Seven days and counting. Seven days before His much anticipated reunion with His Father. Walking the hot, dusty road, Jesus leads the way to Bethany with His disciples. Each step brings Him closer to His destiny, a calling His disciples could not comprehend. How did God encourage His Son throughout the most difficult week of…
Category: Challenges
Mary’s Treasures, Part V
“On coming to the house, they saw the child and his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.” Matthew 2:11 (NIV) Maybe Mary was having a bad day. If you’ve ever been home with a busy toddler, you…
Mary’s Treaures, Part III
“Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.” Matthew 1:18 NIV Joseph was a righteous man. He obviously was a man possessing a great amount of self-control. First, when hearing of Mary’s pregnancy he knew he couldn’t…
Lessons From Tipper, Part VII
“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man I put the ways of childhood behind me.” I Corinthians 13:11 NIV In a wild flash of black fur, seventy-five-pound Tipper raced through the living room and dove under…
Faithfully Facing Uncertainty, Part II
“She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ she said, ‘I have seen the One who sees me.’” Genesis 16:13 NIV Pregnant. Abused. Alone. Out of fear, she fled to the desert. She carried a barren soul to a barren landscape. As a servant,…
Faithfully Facing Uncertainty, Part I
“He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.” Psalm 91:11 NIV, emphasis mine. Read Daniel 1 and 6. He was the guy who did everything right. You know, that guy. The one hated by seemingly everyone else for being so perfect. The one everyone else was jealous of but…
No “Justs”
“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5 NIV Outside my door, a cacophony of voices arose from the first floor of the hotel atrium. Seven hundred women excitedly conversed, practiced speeches, pitched…
Are You Aware, He Cares?
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” Matthew 6:26 NIV, emphasis mine The little seed shuttered as it was pushed down deep into the earth. It’s dark here….
Lessons From Tipper, Part VI
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the…
Simple Joy
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 It was a simple, single word: “Hi!” But it was so symbolic. My neighbor, an Asian who spoke no English,…