HE IS RISEN!

The ground shook.The angel appeared.The stone rolled away.The soldiers fell like dead men. The grave empty.Death defeated!The Way Made!Victory complete. JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD AND DEFEATED SIN AND DEATH! This changed everything! When Christians say, “He is Risen”, it’s not that we are saying Christianity is useful. We are saying that it is TRUE!Continue reading “HE IS RISEN!”

SILENCE

Silence. That day after the Savior had died. The pounding of the nails,the jeers of the crowd,His cries of pain. Now Silent. His body in the tomb. What now? They surely longed to hear His comforting voice. But Silence. They had left jobs, families, everything to follow Him. Now what? Silence. Nothing.But.Silence. Confused, afraid, everyContinue reading “SILENCE”

Not today Satan

You know the evil one does not want you to believe the promises of God, right? Genesis contains promises of God that are foundational to our faith. Oh, how I love to hear the crinkling of the pages as I open the living, breathing, promise-filled Word of God! As I turn to Genesis 12, GodContinue reading “Not today Satan”

Christmas Eve

All across the world, Christians will gather to light candles in Christmas Eve services tonight. We will likely hear the words of the prophet Isaiah— a people walking in darkness have seen a great light. (Isa 9:2) What must it have been like all those thousands of years ago? Christmas Eve —a people walking inContinue reading “Christmas Eve”

Your hard thing might be the VERY thing…

My eyes keep going back to that word in 1st Peter 3:15– Hope. And I remember it was hope that drew me to Jesus. It was the hope I saw in others, that I didn’t understand but desperately wanted. Theirs was a hope that made no earthly sense—a hope not based on circumstances. In fact,Continue reading “Your hard thing might be the VERY thing…”

God sees you. Hold on in that!

So often, when I’m struggling with hard things in this life, God will remind me of something from His Word. I guess this is why I’m so passionate that we should seek Him daily through our Bibles. You know, when we suffer through hard days, as many are seeing right now, it is easy toContinue reading “God sees you. Hold on in that!”

Need a little JOY?

I wish I could call Karen. I’d love to sit with her on her couch, open our Bibles, and pray as we did so many times over the years. Joy just oozed out of that precious woman. It truly did, and even as she lay dying. She was my friend and my mentor. I loveContinue reading “Need a little JOY?”

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…”

Put on your armor and keep standing.

My daughter, Abi, wrote this a few years back. This truth is a powerful, keep-you-going reminder— I felt alone. Sad, disheartened, fighting back tears-very much like an alien and stranger though surrounded by others my age as I sat in my Contemporary Moral Issues Philosophy class, at the University of Tennessee, listening to my classmatesContinue reading “Put on your armor and keep standing.”

Hard truth to hold on to…

These words are both inspiring and incredibly challenging. Honestly, they are flat-out hard. Nebuchadnezzar has gone from praising the God of Daniel to building a giant golden image and demanding everyone fall to the ground and worship it when they hear the music he orders played. (Dan 3) This is a problem for the captiveContinue reading “Hard truth to hold on to…”

Words on a page. Hope in my heart.

Words on a page.Hope in my heart. These words weren’t meant to be put on a shelf after Easter. I need to remember again. Maybe you do, too? As His blood flowed down, and the human heart of my Savior stopped , the curtain separating men from a Holy God was torn in two. (LukeContinue reading “Words on a page. Hope in my heart.”

God knows it’s hard to watch.

As I lay praying this morning, I found myself telling the Lord how very hard it was to watch those I love walk in things that I know are, or will, hurt them. It’s gut-wrenchingly hard. Then, it occurred to me, that God certainly knows how very hard this is. I wasn’t informing Him ofContinue reading “God knows it’s hard to watch.”

When the world, or your world is crazy…here’s hope!

I can’t remember what had caused me to fear way back then, I just remember her response. Oh, how I miss my wise friend. She’s with Jesus now. She told me, “When the world is crazy, when you don’t know what to do, draw closer to Jesus. Be prepared to give an answer for theContinue reading “When the world, or your world is crazy…here’s hope!”

Wait. What?

Do you need hope to face tomorrow? Then focus on your sin for a moment. Here’s why —If we don’t understand the depths of our sin, we won’t understand the great love of our Savior enough to be able to confidently trust Him with our tomorrows.Let me explain… Luke tells us, the Pharisees and lawyersContinue reading “Wait. What?”

God hasn’t forgotten. He can’t.

She turned one yesterday. I wrote this a year ago— I held her in my arms for the very first time. She’s tiny. Smaller than we expected but, oh, how that little one has filled my heart. A grand baby.A grand daughter.After quite a scare,safely here. And this morning, when I awoke, she joined theContinue reading “God hasn’t forgotten. He can’t.”

It’s not too hard for God.

Nothing is too hard for God (Luke 1:37). I think about my cousin. He’s a pastor. A while back we had sat together and talked about Jesus, the Word, and the world. His tattoo reads, “Finish Well.” It’s actually pretty miraculous that either of us ever even started this journey of faith. My cousin andContinue reading “It’s not too hard for God.”

Hold on-even when you don’t understand!

As Christian’s, there is something we have to do that is incredibly hard to do. We have to be okay with not understanding everything. I’ve talked with so many people, in just the past week, who are walking through incredibly hard things, or dealing with situations that just make no earthly sense. Something devastating hasContinue reading “Hold on-even when you don’t understand!”

Hang on! Because One Day!

God’s children look different than the rest of the world. The world doesn’t really know, understand, or celebrate us, do they? John told us, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God. Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not knowContinue reading “Hang on! Because One Day!”