...and unconditional love. Being a Christian since I was six years old, I guess it was inevitable that I should take God's Grace for granted. I know absolutely that God has a purpose for everything and that includes me. So, I was sitting there feeling incredibly sorry for myself... trying to pray and realizing that… [continue]

Spiritual bankruptcy is something that happens a lot in our stressed-filled lives. We fight it, of course, by reading our Bibles and going to church. Sometimes we are spiritually depleted just as Elijah was after he ran for his life into the desert away from Jezebel. He collapsed under a broom tree, crying out for God to… [continue]

I get to the screaming point. I want to shout out the truth, but to no avail. I work and work at trying to be what God wants me to be and I always fail. Help me, Lord. Carry me over the fjord. The chasm is deep and I weep. Dry my tears. Release me from my fears. Carry the truth to those ears that refuse to… [continue]

Kindness is the outward evidence of the Spirit. When we show kindness we are extending God's hand to others around us. Frankly, I do not see a whole lot of kindness in the Church. It takes effort and energy and it takes all the other parts of the gift of the Spirit in order to evidence kindness. Galatians 5:22 But… [continue]

The one time I was blessed enough to go to Charles Stanley's church in Atlanta, he made a statement that penetrated my hard head. He said, "Never throw away the notes you've made while in study of the Bible. These were important enough for you to jot them down, they may be a life saver later on." I… [continue]

No one understands God's perfect ways or even why God acts in such a way for some and in another way for others. How do we even know for sure we are walking in His will? We can't see the future. Our feelings are fickle. We can't control other people's decisions. So how do we find the path where God’s… [continue]

I have heard until I am sick to death this rubbish that people are not healed from their sicknesses because they just don’t have enough faith. To say that a person just doesn't have enough faith is an out right lie straight from the Father of Lies, Satan himself. You want to know why? Because God takes care of… [continue]

Have you come down with an illness? Has silence descended into your marriage? Have you lost your job? Have you lost your church position? Have you been rejected by your peers at work or by your boss? Have your finances taken a slide downhill? Have you had to quit your job in order to take care of elderly parents, or a sick… [continue]

If you missed the first three parts, the links are at the bottom of this article. Now we are at the part where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. The decision has been made, the temptations have been recognized, and you have a regimen to deal with those pesky temptations, so now it’s all smooth sailing,… [continue]

Last time we talked briefly about making that conscious and deliberate decision to quit ________. The importance of this step cannot be emphasized enough. If you recognize there is a problem, admit that what you are doing is wrong, but don’t make a decision to quit doing it, the flesh will win out every time. Temptations… [continue]

Breaking a sinful addiction is the hardest thing anyone can do. Addictions have brought the mightiest to their knees, and have surprised even the most stalwart that they got caught in Satan’s web of addictive seduction. Godly people do ungodly things. It is a fact which Beth Moore explores in her book (and one that… [continue]

There are countless ways we Christians sin. We have called someone "you fool", even under our breath when they pull out in front of us on the highway. We have been angry with our siblings without justifiable cause, or even with justifiable cause but we are consumed with anger and bitterness rather than forgiveness. We… [continue]

1. The difference between love and lust. 1 John 4:16  And we have known and have believed the love which God has in us. God is love, and the one abiding in love abides in God, and God in him Jeremiah 22:17  But your eyes and your heart lust for nothing but your unjust gain, and to shed innocent… [continue]

 A trip to the store on Wednesday had me reaching for a blindfold. What are women thinking? I saw lots of belly fat through thin T-shirts. I saw lots of chest skin and held my breath hoping against hope that a woman’s breasts would not fall out of her shirt when she bent over to unload her basket into the trunk… [continue]

 This month we’ve been studying scripture’s Wonder Woman. I was taught in Sunday School when I was a teen, that this paragon of virtue was a guideline, but unachievable. I bought into that for a long time. Only after studying this passage with the proper guidance from the Holy Spirit have I realized that… [continue]

 21          She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for all her household are clothed with scarlet. The word translated scarlet is שׁני   shânı̂y (shaw-nee') Of uncertain derivation; crimson, properly the insect which is… [continue]

I ran across a blog post that stated the Proverbs Super Woman was unattainable. He (of course it was a he and a pastor) blithely stated that he hoped his wife would read his post because he wanted her to know that no matter what, he loved her and she did not have to be this super woman to have his admiration. Oh, come… [continue]

      Juggling multiple priorities can either be the blight or the crown of Today’s Woman. The first step is actually recognizing something as a priority then being able to categorize all of them into manageable slices. Some people use lists, others use piles, some use other methods. Regardless,… [continue]

 “I really don’t think God cares about the mundane things in our lives,” said someone in my Sunday School class a few years ago. She meant, why would He care what dress we wear or if our shoes are comfortable? He has so many more important things on His mind. Like what He has in mind for the Bride… [continue]

  …in hectic daily living. What does your average week day morning sound like? Is it filled with soft, shuffling breezes carrying the scent of frying bacon and brewed coffee? Does the gentle sound of children’s giggles waft to you as the dulcet warmth of a hot shower cascades down your back? Neither… [continue]

