Monthly Archives: September 2015

Solitude Luke 5:16 But He Himself withdrew [in retirement] to the wilderness [desert] and prayed. There is a time for relating to others but to continue to mature spiritually requires times of solitude. Jesus, Himself went about doing good- loving, teaching, and healing- yet He pulled away from His family, friends and followers to connect to His Father in privacy. In contrast, many times because of our numerous cares and fears it is hard to be still before God even…..

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In wisdom and love God calls us to open our hearts and cast our anxieties, worries, and concerns onto Him. The dictionary states that the word casting is a verb meaning “to throw something away from yourself.” Yet sometimes we feel stuck in our worries, as we struggle to open our hearts and cast the fears and feelings attached to our problems on Him. But in spite of this negative emotional and spiritual clamor, Christ wants to help us work…..

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Scripture states, “Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”. Many Christians know this in their head, but have never personally experienced God’s unconditional love towards them. A truly loving parent loves unconditionally; whether their child behaves or misbehaves, obeys or disobeys, respects or disrespects. The negative behavior does not change the pure love the parent has for the child; even if the child pulls away, the wise parent’s love remains stable…..

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We have all experienced days or seasons of trouble and difficulty. During these times as believers, we usually feel the need to lean on God. Often our problems and concerns become the catalyst that motivates us to ask God to get more involved in our personal lives. Because God loves us enormously, He is pleased when we want and need to give Him a place in the ongoing process of our lives-including times of trouble. God yearns to work out,…..

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A lack of humility in our lives can be manifested in two completely opposite behaviors. We usually think of someone who lacks humility as a show off, prideful, full of conceit, haughty, egotistical, overconfident, having a sense of self-importance or condescension, and not needing God’s help-or much of it anyway! But that same lack of humility can also produce a state of pride that says: I can’t do this, I’m inferior, I’m dumb, I’m inadequate, I will fail. This variety…..

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Do not Harden your Heart! Hebrews 3:7-8 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as [happened] in the rebellion [of Israel] and their provocation and embitterment [of Me] in the day of testing in the wilderness. The Holy Spirit wants to encourage us today in our spiritual journey on this earth by saying: if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts. What does it mean to…..

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David was the chosen, anointed king of Israel, a man after God’s own heart. Yet in this Scripture, disillusionment with God had overtaken David’s conviction that God could be counted on for help. In contradiction to David’s core beliefs about God’s faithfulness, and in spite of his close, loving relationship with God, prolonged hardships caused David to question his belief system as false or mistaken. His accusations toward God were many: rejecting David, being mad at David, not keeping His…..

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The Merriam-Webster dictionary states: compassion is a feeling of wanting to help someone who is sick, hungry, in trouble, etc. Many hurting people I have spoken with over the years don’t know Jesus as the God of compassion. They believe He really doesn’t care about the pain and struggles they are going through…He just wants them to straighten up and do right. This is so far from the truth! When Jesus felt compassion, pity, and sympathy toward people, an act…..

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When life is hard and we feel stressed-out about a current situation or our unknown future, when we are offended by others or are so afraid that life feels overwhelming and without hope for a resolution, then our human nature shouts, “Run away! Get out of this mess!” But running will never allow us to find true inner peace. King David’s life was full of long, hard battles- in many circumstances and with people who struck out against him. He…..

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Ephesians 4:23 And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude]. We were created in the likeness of God and given a body, soul and spirit. The spirit part of us is where God resides-the center of our relationship with Jesus dwelling inside of us. The spirit has power to control the mind and the mind has power to control the body. When the “spirit of our mind” is renewed with God’s…..

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