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Our World

In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

John 16:33 (ESV)

Our World As We See It

As we go through life we become more aware of trouble. It comes to the forefront of each newscast and article in the papers. No one is exempt from hearing of riots, demonstrations, or domestic violence.

Case in point: I attend a small prayer cell on Tuesday mornings. Recently, a member told me I needed to be careful when I left my house. Her daughter heard of a stabbing taking place two blocks from my house.

Then,…  ( Click for more )

I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6 (ESV)

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,

while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a]

so that it will be even more fruitful.

John 15:1-2 (ESV)

The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Jesus has told His disciples not to be troubled in their hearts. He advised them to trust in God and in Him. He continued…  ( Click for more )

“I Am the Door”

I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved

and will go in and out and find pasture.

John 10:9 (ESV)

Jesus Christ explains to his listeners that there is only one way to reach God and to enter heaven; that way is through Him and Him alone.

In our world, we see buildings with doors and windows. Doors are present in order to allow desired people in and, when necessary, to keep unwanted people out. Looters and robbers climb through windows in order to gain entry to buildings and homes where they do their questionable…  ( Click for more )

Early last month I heard a keynote speaker at a writing conference speak on the idea of “What if John had not written?”1. One of the comments he made that intrigued me was that we would not have the “I AM” statements. When I returned home, I began reading the gospel of John from a different perspective. Here are some of the thoughts I have on how I perceive His meaning of two of the phrases.

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

John 6:35 (ESV) …  ( Click for more )

But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.

Matthew 12:25 (NKJV)

As I watch the events of our nation unfold, I wonder are we united in our stand for what is right? A friend said something recently in Sunday school that got me to pondering this idea of our lack of unity. Her thought was because we see a large crowd gathering for an event, we will see a major disruption of peace.

We have seen peaceful daily events…  ( Click for more )

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV)

A lot of events happen in our modern world that cause Christian people to become disenchanted. Every day, the newspapers and the television news reports tell of tragedies that tend to cause believers to initially question the state of our world.

Due to our humanity, we often wonder why these things occur. The vast majority of these events…  ( Click for more )

Last weekend, I attended a writing conference at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, about 35 miles from where we live. One of the keynote speakers, Bob Hostetler, spoke on “What If John Had Not Written?” When I arrived home, I rested, got caught up on what happened while I was away. Went to bed early because I was exhausted. Sunday morning, I stayed home and rested. I decided to read the Gospel of John as a carry-over from the conference. I saw things differently than I had seen them before. What follows is a reflection on John 1:1-12.

“In…  ( Click for more )

The thought recently came to me that we are all needy people. Some of us are not aware of the needs we have.

Our primary need is that of salvation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV) Each of us needs the LORD to save us from our sins. Without the LORD in our hearts, we all deserve to go to Hades. Yes, we sometimes make decisions that are not wise. However, God loves us even then, all we have to do is admit our sin and ask His forgiveness. …  ( Click for more )

Sensing the Holy Spirit’s Presence

This week, I attended a Celebration of Life of a young mother who was a member of our church. I witnessed something I had never seen before. The woman’s husband chose to have the service at church. I arrived almost at the time the service was to begin. The sanctuary was filled almost to capacity.

I noticed that no one was talking above a whisper, if at all. The two ladies I sat between and I did a little bit. I had gotten an order of service page and the older lady said she lost hers. My younger friend…  ( Click for more )

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13 (ESV)

A young girl, recently graduated from high school, used this verse in a message she gave during our worship service this past Sunday. The thought resonated with me, “And they recognized they had been with Jesus.”

Peter and John had been placed under arrest. “Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John and Alexander and the rest of the high-priestly family”…  ( Click for more )

In Sunday school class, we recently had a discussion that led into talk about the rote, ritualistic prayers or songs we repeat as a part of worshipping God.

Doxology

That discussion set me to thinking. Do we realize what we are saying when we sing the Doxology?

Let’s take a look at the words we sing:

In the Doxology we sing: “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures below; praise him above, ye heavenly hosts; praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. (1)

“Praise…  ( Click for more )

“Trust the LORD your God in all things and lean not to your own understanding.”