To whom it concerns an open letter: Dear Mr. President, Honorable Senators and Representatives, Governors, Judges, Councilmen, Aldermen, Mayors, Sheriffs, Police Chiefs, and other Persons holding positions of Authority, The first heat of battle is over. There is now time to regroup and rest before donning the armor and… [continue]

Is prayer an art? I can be lost in wonder at the beauty of some prayers. David's for example how Psalm 16 begins, A Secret Treasure of David. Watch over me, O God, for I take refuge in You... Or how about Paul's in Philippians 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may yet abound more and more… [continue]

 Centuries before Jesus was led to Golgotha, God provided a picture of that event, a promise to His chosen people in the form of the Passover. He said it was to be an ordinance forever.  The lighting… The lighting of the candles... Only the woman of the house may light the candles because… [continue]

This piece never fails to make me cry as I read exactly what happened to Jesus that long ago Passover. He suffered so much, but looked past the pain and all the shame to the joy beyond the cross specifically for you and for me. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow, praise Him all creatures here below. This is the day… [continue]

Being a Christian since I was six years old, I guess it was inevitable that I should take God's Grace for granted. I know absolutely that God has a purpose for everything and that includes me. So, I was sitting there one day feeling incredibly sorry for myself... trying to pray and realizing that my prayers weren’t… [continue]

            In Exodus we read about how God told Moses that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart. That is an extraordinary thing because God, being perfect and holy in every way, could never cause someone to sin. Wouldn’t we define a hard heart a sinful heart? Of course we would. … [continue]

That question was asked in the Studylight forums this past week. It is a very thought provoking question. What declares God in this world? David tells us that His handiwork declares Him in Psalm 19. Isaiah reminds us that we are his handiwork in chapter 64. Paul talks about the testimony of the world and the universe… [continue]

 When I lived in north Louisiana, I made a point of being in front of the TV early weekday mornings to catch the five minute devotion by Pastor Bill Dye who pastors North Monroe Baptist. He has such a way of looking at ordinary things and extracting the spiritual lessons from them in such an extraordinary way. His… [continue]

By the incredibly smart fellow Anonymous.  Ages ago, actually last century, I ran across a story about a man and a huge rock. I have no idea who wrote it but God called it to my mind this week. I searched for it and could not find it, so I'll try to remember it as best I can. A man had his home in the woods far… [continue]

Rain plinked on the roof, or it might have been frozen rain, I was too tired to take enough interest to look. It was a soothing sound far outweighed by the splattering of rain in the puddles. The dampness soaked into my clothes and settled into my bones. The small blaze in the brazier finally gave up the fight against the… [continue]

So many people are blind about eternal security; they use the verses in Romans 11 about the branches being broken off as their proof text.  Who is doing the breaking off of the branch? Can the branch break itself off? No. It is God doing the breaking off, for He is in control.  So... We have to look at the Options… [continue]

  I never really liked going fishing with my Mom. Oh, I loved the fellowship with her, but she caught all the fish while I trailed my hook in the water and fed bait to the fish. One clear day in June, she had talked me into going fishing (her job) feeding the fish (my job). We were trolling along her favorite spot… [continue]

  Do others get your goat?   I overhead a young woman tell my pastor the other night, “I’ve decided he won’t get my goat because I won’t tell him where it’s tied up.” I thought this an amazing decision and very pithy.   Which brought a question or two to mind that… [continue]

  I wrote from the depths of my heart about Cancer in the Body of Christ several months ago. Then an enlightened soul wrote me a letter telling me "I know you may not want to hear this, but..." Frankly, I really do like to hear from readers. The encouragement and the thoughts on what I write are wonderful… [continue]

A dried up brain. That's what I have. Someone asked in my group on LinkedIn, what do you do when writer's block hits?   I blithly wrote that you pray and then sit down and write whatever enters your head. Soon the block melts and things like creativity start flowing again and you're off again. I was… [continue]

Well that is certainly true. Did you know it's in the bible? Solomon writes that as a proof of hope for the living in the ninth chapter of Ecclesiastes. Actually, he says, For one who is chosen to be among all the living, there is hope. For a living dog is better than a dead lion. While there is breath, there… [continue]

    Here's the question... Do you believe God is bigger than any problem? I know beyond any doubt that God can be trusted. He has been true and faithful my whole life even during those two black years when I deliberately chose to turn my back on Him. What God says He will do, He will do. No, not one… [continue]

  Genesis 49:9 Judah is a lion's whelp. My son, you have risen up from the prey; he stoops, he crouches like a lion; and like a lioness, who can rouse him? 10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the lawmaker from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and the obedience of the peoples to… [continue]

  Arise and shine for thy Light has come, and the glory of YHWH has risen on you. Isaiah 60:1   That is just one of the prophecies that Jesus would be born. I so much love this verse because It says so much in so few words.   Arise: that Hebrew word is     קוּםqûm koom… [continue]

There are three letters that make us know that an action is in progress, that it is continnual. ING... running... jumping... swimming... believing... Believing God is an action that must and always be continuous for the action to be effective. Once we stop believing God, all the lions and tigers and bears start crowding… [continue]