cynical over the years, working in a world where lies run rampant and unchecked and truth is the…
Here’s a super simple observation that I’ve been quite slow to grasp. So often, when we think about spending time in God’s presence, it’s with the thought or goal that we will hear from Him. Countless teachings (and lists upon lists of books) talk about the need to “get quiet before the Lord” so we can hear His voice. We’re desperate to hear from God—which is a good thing—but what if this goal is obscuring…
Sometimes the shortest commands in the Bible are the hardest ones. Love your enemies Forgive Bless those who persecute you Well, here’s another one that maybe we don’t typically spend as much time on, but which can also be tough. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. (Rom. 12:15) The context of the verse is an awesome passage in Romans 12 that dives into many ways we are to act toward…
I’m part of a weekly lunchtime Bible study with a group of women from several different organizations—we’ve been meeting for about six weeks now via video conference, and since we’re geographically dispersed, even were we not under “stay-at-home” orders, video chats would be our meeting place! In the short time we’ve been meeting, I’ve found myself encouraged each week. Today, the “founder” of our little band said something that really struck me. The conversation had…