You may be wondering why I have been doing re-runs the past few weeks. For one thing, the topic of prayer seemed an appropriate direction given our current chaotic social and political culture. But it was primarily a matter of survival for me. Recently my husband was diagnosed with cancer for the third time. We have been busy with biopsies, doctor visits, and surgical after-care. In other words, God has, once again placed us in a medical mission field. This…..
The envelope arrives in your mailbox telling you that you have “definitely won” an enormous amount of money. Then you read the fine print, “if the number inside is the winning number.” Your interest is piqued and you follow all the directions, send the official entry form back, and pray that the Lord would make you the winner. In the weeks, months, and years to come, you receive a continuous flow of solicitations to enter the sweepstakes, each one more…..
Exodus 25-31 describes the instructions God gave Moses about the building, accessories, and maintenance of the Tabernacle. Moses was told to request willing sacrifices of the people with which to make a dwelling place for God among them: “And this is the offering which you shall take of them: gold, silver, and brass; blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen; goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins; shittim wood; oil for the light, spices for anointing oil and for sweet incense;…..
On Facebook a few years ago, I encountered two posts from “Hope for the Broken-Hearted”. It feels like a good fit for where I am today.
One was a “Prayer of Release” in which the supplicant releases burdens and control to God, requests the promised peace of God, and thanks God for the subsequent protection and sustaining peace. The Bible clearly calls us to humble ourselves before God and to cast our cares on Him in 1 Peter 5:6-7. Philippians…..
Trust and Obey
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusts in thee. Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength” (Is. 26:3-4).
These verses state a reverse continuum that is the very basis of our salvation in Jesus Christ. It starts with God’s everlasting strength, more than enough reason to believe and trust God for the salvation offered through our Lord Jesus Christ. In its…..
God’s Strength Made Perfect in My Weakness
“Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication. Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.” Psalm 55:1-3
Recently my prayer has been similar to this one. Only it is not human voices that…..
Before the Cross: Comfort and Final Instructions From Jesus
Before He was arrested and taken to the High Priest to be tried, to Pilate to be convicted, to Golgotha to be crucified, and to a borrowed tomb to be resurrected, Jesus met with His disciples one last time to encourage them and to give them final instructions. His talk to His disciples took place after celebrating the Passover at supper in an upper room. While many passages in the…..
The Habit of Trust
Have you ever wondered where the little prayer “now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I die before I wake, Lord I pray my soul to take” came from. I do not know the origin of it, but I can see in Scripture the motivation of it. Psalm 4:5-8 gives us a peek into the assurance of safety, even for the Old Testament saints.
“Offer the sacrifices…..
“Casting all your care upon Him for He cares for you” simply does not happen when pride makes us think that we can do life in our own strength.
He Knows My Name
While shopping recently I was delighted to watch two little girls whose mother was standing in line in front of me. The two girls couldn’t have been more than 3 ½ years old, twins and mirror images of each other. But how different their personalities are one from the other.
The one stood aggressively rattling a plastic bag of gummy candies hanging on the rack next to her until it fell off its hook. The mother…..