Proverbs 3:5 (ESV)

I recently received a phone call from a man I knew as a child and as a young man. Our dads were friends. His dad worked for mine. At one point his mother had also. From time to time I had babysat him and his four brothers. The day before, my husband called my attention to the obituaries. The man who called me called to let me know what we knew. His oldest brother had passed away.

As I had read in the obituary, the deceased brother had cancer. I asked…  ( Click for more )

Do we think often enough about the greatness of God? Don’t we sometimes allow ourselves to get bogged down in our cares and concerns that we can’t see anything but the dark side of events or conditions that come into our lives?

Parents and grandparents used to teach young children a table grace, “God is great, God is good and we thank Him for our food. By His hand we are fed, Thank You, God for our daily bread.” Did we learn what these words mean? A Google search give us this meaning for the word great, “of an extent,…  ( Click for more )

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7 (ESV)

When we accept Jesus as our LORD, believers tell us we are to pray to God. A ‘babe in Christ’ wonders why this is so important.

We draw closer to God when we pray. If we find ourselves feeling alone in a circumstance. All we have to do is enter God’s presence. When a person accepts Christ, that person may or may not come from a Christian family.…  ( Click for more )

“Behold the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:3-4 (ESV)

John the Revelator paints a wonderful word picture here of what heaven will be like. What do we see from this vision?

· God will live with us. He will assure us that He is there with us. The thought…  ( Click for more )

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

Proverbs 16:9 (ESV)

A friend preached a sermon about how we are to live in the moment. She gave me a lot to think about. I sometimes relive the past and dream about the future. However, I re-learned that God holds the future.

Another friend and I were talking about those who want to know the future of their lives. She told me she didn’t want to know what lay ahead for her because she would be afraid. She is a Christian and knows God has all things in His hands.

…  ( Click for more )

“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up.And the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet and with two he flew. And one called to another and said “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory. “And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips and dwell…  ( Click for more )

(Philippians 3:20, ESV)

Several years ago, the mother of a friend of mine explained to a group of us that, at one time, she and her husband had dual membership in two local churches.

The church where they raised their family was the one I knew them from. That congregation helped plant a church in the northeast part of our town. This couple and their eldest daughter…  ( Click for more )

Forgive and Comfort

“Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. . . . so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. You should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. For this is why I write that I might…  ( Click for more )

This Sunday is Mother’s Day. Due to the ravages of time both my mother and stepmother are no longer with us. I have been thinking about those mothers we read about in the Bible.

EVE: Eve is the first mother in the Bible. She and her husband, Adam, lived in paradise. God provided created them and gave them the Garden of Eden for their home. He gave them full access to the products of the garden, except the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Now, in the garden was a serpent that played on Eve’s curiosity. He twisted the truth and beguiled her into…  ( Click for more )

What Do We Know about Mary Magdalene?

I have been thinking about thankfulness. As we await Christ’s return to our world, shouldn’t we be more thankful for the everyday blessings we receive? Can we do better about giving thanks back to Jesus? Imagine with me what Mary Magdalene would say to us if we were to converse with her about her life before and after her encounter with Jesus.Let's imagine meeting her and our talking together.

______________________________________________________________________

You: Hello, Mary Magdalene. I am thankful you could be…  ( Click for more )

The Holy Spirit

What do we know about the Holy Spirit of God?

Jesus promised to send a helper to His disciples after He departed this world.

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever” John 14:15-16 (NIV)

The Holy Spirit was present at the creation of our earth.

“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Genesis…  ( Click for more )

As I sit here in my comfortable home, I ponder the activities of the days leading up to Christ’s resurrection. I compose this on Maundy Thursday. Tonight, our church joins with a sister church to partake of a Seder meal.

A woman in our prayer group has asked, “What is Maundy Thursday?” We tried to explain it but we stumbled as to why it was called “Maundy.”

" Maundy Thursday is the Thursday before Easter, believed to be the day when Jesus celebrated his final Passover with His disciples. Most notably, that Passover…  ( Click for more )

Peter, John, and Mary Magdalene

Peter and John–Their Experience

John and I saw Mary Magdalene as she ran toward us. I wondered why she hurried so.

“They have moved the Master’s body and I don’t know what they did with him.”

John and I took off running toward the tomb. John outran me and arrived there first. Later, he told me, he hesitated at the door. He didn’t want to enter such a personal place.

I came to the tomb a moment later. I had to see for myself. I brushed…  ( Click for more )