I had just finished posting my devotional yesterday, and was studying another passage, when an early morning message took my breath away. A mom, who loves Jesus, serves the Lord with her husband in ministry, and who had sat with me at ballgames as we watched our daughters cheer, messaged to let me know herContinue reading “Hope for the Heartache”
Tag Archives: hold on
When the trouble just keeps coming
What do you do when the trouble JUST keeps coming? The trouble, the pain, just keeps coming and coming–piling up, suffocating, and consuming every thought. You search for hope in the darkness. You barely remember the time, a long time ago, when you thought if you just followed Jesus life would go, well, easy. ButContinue reading “When the trouble just keeps coming”
When they call you names…
A while back, a young, full of himself and this world person, called me “”Karen” after I had written something he didn’t like. While he meant it in a derogatory way, I smiled because one of the most godly women I have ever known was named “Karen”. She is with Jesus now, and she wasContinue reading “When they call you names…”
I want to be on the other side…
I want to be on the other side. You know the other side of the current problem impacting my life. I want to feel the rejoicing that comes AFTER the pain and worry have subsided. I know what that is like.I’ve seen God be faithful before. But right now.I’m in the “not yet”. I’m inContinue reading “I want to be on the other side…”
When you don’t have the answers.
I don’t have answers to life’s questions. God knows I have many, many questions. I long for Him. I want to understand Him. I want to follow Him. But, if I am honest, I also want life to be stable, predictable and easy. When hard days come, I want to immediately see what God isContinue reading “When you don’t have the answers.”
When you need HOPE!
Honestly , I thought, by this point in these hard days of these two hard years, I’d be able to explain what God is doing and tie everything up in a really good devotional. But things are still hard, and no end is in sight. And it’s Christmastime. I’ve struggled. Have you? I’ve shook myContinue reading “When you need HOPE!”
When God Doesn’t Seem Fair
When God Doesn’t Seem FairFrom Two Moms’ Hearts Five years ago. The surgery waiting room was packed with family and close-as-family special friends. We had been told the day before my tall, dark, and handsome twenty-three-year-old son’s mass was cancer. This second surgery would reveal if the cancer had spread to Will’s lymph nodes. (ItContinue reading “When God Doesn’t Seem Fair”
For those wrestling to understand
Jacob wrestled with God. That’s too much for my mind to even conceive. Except, I’m wrestling. Not in the physical sense, but certainly in that I’m trying to understand what God is doing through some exhaustingly hard things in my life. I know it’s true that God routinely does things we do not understand forContinue reading “For those wrestling to understand”
Ancient words of encouragement for our hard days.
Tender words. Paul had lived them. “What was gain to me, these things I have counted loss for Christ” (Phil 3:7) As he sat in a Roman prison writing this letter, Paul looked back at all he had before he had radically encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. He recounts these things in PhilippiansContinue reading “Ancient words of encouragement for our hard days.”
Things to remember when “this” is hard and you long for victory.
What’s your “this”? As Paul famously sat imprisoned for the faith, he knew “this” would turn out for his deliverance through prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil 1:19). He needed prayer and he needed the Holy Spirit to earnestly hope he wouldn’t be ashamed, but that Christ would be magnifiedContinue reading “Things to remember when “this” is hard and you long for victory.”
Have you been grieving too?
We have spent days getting ready to celebrate a new baby to our family. We’ve seen God’s Hand answer our prayers as my niece and her husband, who have suffered through years and years of infertility, are ready to welcome their little one. And we rejoiced. But before all the guests arrived, before everything lookedContinue reading “Have you been grieving too?”
Where are you men of courage?
Where are you men of courage? Can you not see the evil among us? Do you not see our citizens are being conditioned to no longer think for themselves? Do you not recognize the tremendous danger in this? Richard Wurmbrand describes such in his book “Tortured for Christ”— “Tears ran down my cheeks. I feltContinue reading “Where are you men of courage?”
We all know them…
We all know them. Our hearts break as we have watched those we care about walk away from God for something far less than His best. They’ve traded eternal blessings for temporary pleasures. Like Esau, who sold his birthright for a morsel of food (Heb 12:16), many have left the things of God for immediateContinue reading “We all know them…”
Over and over. This.
My scripture flip calendar, my daily Bible reading, my Oswald Chambers devotional, are all hitting on the same theme—possess nothing and follow Jesus. Possess NOTHING.Follow Jesus. I have been sensing it in my spirit for a while now. God is asking me to trust Him a little more, open my hands a little wider, furtherContinue reading “Over and over. This.”
It’s not all up to us!
Feeling burdened and overwhelmed this Monday morning? Remember- We have one job—to trust and obey the One who is powerfully at work In this world. Everything else is His job! Hallelujah! It’s not all up to us! The author of Hebrews explains that Jesus is the perfect priest of a better covenant to ALL whoContinue reading “It’s not all up to us!”
Remember there’s a battle you can’t see, and PRAY!
I couldn’t sleep. I woke up early thinking about this world (and, to be honest, my own little world). I was reminded of my study of Daniel about a year ago— Daniel is praying fervently as the Lord, through Gabriel, explains the things which are to come— the destruction of Jerusalem, the coming of theContinue reading “Remember there’s a battle you can’t see, and PRAY!”
God is NOT absent in the HARD THINGS we face.
Most believers I know will tell you they don’t fear physical death because they know they will be with Jesus in the blink of an eye. We believe God sent His Son to taste death for all of us (Heb 2:9) and through His death He destroyed him (the devil) who had the power ofContinue reading “God is NOT absent in the HARD THINGS we face.”
And so I’ll rest…
Well okay, my life is Yours God.But it’s still mine, right? You wouldn’t ask me to go through THIS, right? Really? But God, truly, if I’m honest, I feel like perhaps I’ve already gone through so much. Haven’t I learned what You’ve been teaching? What, there’s more? But God? I really don’t think I canContinue reading “And so I’ll rest…”
August 31st
August 31st, this coming Tuesday, is the deadline for our withdrawal from Afghanistan. August 31st, our country may leave fellow Americans and allies behind to face torture and perhaps death by the Taliban. It’s horrible and heartbreaking. And I shake my head because August 31st, twenty-five years ago, was also the worst day of myContinue reading “August 31st”
In this hard world, we hope in Jesus, not ourselves.
Jesus.He is perfect.He is so good. But me, I am the most broken person I know. I am horrifically flawed. I am incredibly able to fail at any given moment. I have.I do. The things I really want to do, I don’t do. The things I truly don’t want to do, I often do. IContinue reading “In this hard world, we hope in Jesus, not ourselves.”
Kim Jaggers Ministry 