Do you have a life verse?

December 10, 2014.Reading time 3 minutes.

Isaiah 58:11 is my life verse. One day, many years ago I was reading my Bible and this verse pierced my heart. God led me to it and I felt His presence and promise. It’s been stuck there ever since. Note: If a particular scripture pierces your heart, God may be trying to tell you […]

The Way

November 9, 2014.Reading time 4 minutes.

Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” Isaiah 35:4 Living with fear, especially in our day and age – these days of brazen and barbaric wickedness – can seem like a normal way […]

5 Ways to Defeat Discouragement

November 6, 2014.Reading time 4 minutes.

Discouragement withers the soul. Oh, and how fast it comes upon and over us. It enrobes us – no, it smothers. If we let it. If we let it. It comes in a variety of […]

Secret Prayers

October 11, 2014.Reading time 2 minutes.

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Jesus (Matthew 6:6) Walking like Jesus requires an active prayer life – active, and yet hidden. If it weren’t so, Jesus wouldn’t have […]

How do you get your best rest?

September 6, 2014.Reading time 4 minutes.

By Erika Rizkallah “There are no second acts in American lives.” F. Scott Fitzgerald According to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control an estimated 50 to 70 million American adults suffer from sleep deprivation. I think the often debated quote by Fitzgerald explains part of the problem. By “second acts,” I don’t […]

Finding comfort in a “messy” world.

September 3, 2014.Reading time 1 minute.

Yesterday our President said, “…The world has always been messy.” He’s right. As I watched the news and lamented over the brutality of ISIS, one picture filled my mind. It’s a scripture from the book of Isaiah: …All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass […]

Does Jesus know you?

August 30, 2014.Reading time 3 minutes.

I’m a bit late in posting (like always), but this morning I can’t help thinking about Robin Williams. Partially that’s because stories about him are still cropping up in my news feed and the gist of most of them is still: Why? How could this have happened? The simple answer is that even though Robin […]

Have you ever been wronged?

August 18, 2014.Reading time 2 minutes.

Have you ever been wronged? The other day I was reading about composting, because I just bought one. Only a true gardener dreams about having a composter right? Here it is… So anyway, I read that in a certain American town, growing beautiful tomatoes is prized – so much so that it’s competitive. One woman […]

Are you worth your salt?

August 7, 2014.Reading time 3 minutes.

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Matt 5:13 This passage is often used in conjunction with the next one that talks about believers being “light.” […]

Jesus’ parables and the power of story – Part 2

August 2, 2014.Reading time 2 minutes.

Jesus told the parable of the weeds and the parables that went before and after it, from a boat. He was staying at someone’s lake house. When he went outside to sit, large crowds gathered so he hopped into a boat and taught while they stood on shore. As I mentioned in the previous post, Jesus’ […]